Today I Made: Croissants

Today I made croissants! For the longest time I have wanted to attempt the infamously difficult croissant, but I never had the time to make them.

I decided to use Claire Saffitz’s NYT Cooking Croissant recipe, which takes two days to make. Overall, the recipe was detailed and easy to follow and yielded eight buttery, delicious croissants.

If I were to make these again (which I hope to!) I would try to make each croissant smaller. The average croissant that I have purchased at bakeries is about half the size of the croissant in Saffitz’s recipe. Before shaping the croissant, you roll the dough into a 14x16 inch rectangle and cut 4 4x12 inch rectangles from that. I would roll the dough even thinner to 14x20 inches to cut a fifth rectangle. I think this would make each croissant lighter and a more reasonable portion.

Overall, I was extremely impressed by the flavor, texture, and layers that I was able to achieve on my first attempt at making croissants. I would highly recommend trying them out!

Croissant dough after first “book” turn

Croissants brushed with egg wash ready to be baked