French Croissant Recipe Recipe For Hand Recipe For Stuffed

TRADITIONAL LAYERED FRENCH CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the butter and mix it together with your hands in a mixing bowl or on a work surface. Transfer the butter to a length of foil or parchment paper and pat it into a 6 inch square. Fold up the foil to make a packet and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
• Combine 2 cups of the flour with the salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water (100 degrees F/38 degrees C) and set aside until frothy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the milk and the heavy cream to lukewarm. Add the yeast, milk, and cream to the flour mixture and stir well. The dough will have a batter-like consistency.
• Stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour 1/4 cup at a time to form a soft dough. It should no longer be sticky. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• To begin the rolling and folding process, both the butter and the dough should be at a cool room temperature. [See Cook's Note.] Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it into a 10-inch square. Set the block of butter diagonally on the square dough. Bring each point of dough to the center of the butter square; the edges of the dough should overlap. Pinch the edges together to seal.
• Starting from the center of the square and working outward, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle. The butter should be pliable enough to roll smoothly with the dough; if it's too soft and starts to ooze out the corners, wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate before proceeding. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, approximately 8 by 18 inches. Fold the length of dough into thirds, like a business letter.
• If the dough is still cool, you can continue with another fold. Otherwise, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up for about 10 minutes before you begin rolling it out again.
• Position the dough so that the open ends are at 12 and 6 o'clock. Roll the dough into a rectangle, working from the center of the dough and pressing outwards. Reposition the dough as necessary to fit your work space. You should have a long rectangle for the "book fold." Fold both ends of the dough into the middle; the ends don't have to be touching, but should be close. Fold the already-folded dough in half; it will look like a thick book. Wrap the dough well with plastic and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Roll the dough into a rectangle again and fold it into thirds, like a business letter. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
• To shape the croissants, roll the dough into a 10- by 38-inch rectangle on a lightly floured work surface. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza wheel or sharp paring knife to trim the edges of the dough. Divide the rectangle in half so that you have two 5-inch wide strips of dough. Use a clean yardstick to mark each strip into triangles that are 5 inches wide at their bases. Cut the triangles and place them onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes, if necessary.
• Starting at the base of the triangle, roll the dough up into a log; the tip of the triangle should be under the body of the croissant to prevent it from unraveling. Bend in the corners to form the traditional crescent shape. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Arrange the croissants on the parchment-lined baking sheets and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Beat the egg with the tablespoon of water to make the egg wash. Brush the croissants with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until deep brown, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving.

CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• In a medium sized bowl, mix eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Wisk until well combined.
• With large teflon pan over medium heat, add one ounce of clarified butter. Then take one croissant at a time and dredge in egg mixture and grill cutside down first for approximately 3 minutes. Then carefully flip with a spatula. Do not press the croissant. After all croissants are cooked carefully shingle each croissant on a serving plate. Cover with a handful of fresh berries.

CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST STUFFED WITH GRILLED PEACHES

Steps:

• Prepare coals on a grill and let heat reduce to a moderate heat.
• In a blender, combine eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend until the ingredients are smooth. Set aside.
• Slice peaches in half and remove the pit. Brush the flesh side of each half with melted butter. Place the peaches on the grill for 5 minutes, or until the flesh side is evenly caramelized and begins to soften. Remove the peaches from the grill and dice them. Transfer to a bowl and add lemon juice and sugar, to taste. Set the peach mixture aside.
• Pour the egg batter into a pie plate. Dip the croissant halves into the batter, making sure that each side is coated. Place the croissants on the grill, flat side down. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the batter appears cooked and the croissant begins to darken; watch carefully, as they will cook quickly. Flip the croissants and grill on the other side for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the croissants from the grill.
• Place the bottom half of 1 croissant on a plate. Add 1/4 of the peach mixture and place the top half of the croissant over the peaches. Pour Bourbon Pecan Maple Syrup over the top and garnish with fresh mint. Repeat with remaining croissants.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter begins to brown, remove the pan from heat and add bourbon. Flambe the mixture until the alcohol has burned off and then add the syrup and pecans. Return the pan to the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

STUFFED CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl wide enough to immerse croissant, whisk eggs until light yellow.
• Add milk, half& half, vanilla and seasonings and mix together.
• Slice croissant and spread cream cheese on bottom half.
• Lay sliced fruit on top of cream cheese and cover with top croissant half.
• Dip in egg mixture and fry in butter till brown.
• Flip over and brown other side.

