King Arthur Flour Bakers Croissants Recipe 435

KING ARTHUR FLOUR BAKER'S CROISSANTS RECIPE - (4.3/5)

Steps:

• 1) For the dough: Make a sponge by cracking the eggs into a 2-cup liquid measure and adding enough warm water to equal 2 cups. Beat until blended, and pour into a large mixing bowl. You can also put the sponge into the bucket of your bread machine, set on the dough cycle. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar, 3 cups of the flour, and the yeast. Mix until well blended. Cover and set aside. 2) For the butter: While the yeast begins its work, set up the butter inlay. Mix the butter and 1/2 cup flour just until the mixture is smooth and well blended (no hard lumps). You can do this with a mixer, a food processor, or with a spoon, by hand. Be careful not to beat the mixture at high speed; you don't want to incorporate any air. Lightly flour a piece of plastic wrap, place the butter mixture on it, and use a dough scraper to pat it into an 8-inch square. Wrap the butter and put it in the refrigerator on a flat surface for at least 30 minutes. 3) Finish the dough: Stir the vanilla, if using, and the melted butter into the sponge. Whisk together the remaining 2 1/2 cups of the remaining flour, the rest of the sugar, the dry milk, and the salt. Add to the sponge and mix until you have a soft but kneadable dough, either by hand, in your mixer, or using the dough cycle of your bread machine. Check the dough after kneading for 4 to 5 minutes, adding more of the measured flour if the dough is still sticky. 4) Once the dough is smooth and elastic, pat it into a square shape, wrap it loosely and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. 5) Rolling in: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and put it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it into a square about 12 inches across. Unwrap the butter slab and place it in the center of the dough at a 45° angle, so it looks like a diamond in the square. 6) Fold the flaps of the dough over the edges of the butter until they meet in the middle. Pinch and seal the edges of the dough together; moisten your fingers with a little water, if necessary. 7) Dust the top with flour, then turn the dough over and tap it gently with the rolling pin into a rectangular shape. Pick up the dough to make sure it isn't sticking underneath, dusting under with more flour if necessary, then roll from the center out until you have a rectangle 20 inches long by 10 inches wide. 8) When you've reached the proper size, take a dry brush and lightly sweep off any excess flour, then fold the bottom third of the dough up to the center, and the top third over that (like a business letter). Line the edges up on top of each other, and even up the corners so they're directly on top of each other. Take a dab of water if you need to, to tack the corners together. You've now made your first "turn." 9) Turn the dough package 90° to the right, so it looks like a book ready to be opened. If the dough is still cool to the touch and relaxed, do another rolling and turning the same way. Make a note of how many folds you've completed and the time, and wrap the dough. Return it to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Repeat the above folding and turning process one more time, for a total of four turns. Once completed, wrap the dough well and refrigerate it for at least an hour, and preferably overnight before using. 10) Shaping the croissants: Using half the dough at a time, roll it to a 12" x 18" rectangle. Trim the edges of the dough on every edge using a ruler and pizza wheel. This cuts off the folded edges that would inhibit the "puff." Cut the dough in thirds lengthwise and in half through the middle. This will give you six 4" x 9" pieces. Cut each piece in half diagonally, and arrange them so the points of the triangles are facing away from you. It's okay to stretch them out gently to elongate them when you do this. Cut a 1/2" notch in the short edge of the triangle. 11) If you want to, this is the time to place a teaspoon of filling at the base of the triangle. Roll up the dough, starting with the notched edge and working toward the point. Make sure the point is tucked under the bottom of the croissant. If you have to stretch the dough a little to make that happen, it's okay. You can also use a drop of water on the tip to help it stay in place. Form the crescent by bending the ends toward the center where the tip is tucked underneath. Place the croissants on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and chill for 30 minutes. You could also freeze the unbaked pastries at this point. 12) To bake the croissants: Take the croissants out of the refrigerator, and preheat the oven to 425°F. While the oven is heating, brush the tops of the croissants with an egg well-beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. 13) When the oven is hot, bake the croissants for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven's temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. The croissants should be a deep golden brown, even where the dough overlaps; you don't want any raw dough in the center. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Tips from our bakers Adding flour to the butter inlay helps to stabilize it, so the butter won't flow out the seams of the dough as it's being rolled. Bubbles and leaks: It's not unusual to have air trapped inside your laminated dough. If this happens, simply pop the bubble with a toothpick and press the dough down to lie flat. If there's a bare spot where butter is coming through, dust the leak with flour, pressing down lightly so it sticks, and continue on with the fold. Refrigerate the dough as soon as the fold is done, to firm it up. As you work, keep the dough, work surface, and your rolling pin well dusted with flour. Turn over the dough from time to time. As you roll, you tend to expand the top layers more than the bottom. By flipping the dough over, you'll even that out. Before folding the dough over on itself, use your pastry brush to sweep off excess flour. This will help the dough stick to itself after folding, so the layers don't slide around. Have a little water on hand; don't be afraid to brush the corners of the dough with it, to tack the dough in place. You can make rectangular, filled croissants, too. See our blog for step by step instructions on how to do this. Fill croissants with ham and cheese, spinach, or use our pain au chocolate sticks for a special treat. When rolling the dough, especially for the first time, be sure the dough and butter are at the same consistency; this will make rolling much smoother and the layers will be more even. To make Danish from this dough, add 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves to the dough when mixing. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as shown until the dough is finished.

