LAYERS OF BUTTERY GOODNESS

For us gluten-freers, croissants are almost like the holy Grail. And these traditional croissants need a bit of labour - but they're sooooo worth it. Made with our Buns & Brioche mix - you'll get a flaky crust, and separated, layers of lamination inside. All you need is a rolling pin, a bit of patience and our mix. It could be made with vegan butter as well (and the dough is already vegan ready).

This recipe is a 16 hour process - we make our dough in the evening at about 20.00 and the croissants are ready to be enjoyed the day after at lunch time (great for the afternoon coffee).

In addition to 400 grams of Buns & Brioche mix, you need the following to make 10 gluten-free croissants:
340 grams water (lukewarm)
15 grams fresh yeast
25 grams sugar
12 grams salt
NO BUTTER IN THE DOUGH!!!!

For the butter block you need 150gs of butter (at least 80% fat, preferably 82%).

 

MAKING THE DOUGH
Mix together water, sugar and yeast.
Add in 400 grams of mix.
Once the dough starts to develop, add the salt.
Let the mixer run to knead the dough for about 5 minutes.

Shape the dough into a rectangle of approx 32cm long, 26cm wide and 1cm high. Keep the sides straight. We do this on a piece of baking/parchment paper, so it's easy to turn over (actually using two papers), and to move. But we also use tapioca starch and a soft brush to make sure the dough doesn't stick (sprinkling the starch and brushing the dough - on both sides) even before we start rolling it out. Don't overuse the starch - just enough so the dough doesn't stick to the touch.

Once the dough has been shaped, place on a cutting board, and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Take it out, wrap it in cling film and place in the fridge overnight.

MAKING THE BUTTER BLOCK
Now it's time to make the butter block. Take a piece of baking/parchment paper and fold the sides so you make a rectangle that is 16cm long and 26 wide (basically half the length of the dough, but just as high). Cut the butter in approx 3-5mm slices and place the slices in the rectangle - almost filling out the shape of the rectangle. Fold over the sides (hopefully they cover the entire butterblock, or else add another on top). With the rolling pin, squeeze the butter slices so the join and become one piece. If the butter becomes too soft, you can always put it in the freezer for 5 minutes. Once you have an even block of butter, place it in the fridge over night as well.

 

TIME TO LAMINATE THE DOUGH
Don't worry that this is a long text - it's easier than it looks!

To make this work requires that you try to keep both the dough and the butter at the right "cool" temperature. In the summer-time this means that you need to place the dough in the freezer between each "fold"; in the winter-time when the temperature is a bit cooler, you might actually be able to do two folds.

We have so far tried a 3x3 fold which should give 27 layers of butter - so the instructions below are for that.

The best and most understandable guide with pictures can be found here - so please have a look there (page 11 to encase the dough, page 12 for the different methods). 

We take out the dough and butter at the same time from the fridge. After about 15 minutes, we place the butter in the middle of the dough and fold in the sides as shown on page 11. Cut the sides. And then we squeeze the dough from top to bottom with the rolling pin. Don't roll the dough. Push the dough together in small steps.

Once that is done we roll the dough and make it "longer" and longer (and a bit ) - approximately to the same size as initially (32cm long, 26cm, 1cm high). Cut off the top and bottom so they are "straight lines". Turn the dough 90 degrees and do the fold and then put in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Take out the dough again, cut the sides, and again squeeze the dough from top to bottom with the rolling pin. You can even press with the rolling pin in the other direction. Roll out the dough again to the same size (32cm long, 26cm, 1cm high). Turn the dough 90 degrees and do the fold again and then put in the freezer for 5 minutes.. 

Now it's time for the final fold (if you do 3*3). Take the dough out from the freezer, cut the sides and squeeze again with the rolling pin from top to bottom. Roll out the dough to 60cm long, 30cm wide and 0,5cm (5mm) high. Cut both the top, bottom and sides for completely straight sides.

Measure and mark the length of the dough in 10cm wide intervals both at the top and bottom. Cut (knife/pizza-cutter) the dough in straight lines so you end up with 5 rectangles 10cm wide and 30cm long. Cut diagonally from corner to corner - and you end up with two croissant triangles - a total of 10 triangles.

For a perfect croissant, you cut off an angle of the bottom so the triangle gets "straight sides". Pull the triangle gently (place one hand on the top of the triangle, and lift the bottom and pull). Now it's ready to roll together as your traditional croissant.

Place on a baking tray with parchment / baking paper. To avoid that the dough dries out, you can either spray with water (if you have a micro-fine spray) or you already now brush it with (very little) egg wash. Cover with a humid cloth, and place somewhere warm (24-25 degrees Celcius) to proof for up to 2 hours. 

After one hour, turn on the oven at 215 degrees celcius (convection oven) - so that it heats up for an hour.

Once the croissants have proofed, gently brush the croissants with egg wash.

Place in the oven and bake for 22-24 minutes - preferably turning the baking tray halfway through the bake for an even colour.

Once ready, take out and place on a rack to cool for a short while.

Ready to enjoy.

 

PREPARING THE EGG WASH:
Our egg wash is made from 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk for a shinier and more flaky croissant.