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Croissants

Layers upon layers of buttery, soft dough sheets, surrounded by crispy outer layers of the same…what’s not to love? I suppose the downside is that it takes about three days to make from start to finish, and requires some level of skill in handling the dough. When I started Wheatberry Bakery, sourdough was the core bread and croissants were the core pastry. For many years I worked hard at creating the perfect croissant. The outer layers are explosively crispy while the inner layers are soft and stretchy, with a subtle yeasty tang to balance the richness of the butter. While the very first batch I made was delicious, it took about three years of commercial production to perfect and stabilize the process so I could show others how to make them.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 lb 5 oz flour
  • 2 oz sugar
  • 2 tsp instant yeast
  • 2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 3–8 oz of scrap dough trimmings from the previous batch (optional)
  • 8 oz water
  • 8 oz milk
  •  12 oz of butter for the lamination

Instructions

  1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Combine the water and milk. Warm to 100°F.
  3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients thoroughly to make the base dough.
  4. For the primary fermentation, the rise depends on what type of flour you use. When using sifted flour, the dough should nearly triple in size twice (for example, if you have 1.2 quarts of dough, it should rise to 3 quarts) De-gass and repeat. If using whole wheat flour, it should also rise twice, but only double in volume.
  5. Once the primary fermentation is complete, the dough should be rolled out into a rectangle on a sheet pan about 1.5-2-inches thick.
  6. Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
  7. Roll out one more time, just to remove any gas (do not fold it at this point).
  8. Place your dough into the freezer. Allow to rest for at least a day before laminating. It will keep in the freezer for up to two weeks.
  9. When you are ready to laminate, take it out of the freezer to defrost. You will want to laminate while the dough is still very cold but just above freezing.
  10. While the dough is defrosting, get your butter out and pound with a rolling pin until it’s pliable. Shape the butter into a rectangle half the size of your dough.
  11. If your dough is still defrosting, put your butter in the fridge to stay cool while you wait for the dough, and vice versa – if your dough is getting too soft while you prepare the butter, put it back in the freezer to hold its chill. You want the butter and dough to be cold and stiff, and as close to the same stiffness as possible while still malleable.
  12. Once your dough and butter are both ready, place the butter rectangle on top of the dough rectangle and fold the dough over the butter as if closing it in a book.
  13. Pinch the sides closed so the butter doesn’t leak out during the lamination.
  14. Once the butter is sealed in the dough, you can use a large rolling pin to press the layers together and get the dough and butter moving together. If one is too much softer than the other they won’t roll together, so consistency is key.
  15. Roll the dough in the long direction until it is three times as long as it is wide, then fold the dough like a letter.
  1. Place back in the fridge for 30-60 minutes
  2. After the dough has rested in the refrigerator, roll again, shifting the process 90 degrees ( If you continue rolling the dough in the same direction, it won’t work.) Roll it three times as long as it is wide and do another letter fold.
  3. Once the lamination is complete, rest the dough in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.
  4. Roll out the dough one more time until the sheet is an even ¼-inch-thick across, then rest in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. Take it out to fine tune the sheet and cut your shapes to make the croissants.

  • Author: Ben Lester

Find it online: https://localgrain.org/croissants/