The must-have of the French gastronomy viennoiserie shows up in your kitchen.


Learn how to bake this French breakfast monument, by following the step-by-step of Éric Kayser’s simple recipe.

The ingredient for more or less 20 croissants:

500g of wheat flour T65
220g of water
50g of sourdough starter
20g of fresh baker yeast
10g of salt
70g of sugar
1 egg
+1 egg for the glaze
250g of cold butter
+ 25g of soften butter

The utensils:

The electric stand mixer.
A rolling pin.
A dough scraper.
A brush.
Some greaseproof paper.

The timing:

1st rest: 1 hour in the fridge
Rest: 30 minutes
Proofing: 2 hours
Baking: 15min at 170°C

The recipe:

Start by pouring all the liquids in the mixer bowl: the water, the egg and the sourdough starter (if you have some).


Add the yeast on top (in order to not touch the salt or the sugar).
Add the flour.
Then, the sugar and the salt.
Then, finish by the soften butter (soften, not melted).


Mix with the dough hook of your mixer for two minutes at first speed and then two minutes at faster speed.

 

Once the dough is smooth and not too soft, stop the mixer and get the dough out of the bowl.
Form a ball by folding the edges in the middle.
Place your ball on a mixing bowl covered with a cloth or a plastic wrap.

 

Leave your ball to rest in the fridge for an hour.

 

Use 250g of butter for 1kg of raw dough.
Place your cold butter on your greaseproof paper.
Flatten your butter in a rectangle form with your rolling spin. Use your greaseproof paper to perfect your rectangle.

 

Flour your pastry ball on top and under.
Spread it in a rectangular form, at the double of the butter’s size.

 

Press a bit in the middle in order to have a thinner space.
Place the butter at the end of the pastry. Spread it a bit with your palm or your fist to spread it toward the edges. Be careful, the butter should not be too soft. It should not melt inside the pastry.

 

Fold the rest of the pastry dough on top.
Spread the dough in order to incorporate the butter in, starting by pressing the bottom and the top. Then, continues by spreading the middle, till obtaining a thin and regular rectangle.
Fold this long rectangle in three: the first third on the middle and the last third on this top.

 

Turn your dough a quarter of a turn in order to have the folding on your right.

Repeat the spreading operation, once again.

 

Leave it to rest for 30 minutes. If your room is too hot, don’t hesitate to put the dough in the fridge. The butter should always be hard on your dough.

 

Flour on top and under your dough.
Then, repeat the first operations one last time.

 

Cut your dough in half lengthwise.

Cut regular triangles in order to have the same size of croissants.

 

Cut the middle of the base of the triangle. Pull the croissant, gently in order to not break it.
Then, roll the dough in a croissant form.
Repeat the operation as quick as possible to not melt the butter in the croissant.

 

Place your croissant in your oven rack covered with greaseproof paper.
Leave a three fingers space between each croissant.
Glaze your croissants with a whipped egg.

 

Leave it to proof for two hours.

 

Glaze your croissants, again, just before the oven.

 

Put it into the oven for 15 min at 170°C.

 

Savour these croissants, which smell good butter at breakfast.

 

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