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How To Make Chocolate Croissants Without Taking An Entire Day - Day 4

• by Nancy, February 13, 2010

Today’s the day we bake the chocolate croissant. What’s this about? Click here.

If you’d like to join us, begin with Day 1, then Day 2, and Day 3. Today, Valentine’s Day, Day 4, we are going to finish our recipe.

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Take the croissants out of the refrigerator where they have been having their last rise before baking. Let them sit out, covered loosely with plastic wrap, for about 45 minutes to one hour, depending on the temperature in your kitchen, until they warm a bit and rise a little more, as pictured above.

Take off the plastic wrap and brush on the egg wash. I like to double my sheetpans so that the bottoms of the pastries are sure not to burn. Be sure that the croissants are about 2 inches apart.

Bake them until they are golden, 15 minutes. Transfer them to a serving platter with a metal spatula.

You did it!

So what did my son say about his Valentine’s gift of croissant? “Mom these are the most incredible things I’ve ever tasted.” How’s that for kudos?

I hope you had as much fun baking with me as I did posting these day-by-day lessons for you. Please comment using the link above under the title of this post to give me your feedback. What else would you like to learn to make? Think about it while you enjoy your homemade Petit Pains Au Chocolat. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Note: This copyrighted recipe must be printed as it appears. For my tips and detailed instructions, refer back to my three previous posts, links above, and today, Day 4.

Chocolate Croissant
copyright Nick Malgieri, 1985, All Rights Reserved, Revised 3/89, as it appears in my binder from the former Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School (now I.C.E.)

3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 ounce yeast or 1 1/2 envelopes dry yeast
3 sticks of butter
3 tablespoons of flour

1. Sift dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
2. Heat milk until just warm and beat the crumbled yeast to dissolve yeast completely.
3. Add milk-yeast to flour mixture and mix with wooden spoon until just blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. Knead butter until soft, not oily. Knead in flour and set aside.
5. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Spread butter on bottom 2/3 of dough. Fold top (unbuttered) portion of dough down, and bottom (buttered) portion of dough up. Turn dough until bottom is at right side.
6. Roll dough into a rectangle and fold both ends in toward center. Fold again at center to make 4 layers. Turn dough 90 degrees so the fold is at left and roll again. Fold both ends in toward center and fold again at center. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Petit Pains au Chocolat

1. Cut rolled croissant dough into rectangles of approximately 4 x 5”.
2. Brush with egg wash and place a few slivers of semisweet chocolate down the center of each rectangle. Fold dough to cover chocolate and seal seam.
3. Invert les petits pains on an ungreased baking sheet to rise until double.
4. Brush with egg wash and bake at 375 - 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

For Plain Croissant

1. Roll dough 1/8-inch thick and cut into triangular shapes. Roll up beginning at base of triangle shapes and place on ungreased baking sheet to rise until double in bulk: 1 - 4 hours depending on temperature.
2. Brush with egg wash and bake at 375 - 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

see also: How To Make Chocolate Croissants Without Taking An Entire Day - Day 3

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