CHEF JOHN'S CHOCOLATE CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Place warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle with yeast. Let yeast dissolve for 10 minutes. Add sugar and bread flour. Sprinkle with salt; add 3 tablespoons butter. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer. Mix dough with the dough hook just until butter is completely kneaded in and the dough forms a ball and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl, 3 or 4 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and form into a semi-smooth ball. Place dough back in the mixer bowl; cover. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 2 hours.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Push and press dough to deflate it, and form it into a rectangle. Fold into thirds by lifting one end over the middle third, and folding the other side onto the middle. Wrap in plastic wrap. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Refrigerate until chilled through, about 1 hour.
• Cut 1 stick of butter in 1/2 lengthwise and place halves slightly apart from each other on a length of parchment paper long enough to fold over the butter. Fold the parchment paper over the butter. Press butter down. Roll out with a rolling pin to a square about 8x8 inches. Refrigerate until a little chilled and just barely flexible, 10 or 15 minutes.
• Roll dough out into a rectangle slightly wider than the butter slab and just over twice as long. Place butter on one half of the dough leaving about 1 inch margin from the edge of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the butter. Dust work surface and dough with flour as needed.
• Press rolling pin down on dough to create ridges. Then roll out the ridges. Repeat this process. Keep pressing and rolling until dough is about the same size rectangle as you had before you folded it in half, dusting with just a bit of flour as necessary.
• Starting from the short side, fold one-third of dough over middle third. Then fold the other end over to form a small rectangle. Flatten out just slightly with rolling pin. Transfer to the silicone-lined baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer dough back to work surface and repeat pressing and rolling technique until dough is the size of the previous larger rectangle. Fold into thirds again, starting from the short side. Press and roll slightly. Transfer back to lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate about 15 minutes.
• Roll back out to a large rectangle. This time, fold dough in half. Then press and roll out into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle, using as little flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
• Dust dough with flour and roll out to a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Cut dough lengthwise into 6 pieces using a pastry wheel.
• Pull and stretch out 1 of the dough pieces until ends are slightly tapered. Line 1 to 2 tablespoon of chocolate 1 inch parallel to the bottom edge and an equal amount of chocolate 1 more inch ahead. Roll dough up over the chocolate toward the top short edge to form a croissant with the seam at the bottom. Repeat with the remaining 5 dough pieces.
• Place shaped croissants on baking sheets lined with silicone mats. Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water to make the egg wash. Brush croissants with a large portion of the egg wash. Place in a warm area to allow them to rise, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush croissants gently but thoroughly again with egg wash. Sprinkle sea salt on top.
• Bake in preheated oven until beautifully browned, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Stir in cream until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until mixture reaches 160°., Remove from the heat. Gently stir in ice cream and vanilla until ice cream is melted. Place plastic wrap over the surface of the sauce; cool., For berry sauce, combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside., In a shallow bowl, beat eggs. Dip both sides of croissants in egg. On a griddle, brown croissants on both sides in butter. Serve with vanilla and berry sauces.

CROISSANT BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Using cooking spray, grease a 13x9-in. baking dish and set aside. , Slice croissants in half lengthwise. , In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, vanilla paste, cinnamon, orange zest and maple syrup. Submerge croissant halves in liquid until completely soaked. Arrange croissants in baking dish, overlapping slightly if necessary. Bake 25-30 minutes.

FABULOUS CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Beat eggs and cream together, add triple sec, granulated sugar, orange zest and cinnamon and whisk together.
• Pour into a shallow bowl or pie plate.
• Dip each croissant half in mixture, turning once.
• Melt a few tablespoons of butter in skillet over medium heat, add as many croissant halves that will fit and fry until golden brown, repeat with any remaining croissants.
• Put on plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar, I also like to add a slice or two of oranges to each plate.
• Syrup and butter is optional, I like it with both, but my mom eats it plain.
• Cooking time is approximate.