ENGLISH MUFFIN TOASTING BREAD

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don't have a thermometer, the liquid will feel quite hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable as bath water.
• Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Using an electric beater, or stand mixer with beater attachment, beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don't have a stand or electric hand mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
• Lightly grease an 8½×4½-inch loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal. Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.
• Cover the pan, and let the dough rise until it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, ¼-inch over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, until it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.
• Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes, turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

CHOCOLATE-FILLED CROISSANTS (PAINS AU CHOCOLAT)

Steps:

• Roll out and cut dough:
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as necessary, into an 18- by 10-inch rectangle. Brush off excess flour with pastry brush and trim edges with a pizza wheel or sharp knife. Cut dough vertically into fourths, then horizontally into fourths to make 16 rectangles.
• Form pains au chocolat:
• Place 2 batons, flat sides together, along a short side of 1 rectangle about 3/4 inch from edge, letting batons extend over sides. Fold bottom edge of dough over batons and roll up dough around chocolate. Place, seam side down, on a parchment-lined large baking sheet.
• Make more pastries in same manner, arranging them 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
• Let pains au chocolat rise:
• Slide each baking sheet into a garbage bag, propping up top of bag with inverted glasses to keep it from touching pastries, and tuck open end under baking sheet.
• Let pastries rise until slightly puffy and spongy to the touch, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Bake pains au chocolat:
• Adjust oven racks to upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 425°F. Remove baking sheets from bags. Spritz inside oven generously with spray bottle and close door. Put pastries in oven, then spritz again before closing door. Reduce temperature to 400°F and bake 10 minutes without opening door.
• Switch position of sheets in oven and rotate sheets 180°, then reduce temperature to 375°F and bake until pastries are deep golden, about 10 minutes more.

BREAD MACHINE CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Add ingredients in the order recommended for your bread machine. Use the DOUGH cycle.
• When done, remove from bread machine pan and transfer to a greased bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle.
• With the long side towards you, cover 2/3 of the dough with the thin slices of butter.
• Fold UNBUTTERED third of dough over the center buttered third, then fold again - over the remaining buttered third.
• Seal ends and long side of dough. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface with the short side towards you. Roll out into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle.
• Fold in thirds, folding from end to end. Place back onto greased cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. The longer the refrigeration time the flakier the croissants.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface, with short side towards you. Roll out into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle.
• Cut rectangle into thirds, both crosswise and lengthwise. Then cut each section in half diagonally to form 18 triangles.
• Roll each triangle up starting at wide end to form crescent shape.
• Place croissants on greased cookie sheet, curving ends so they almost touch.
• Brush or spray lightly with water. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30-50 min or until double in size.
• Brush croissants with slightly beaten egg white. Bake in preheated 375° oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.