I’ve been baking croissants now for 5 years. I started during the pandemic from Dominique Ansels work and I’ve made hundreds at home via at least 20 different recipes.
One trend I’ve noticed in a recent revisiting of methods online is the insane amount of unnecessary work, safe guards and gate keeping of how difficult it is. Thermometer guns, precise measurements, relentless refrigeration between folds. Clair Saffitz has to be the worst in how she drones on about the difficulty, the endless babying of the process and the sheer number of steps added.
It’s not hard. You make the dough, make a a butter block and enclose it in the dough. Roll it out, fold it. Roll it out, fold it. Sheet it, cut triangles, roll, proof and bake. It’s not that hard once you have the basics down.
I’m in no way affiliated with this dude, but search Yuval Croissant on YT and see the most effective, no nonsense process you will ever see and look at the results it produces (I used his exact technique for this picture).
TLDR: try it if you’re thinking about it. It’s not that hard.
by OutboundRep
34 Comments
I’ve only made croissants once. Used Saffitz’s recipe, which I found quite simple, and they turned out great! No complaints here.
If I can make them, anyone can make them.
Those are absolutely beautiful!!!!
Thank you — just subbed to Yuval Croissant.
I followed Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe recently and it was very straightforward and easy to follow and the results were amazing
Thank you for this.
I get your sentiment but I think its more so understanding that its not fool proof. Not everyone has access to a consistent temperature controlled space that allows for guaranteed results and it is a lengthy process to just wing it. I worked professionally in kitchens that were 80+ degrees laminating dough and there is no technique in the world other than being fast and a walk in cooler in those conditions
After spending two years on easy stuff like scones, biscuits, cookies, muffins, and cakes I’ve finally gone and surprised myself by successfully getting into bread this year. Lamination seems like the next big step up so thanks for helping me feel confident :3
claire saffitz is known for doing that lol — i remember back when bon app exploded and sohla wayly was like “yeah it was kinda weird that claire kept calling me in to temper chocolate in her videos that she’d make a ton of money on while i was pretty much not getting paid for even my own work.” she literally worked at milk bar and couldn’t temper chocolate. i like a LOT of her work but this is definitely a pattern lol
This is exactly how I feel about macarons.
I made kouign-amann a while ago and the process was long but not hard at all and they came out fantastic on my first try! As long as I have the day to do it, it’s not super difficult.
WOW just plain WOW
I like to keep my apartment around 80 in the summer. 76 right now 😂 I’m very concerned about the butter getting warm lol
I did it waaaay back in 2008 with a recipe from Rachel Allen: Bake! on the Cooking Channel. It really isn’t that complicated. And, even if you screw it up a bit, they’re still delicious.
I have not yet attempted croissants but I already appreciate you for writing this
I spent way too much going to culinary school to find out that a lot of stuff is just overcomplicated by home cooks and people who aren’t confident because they assume something is super hard so they psych themselves out. My first job out of school was with mentors who certainly did not go to culinary school and I learned way more about trusting the process and not overthinking.
Do you have a dough sheeter for home use and if so, may I ask which brand?
I made them on my first try. Its completely possible
I worked in an industrial setting making literally thousands (I ran the line and mixed) and other types of layered pastry, now in that setting all sorts can be problematic, tiny issues cascade and became major so there is some difficulty in getting a product to run well (this is limited once a setup is programmed but alas) but the home?
Yolo, make that shit, make a mistake, remake it, make it again the next day and improve, nothing to be scared off and definitely agree, the gatekeeping can be insane even on an industrial level.
While my croissants definitely always come out delicious (kind of hard to make butter flavored bread taste bad admittedly) I will absolutely say that no matter how much I try and how gentle I am with rolling, my lamination is always laughable and the butter always leaks out even if the dough is fridge cold right before baking. And I’ve made croissants multiple times.
Like is it objectively the MOST difficult thing I’ve ever made? No. But somehow the rolling and folding (at least for me specifically) is one of the most difficult things to keep from flubbing so idk…I’d say it’s a little bit difficult.
Not croissants but when I saw Claire’s koign amman recipe I was ready to give up. Fortunately I came across a post recommending Chef John’s recipe and it was so much more accessible. I get that maybe I’ll miss out on the final 1% of perfection, but damn it’s good enough for my family to wolf down in an afternoon.
The Yuval Croissant video is excellent, thank you!
13 year old made them for the very first time on a whim for a Halloween party. they took like 4x as long to bake than the recipe said (still no idea what happened there), but genuinely turned out pretty good! it gave me a bit of an ego til I realized baking croissants was heavily fearmongered lol
at the end of the day, even if you laminate a little wrong, bread is still bread and it is always delicious
I went to culinary school. When we started laminated doughs our instructor told us that she would pick the best croissant, take a cross section, and pin it to her jacket. Of course every student wanted that “honor.” Well, my croissants turned out fine, and, being a young perfectionist needing validation, I passed but she didn’t say anything complimentary, just that I passed… And then she proceeded to laud the student that she thought made the best croissants. I have never made them since because of that experience (worked in restaurants not bakeries). But you know what, you’re totally right, it’s not some precious thing, it’s just a fucking pastry. Thanks for the reminder!
Same with cream puffs! I was SHOCKED when I realized how easy they are 😭
Yeah but let’s see your puff pastry
Personally, i don’t think its hard. Time consuming but not hard. Its actually one the easiest things to make in terms of recipe and procedure. The problem I run into sometime with laminated pastry or pastry in general is the technique. Hand rolling requires a lot of practice and patience. And a laminating machine is just too expensive for the average home baker.
But yeah I agree with you, these so called experts on YouTube and even cooking shows like to sensationalize and exaggerate the difficulty of it and often refers to it as a form of “art”.
I can’t tell if this post is sarcastic or not. But, the biggest “gatekeepers” in baking are those who say its easy, then just point to “some recipe that works.” Hint: The recipe NEVER works.
Any tips for making them in 40ºC weather?
I used to live in a very hot place and was a bit confused why my baked goods chronically failed. Then I read a chill between every step recipe and it was very helpful! Totally climate dependant
I’ve taken a couple pastry classes while traveling and I think it’s like riding a bike: Once you get it, you’ve got it but getting it that first time is kind of tricky. I don’t think it’s hard, per se, but there’s definitely a process and there are a bunch of steps you may have to trouble shoot.
If you go to a pastry shop, they’ll probably sell you sheets of laminated dough if you ask nicely. There’s a huge machine that chef’s use when working at scale and it just is better than doing it by hand.
Love that ! Creating that is a feeling of conquest 😉
I also found this for Claire’s sourdough recipe. Just a lot of faf. Baking with sourdough is quite simple if you allow it to be, and while I found it useful as a beginner, going back now I see that following that recipe to the T is quite laborious. No one has a day and a half to make two loaves of bread!
Yes it takes practice. you’ll probably mess it up the first time. that’s literally how baking works.