Croissant Dough

also called pâte à croissant · pate a croissant · croissant dough · viennoiserie dough · yeasted laminated dough · yeasted puff pastry

The table

3 3/4 cups(500 g)bread flourmix to a smooth dough, chill overnightfold the dough round the block and roll it longfold in three, turn, chill 45 min — three timesrest 1 hour before it is cut
1 1/4 cups(300 mL)cold whole milk
1/4 cup(55 g)granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp(7 g)instant yeast
2 tsp(11 g)table salt
3 Tbs(40 g)softened unsalted butter
1 1/8 cups(250 g)cold unsalted butterbeat the block to a square, chill 20 min
Tap anything to cross it off.

What to lay out

Everything the recipe asks for, sitting under the step that eats it. Tick each one as you measure it.8 things to get out.

Pans and tools

1mix to a smooth dough, chill overnight

2beat the block to a square, chill 20 min

Cooking it

Start to finish is the longest chain through the table, so branches that overlap are counted once. That is why the waits add up to more than the clock — and it only holds if you get them going together.

Tap a step when it is done; the next one lights up.

The clock

Start to finish
at least 11 hr 45 mintwo waits that overlap count once
Needs you
none givenof the steps that give a time

One of the 5 steps never says how long it takes, so both numbers are floors. The recipe itself says 14 hr.

  1. mix to a smooth dough, chill overnight

    10 hrwalk awayfrom the start

  2. beat the block to a square, chill 20 min

    20 minwalk away(read off the step)from the start

  3. fold the dough round the block and roll it long

    not timed10 hr in

  4. fold in three, turn, chill 45 min — three times

    45 minwalk away10 hr in

  5. rest 1 hour before it is cut

    1 hrwalk away10 hr 45 min in

Drawn to scale, so a long wait really does take up the room it takes. The shortest stretches keep a sliver so they stay visible; their times are printed beside them. Bars that line up are happening at the same time. The minutes are always the recipe’s own; a dashed edge means we worked out from the step whether you have to be there, and a dotted one means nothing was said, so we assumed you are standing over it.

You'll need refrigerator

Goes with

See how it is written
>> title: Croissant Dough
>> category: Pastry & Doughs
>> tags: pastry, laminated, yeast, butter, make-ahead
>> counters: Bakery
>> aka: pâte à croissant, pate a croissant, croissant dough, viennoiserie dough, yeasted laminated dough, yeasted puff pastry
>> pairs-with: croissant, pain-au-chocolat
>> servings: 12
>> time: 14 hr
>> step.1: mix to a smooth dough, chill overnight
>> step.2: beat the block to a square, chill 20 min
>> step.3: fold the dough round the block and roll it long
>> step.4: fold in three, turn, chill 45 min — three times
>> step.5: rest 1 hour before it is cut

Mix @bread flour{3 3/4%cup}(500 g), @cold whole milk{1 1/4%cup}(300 mL), @granulated sugar{1/4%cup}(55 g), @instant yeast{2 1/4%tsp}(7 g), @table salt{2%tsp}(11 g) and @softened unsalted butter{3%Tbs}(40 g) to a smooth dough, knead it four minutes only, flatten it into a rectangle and ~chill{10%hr} overnight. The long cold ferment is where the flavour comes from, and it also brings the dough to the same firmness as the butter it has to carry.

Beat @cold unsalted butter{1 1/8%cup}(250 g) between two sheets of paper into a 7-inch square, then ~firm{20%min} in the #refrigerator{}. Half the flour's weight in butter is what makes this a croissant and not a bun; the block wants to bend like clay, not crack.

Roll @&(~2)chilled dough{} to a 10-by-14-inch rectangle, lay @&(~1)butter block{} on one half, fold the bare half over it and pinch the edges shut, then roll the parcel out to a long rectangle three times its width.

Fold @&(~1)parcel{} in three like a letter, turn it a quarter, roll it long again and ~chill{45%min} — three times in all. Three folds, not four: a fourth thins the layers past the point where the yeast can push them apart, and the pastry comes out of the oven closer to a palmier.

Rest @&(~1)laminated dough{}, wrapped, in the #refrigerator{} ~rest{1%hr} before it is cut. Cut warm, the layers smear shut at the knife and the crescent bakes solid.