Croissants

Ingredients for 7 servings:

• 1 cube of fresh yeast
• 260 g water, lukewarm
• 500 g flour, type 550
• 50 g sugar
• 1 pinch(s) vanilla pod(s), grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 200 g butter, cold
• 1 medium egg(s), beaten
• Flour for the work surface

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 6 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 7 hours 15 minutes

as delicious as from the bakery

Mix the flour with the sugar, grated vanilla pod, and salt. Crumble the yeast into a bowl, add the lukewarm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar from the 50g amount, and dissolve the yeast completely. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and, using the dough hook on a mixer, first make a rough dough. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 10 minutes. Then, using floured fingers, knead the dough from the outside inward for short periods of time (about 30 seconds per kneading cycle). Cover the dough again and let it rise in a warm place for another 10 minutes. Repeat this process a total of 4 times. Then place the dough in a clean bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours. The dough should increase in size significantly. In the meantime, cut the cold butter into strips and refrigerate until ready to use. Once the croissant dough has risen, roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle approximately 25 x 40 cm. Place the cold butter strips on the dough so that the buttered part can easily be folded over with one half of the dough. The other half of the dough is then folded over the butter that is now covered with the first half of the dough. This creates an elongated dough parcel, which is then folded in half again from its longer side. This small parcel is then rolled out again on a well-floured surface into a rectangle measuring 25 x 40 cm. Now fold 1/3 of the dough together to the middle of the entire dough. Do the same with the second third. These two folded pieces towards the middle are then folded over each other and wrapped in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes. The dough is then rolled out again on a floured work surface to a size of 25 x 40 cm, folded again as described above, and placed in the freezer for another 10 minutes. This is repeated 4 times in total. The croissant dough is then placed in the refrigerator for 60 minutes. The dough is then rolled out again to 25 x 40 cm and cut into triangles using a ruler. The croissant triangles are now rolled up from the bottom, wide side to the tip of the dough and placed on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover the croissants with a kitchen towel and let them rest for another 1 hour. Once they have increased in size considerably, they are brushed with beaten egg and the oven is heated to 240°C. The croissants are then placed in the oven and the temperature is immediately reduced to 220°C. The croissants are baked for approximately 15 minutes. They are then placed on a wire rack to cool completely. The dough makes 14 – 15 delicious French butter croissants!