Croissants are one of those things I thought were impossible to make yourself. But when Yuko from over at A Kitchen Blog (hi again, Yuko!) posted this sourdough croissant recipe – I just had to give it a try. And OMG. They are so delicious! I don’t know who told me that sourdough can’t be used for sweet doughs (it was probably me), but that is a bag, fat lie.
I can’t wait to make them again (oh yes, they are long gone). Maybe with ham and cheese? Or nutella? I should probably stop thinking about croissants now. My mouth is drooling. No, can’t stop. What do you think about truffle croissants? Pesto? Am I nuts? Ooo, wait. Maybe croissants with nuts would be something?
These flaky croissants taste wonderful just the way they are, but they certainly go very well together with ALL your favorite toppings.. Cream cheese, roast beef and nutella included.
Sourdough croissants
Total time: 12-24 hours to make the dough. Then a few more hours to roll out the dough, let it rest in between, and lastly baking the croissants. Makes 12 croissants
Ingredients
Day 1
- 145 g (5.1 oz) white starter
- 250 g (8.8 oz) filtered water
- 415 g (14.6 oz) bread flour
Day 2
- 3 g (0.1 oz) active dry yeast
- 15 g (0.5 oz) warm water
- 50 g (1.8 oz) sugar
- 0.5 tbsp sea salt
- 80 g (2.8 oz) bread flour
- 2 sticks of butter at room temperature (2 sticks = 226 g or 8 oz)
Toppings
1 egg (slightly whipped)
Instructions
Mix starter, bread flour and water in a bowl to a dough. Take out the dough on a lightly oiled working bench. Give it four sets of stretch and fold treatments (1 set = fold top over bottom, bottom over top, left over right, right over left). Let rest in a lightly oiled bowl for 15 minutes in between each set. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 12 hours.
Mix the active dry yeast with the warm water in a small cup. Wait until it is foamy. Take out the dough from the fridge and add yeast water, sugar, salt and bread flour. Mix to a dough that is nice and firm, not too sticky. Let rest in the fridge at least two hours, over overnight.
Take the two sticks of butter and place them in between two sheets of plastic wrap. Roll out the butter to a 6″ x 6″ square. Roll out the dough to a 12″ x 12″ square. Place the butter on one half of the dough (don’t forget to take off the plastic 
), fold over the other half of the dough and press together the edges of the dough. Roll out the dough to a rectangle, 9″ x 19″. Fold in thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge 1 hour. Repeat this step 3 more times. See pictures here of how to fold the dough and roll out your croissants.
Roll out the dough to a rectangle, 9″ x 19″. Cut the dough in triangles, about 4″ wide and 9″ tall. Let the pieces rest in the fridge 1 hour, then take them out and roll up the croissants (if you don’t want to bake them right away, you can freeze them, or put them in the fridge overnight). Place them on a greased oven tray, peak down, and brush with whipped egg. Let rise for about 2-3 hours, until they are very soft. Brush with more egg right before you bake them. Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, turn down to 375°F and bake another 15 minutes.
Enjoy!
P.S. Whenever you want to bake your frozen croissants, just take them out of the freezer, defrost them, then brush with egg and let rise for 2-3 hours, brush with egg again, and then bake.
Orange juice is the natural drink of choice to accompany your croissant. I guess coffee would be fine, too. And tea. Or champagne.
This post has been submitted to #bakeyourownbread, SweetBellaRoos, YeastSpotting and Friday Food Frenzy.
I’m too scared to try and make homemade croissants, but i’n not too scared to show up at your doorstep asking for breakfast!!! these look amazing!
Haha, you’re so welcome!! Seattle is not too far from Oregon
WOW! These look amazing. I am going to try this sometime. I’ve always wanted to make croissants but always thought it would be too difficult. This recipe looks simple enough, just time consuming I may be able to handle it. Thanks for the post. Your picture instructions (How to make croissants) are very helpful .
Thanks!! You should definitely give it a go, it was not hard at all! Like you said, it just takes time (and most of it is waiting time, anyway). I’m glad you like my step-by-step instructions! It’s so much easier to explain something by using photos instead of text.
Yvonne!
These croissants look fabulous!!!
Let’s make Pain au chocolat next
Yuko
Ooo, I agree!! That would be SO good
But dangerous, too, I would probably eat them all by myself!
These croissants look heavenly. I’m drooling! I would love one for breakfast tomorrow.
Thanks!! They were really, really good. Like from a bakery! Excellent breakfast food
Your croissants look delicious! I’ve recently started to become more confident using yeast and these sound pretty easy to make! Thanks for sharing:)
Thanks, Anna! Yeah, they weren’t hard at all, I was surprised over how well they turned out! You should definitely try them
That is amazing Yvonne! I love the idea of using starter for croissants. Beautiful as usual. I vote for champagne. And jam.
Thank you, Karen! Count me in on the champagne and jam party!
girl, I am impressed! I don’t know if I would ever have the guts to make croissants! yours look delightful!
Thanks Alex, you’re the sweetest! I think you do, just go for it!!
Do you have a weight for the 2 sticks of butter? :S
Absolutely!! Thanks for saying that, I’ve added it to the recipe now
You say to cut them in rectangles. Don’t you mean triangles?
Oops, looks like a little typo found its way into the text! You are absolutely right, it’s supposed to be triangles (I corrected the recipe).
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Yay! I’m finally giving this recipe a try. I have the day 1 dough in the fridge now and will finish tomorrow or Sunday. I can’t wait. If they turn out well i’ll probably put them on my blog eventually (with plenty of links back here). Thanks again for the recipe and great picture tutorial.
That’s so exciting! Can’t wait to see the pictures!
How do you prepare the starter dough for croissants? in the ingredients you mentioned white starter and bread flour. What is it ?Please help me as in Goa, India we barely get these items. Can I prepare it myself at home or, is there any equivalent substitute ?
I do prepare bread at home using whole wheat flour and fresh yeast , plus a 1/2 tspn. of baking powder added to the dry flour to make it a self raising flour….the rest of the ingredients are the same as you’ve used. I’ways longed to bake my own croissants and feathery puff pastries/patties with stuffing and can never get it right. Please help me with your lovely recipies.
Thanks in anticip.
SHIRLEY
Hi Shirley – here are too links that will help you get your starter ready!
http://bitterbaker.com/how-to-make-your-own-rye-sourdough-starter/
http://bitterbaker.com/cheat-sheet-how-to-make-your-wheat-starter-from-scratch/
Hope this helps!
Ok, I just made these, after making the starter on my own. We are enjoying these after waiting for almost a week! Wow! Can I post my pictures?
My first time, I will def. be making these again.
Hi Jerry – sorry for the super super late response! Happy you liked them – if you still have those pictures, would love to see them!