Butter croissants

Name: Butter croissants
Prep time: 98 min
Cook time: 618 min
Total time: 716 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 cups flour; 1/3 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon instant yeast; 2 teaspoons salt; 1.25 cups cold milk; 50 grams soft butter; 250 grams Good butter; 1 egg

Crisp, paper-thin layers of buttery pastry — a weekend project worth every minute.

Vegetarian

Cooking time: 11 hr 56 min
Hands-on time: 1 hr 38 min
Free time: 8 hr
Difficulty: Hard
Cuisine: French
Calories: 480
Contains: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

The croissant isn't just a recipe, it's a little craft: butter folded into the dough, creating hundreds of layers that puff up in the oven like crisp, golden paper. The first bite of a croissant you've made is worth the whole journey.

Before you start

Two-day planDay 1: Kneading and overnight chilling. Day 2: Folding, shaping, and baking. Chilling is the friend of layers — and rushing is their greatest enemy.

Ingredients

8people

Amounts follow the number of people

For the dough

4 cups flour — Sifted, then spooned lightly into the cup
1/3 cup sugar — fine white
1 tablespoon instant yeast — Instant, and within its use-by date
2 teaspoons salt — Add gradually, tasting as you go
1.25 cups cold milk — Cold until kneading
50 grams soft butter — For the dough

For folding and the top

250 grams Good butter — The block for folding in — its quality is the flavor
1 egg — Beaten, for brushing the top

Croissants are an easy two-day project (knead today, fold and bake tomorrow) — they cannot be rushed, and that is the secret of their layers.

Equipment

Rolling pin — Rolling and folding three times is the croissant itself; a bottle will not do it.
Baking paper — The butter block is beaten flat between two sheets until pliable and cold.
Baking tray — After two hours proving and an egg wash, at 200°.

Method

Knead the dough ingredients and refrigerate it overnight.
8 hrYou can walk away
You’ll know it’s ready when
A slightly stiff, cold dough that is easy to roll out.
Tip: Add the liquid gradually, because flours absorb differently.
Pound the butter for folding between two sheets of paper into a cold, pliable square block.
8 min
You’ll know it’s ready when
The butter block is square, pliable and still cold.
Tip: Check the doneness cue before moving on to the next step, rather than relying on the time alone.
Cover the butter block with the dough, roll it out lengthwise and fold it three times, chill it for half an hour — and repeat the rolling and folding three times.
1 hr 30 min
You’ll know it’s ready when
A smooth dough in which the butter lines appear marbled without breaking through.
Tip: The butter has softened and started to seep out of the dough? Refrigerate immediately — the cold will fix everything.
Roll it out thinly and cut it into long triangles, then roll each triangle from its base to its tip, and leave it to puff up for two hours.
2 hrYou can walk away
You’ll know it’s ready when
Puffed and wobbly, as if it might float away.
Tip: Cut the pieces to the same size so they all cook at the same time.
Brush it with egg and bake at 200°.
18 minYou can walk away
You’ll know it’s ready when
Deep golden brown with visible flaky layers — and light in your hand.
Tip: Preheat the oven and monitor the color in the last few minutes.