Easy Homemade Chocolate Croissants - Food Today
How are your homemade croissants coming along this month?
In case you’re just joining us , croissants are the April Baking Challenge recipe. I published a complete guide to tackling croissants and challenged you to bake them this month. I challenge readers to a new recipe every month on or around the 1st , all filed under the category Sally’s Baking Challenge!
Here we are 2 weeks later with a croissant variation. Am I allowed to admit that these are even better than the original? Ultra thin layers. Buttery crispness. Melted chocolate. Confectioners’ sugar dusting. Simple. Decadent. There’s absolutely nothing on earth better than a warm chocolate croissant unless that warm chocolate croissant was proudly handmade in your own kitchen.
You’ve come to the right place today. 🙂
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour (500 g)
- ½ cup water (120 mL)
- ½ cup milk (120 mL)
- ¼ cup sugar (50 g)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 packet instant dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- 1 ¼ cups cold unsalted butter , cut into ½-inch (1 cm) thick slices (285 g)
- 1 egg , beaten
- 2 bars sweetened chocolate bar
Preparation
- In a large bowl , mix the flour , water , milk , sugar , salt , yeast , and butter.
- Once the dough starts to clump , turn it out onto a clean counter.
- Lightly knead the dough and form it into a ball , making sure not to over-knead it.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
- Slice the cold butter in thirds and place it onto a sheet of parchment paper..
- Place another piece of parchment on top of the butter , and beat it with a rolling pin.
- Keeping the parchment paper on the butter , use a rolling pin to roll the butter into a 7-inch (18 cm) square , ½-inch (1 cm) thick. If necessary , use a knife to trim the edges and place the trimmings back on top of the butter and continue to roll into a square.
- Transfer the butter layer to the refrigerator.
- To roll out the dough , lightly flour the counter. Place the dough on the counter , and push the rolling pin once vertically into the dough and once horizontally to form four quadrants.
- Roll out each corner and form a 10-inch (25 cm) square.
- Place the butter layer on top of the dough and fold the sides of the dough over the butter , enclosing it completely.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin to seal the seams , making sure to lengthen the dough , rather than widening it.
- Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it’s 8x24 inches (20x61 cm).
- Fold the top half down to the middle , and brush off any excess flour.
- Fold the bottom half over the top and turn the dough clockwise to the left. This completes the first turn.
- Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
- Roll out the dough again two more times , completing three turns in total and refrigerating for 1 hour in between each turn. If at anytime the dough or butter begins to soften , stop and transfer back to the fridge.
- After the final turn , cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- To form the croissants , cut the dough in half. Place one half in the refrigerator.
- Flour the surface and roll out the dough into a long narrow strip , about 8x40 inches (20x101 cm).
- With a knife , trim the edges of the dough.
- Cut the dough into 4 rectangles.
- Place the chocolate on the edge of the dough and roll tightly enclosing it in the dough.
- Place the croissants on a baking sheet , seam side down.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Brush the croissants with the beaten egg. Save the rest of the egg wash in the fridge for later.
- Place the croissants in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Once the croissants have proofed , brush them with one more layer of egg wash.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Serve warm.
- Enjoy!
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