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CROISSANTS
2.5 hours prep. 
25 minutes cooking
Serves 8-10 small |
Ingredients
- 350 ml luke-warm milk
- 55 gm (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 18 gm (about 2½ sachets) dried yeast
- 500 gm plain flour
- 350 gm cold unsalted butter
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for eggwash
Method
- Combine warm milk in large bowl with sugar and yeast, stir to combine, then add flour and 2 tsp salt.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until a soft sticky dough forms, adding more flour if necessary. Form into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Pound butter between two pieces of baking paper with a rolling pin until malleable, roll out to a 20cm x 25cm rectangle and refrigerate ntil dough and butter are the same consistency.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured bench to a rough 25cm x 40cm rectangle. With the shortest side facing you, place the butter on the bottom half of the dough, then fold dough over to enclose.
- Gently pinch edges to seal, flatten dough slightly by pressing with rolling pin, then turn so the fold is on your left and roll out to a 40cm x 25cm rectangle, brushing off excess flour.
- With the longest side of the pastry facing you, fold in the right hand one-third of the pastry, then fold in the left hand side to cover – this is a book fold. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.
- Roll, fold and rest dough three more times, each time starting with the ‘spine’ of the book on your left. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured bench to a 35cm x 45cm rectangle and trim edges straight, then cut halve lengthways to form two 20cm-wide strips. Cut each strip into isosceles triangles with a base of about 15cm. Roll triangles from base to tip, pulling and stretching the tip slightly then securing the tip beneath. Curve to bring the ends together and form the classic croissant shape.
- Place 5cm apart on oven trays lined with baking paper (they can be frozen at this stage). Loosely tie in clean plastic bags and stand in a warm place for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220C.
- Brush croissants with eggwash. Spray water inside oven to create steam, then place croissants in oven. Reduce oven to 200C and bake, swapping and turning trays halfway through cooking for 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown.
- Stand for 10 minutes before serving.
