_ Ingredients
For the dough
1/2cup plus 2 Tbs. cold water
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs.granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. cold whole milk
1 Tbs. plus scant 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
3 Tbs. soft unsalted butter
2-1/4 tsp. table salt
For the egg wash
1 large egg
For the butter layer
1-1/4 cups
_ Preparation
Make the dough
Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the
dough hook. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the mixing
bowl once if necessary. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. Transfer the dough
to a lightly floured 10-inch pie pan or a dinner plate. Lightly flour the top of the
dough and wrap well with plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Refrigerate overnight.
Make the butter layer
The next day, cut the cold butter lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slabs. Arrange
the pieces on a piece of parchment or waxed paper to form a 5- to 6-inch square,
cutting the butter crosswise as necessary to fit. Top with another piece of
parchment or waxed paper. With a rolling pin, pound the butter with light, even
strokes. As the pieces begin to adhere, use more force. Pound the butter until it’s
about 7-1/2 inches square and then trim the edges of the butter. Put the trimmings
on top of the square and pound them in lightly with the rolling pin. Refrigerate
while you roll out the dough.
Laminate the dough
Unwrap and lay the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 10-1/2-
inch square. Brush excess flour off the dough. Remove the butter from the
refrigerator—it should be pliable but cold. If not, refrigerate a bit longer. Unwrap
and place the butter on the dough so that the points of the butter square are
centered along the sides of the dough. Fold one flap of dough over the butter
toward you, stretching it slightly so that the point just reaches the center of the
butter. Repeat with the other flaps . Then press the edges together to completely
seal the butter inside the dough. (A complete seal ensures butter won’t escape.)
Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. With the rolling pin, firmly press
the dough to elongate it slightly and then begin rolling instead of pressing,
focusing on lengthening rather than widening the dough and keeping the edges
straight.
Roll the dough until it’s 8 by 24 inches. If the ends lose their square shape, gently
reshape the corners with your hands. Brush any flour off the dough. Pick up one
short end of the dough and fold it back over the dough, leaving one-third of the
other end of dough exposed. Brush the flour off and then fold the exposed dough
over the folded side. Put the dough on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap,
and freeze for 20 minutes to relax and chill the dough.
ends until the dough is about 8 by 24 inches. Fold the dough in thirds again, as
shown in the photo above, brushing off excess flour and turning under any
rounded edges or short ends with exposed or smeared layers. Cover and freeze
for another 20 minutes.Give the dough a third rolling and folding. Put the dough
on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap, tucking the plastic under all four
sides. Refrigerate overnight.
Divide the dough
The next day, unwrap and lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough. With the
rolling pin, “wake the dough up” by pressing firmly along its length—you don’t
want to widen the dough but simply begin to lengthen it with these first strokes.
Roll the dough into a long and narrow strip, 8 inches by about 44 inches. If the
dough sticks as you roll, sprinkle with flour. Once the dough is about half to two-
thirds of its final length, it may start to resist rolling and even shrink back. If this
happens, fold the dough in thirds, cover, and refrigerate for about 10 minutes;
then unfold the dough and finish rolling. Lift the dough an inch or so off the table
at its midpoint and allow it to shrink from both sides—this helps prevent the
dough from shrinking when it’s cut. Check that there’s enough excess dough on
either end to allow you to trim the ends so they’re straight and the strip of dough
is 40 inches long. Trim the dough.
Lay a yardstick or tape measure lengthwise along the top of the dough. With a
knife, mark the top of the dough at 5-inch intervals along the length (there will
be 7 marks in all). Position the yardstick along the bottom of the dough. Make a
mark 2-1/2 inches in from the end of the dough. Make marks at 5-inch intervals
from this point all along the bottom of the dough. You’ll have 8 marks that fall
halfway between the marks at the top.
Make diagonal cuts by positioning the yardstick at the top corner and the first
bottom mark. With a knife or pizza wheel, cut the dough along this line. Move
the yardstick to the next set of marks and cut. Repeat until you have cut the
dough diagonally at the same angle along its entire length—you’ll have made 8
cuts. Now change the angle of the yardstick to connect the other top corner and
bottom mark and cut the dough along this line to make triangles. Repeat along
the entire length of dough. You’ll end up with 15 triangles and a small scrap of
dough at each end.
Using a paring knife or a bench knife, make a 1/2- to 3/4-inch-long notch in the
center of the short side of each triangle. The notch helps the rolled croissant curl
into a crescent. Hold a dough triangle so that the short notched side is on top and
gently elongate to about 10 inches without squeezing or compressing the dough
—this step results in more layers and loft.
one hand on each side of the notch, begin to roll the dough away from you,
towards the pointed end.
Flare your hands outward as you roll so that the “legs” become longer. Press
down on the dough with enough force to make the layers stick together, but avoid
excess compression, which could smear the layers. Roll the dough all the way
down its length until the pointed end of the triangle is directly underneath the
croissant. Now bend the two legs towards you to form a tight crescent shape and
gently press the tips of the legs together (they’ll come apart while proofing but
keep their crescent shape).
Shape the remaining croissants in the same manner, arranging them on two large
parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets (8 on one pan and 7 on the other). Keep
as much space as possible between them, as they will rise during the final
proofing and again when baked.
Proof the croissants
Make the egg wash by whisking the egg with 1 tsp. water in a small bowl until
very smooth. Lightly brush it on each croissant.
draft-free spot at 75° to 80°F. Wherever you proof them, be sure the temperature
is not so warm that the butter melts out of the dough. They will take 1-1/2 to 2
hours to fully proof. You’ll know they’re ready if you can see the layers of dough
when the croissants are viewed from the side, and if you shake the sheets, the
croissants will wiggle. Finally, the croissants will be distinctly larger (though not
doubled) than they were when first shaped.
Shortly before the croissants are fully proofed, position racks in the top and
lower thirds of the oven and heat it to 400°F convection, or 425°F conventional.
Brush the croissants with egg wash a second time. Put the sheets in the oven.
After 10 minutes, rotate the sheets and swap their positions. Continue baking
until the bottoms are an even brown, the tops richly browned, and the edges
show signs of coloring, another 8 to 10 minutes. If they appear to be darkening
too quickly during baking, lower the oven temperature by 10°F. Let cool on
baking sheets on racks.
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