Buttery croissants aren’t as difficult to make as you might think. You just need a little patience. Okay, a lot of patience… and love… and high-fat, high quality butter. and a thermometer.

You can pack the process into one day by placing your dough in the refrigerator for two hours in between each lamination; but, the croissants will be way better if you refrigerate them 8 hours between each cycle. Either way, the process takes time, so be sure you start early in the day.

Croissants

This recipe makes about 24 medium-size croissants.

Détrempe

• 2 cups warm milk (110°F but not over 115°F)
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° but not over 110°F)
• 1/8 cup dry yeast
• 5 1/2 cups pastry flour or all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 eggs, well-beaten (for brushing on the tops of rolled croissants)

Pour milk and water into electric mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid. When it begins to look foamy or bubbly, add a couple cups of flour. Use the dough hook attachment and turn the mixer on. After the flour is mixed in, add the sugar, butter and salt. Once those are mixed in, add the remaining flour. Knead the dough on medium speed for 8-10 minutes.

While the dough is kneading, coat a large bowl with some melted butter.

When the dough has finished kneading, place it in the bowl and flip it over so it is buttered on both sides.

It is ready when you take about a half a cup of the dough and gently stretch it out. If it tears or breaks, it need more time kneading.

Cover the bowl with saran wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or up to 8 hours for more flavorful croissants) to rise. Making your dough in the evening and then letting it raise in the refrigerator works great.

Butter

• 2 cups Kerrygold unsalted butter (or another butter with 82 percent or higher fat content – the higher fat content you can find, the better)

In a 9×9″ pan, place a sheet of about 24 inches of plastic wrap and then place another sheet of about 24 inches of plastic wrap in the opposite direction. Spread the butter out evenly into the pan. Fold the excess plastic wrap over the top, press down on the butter, and place the butter into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until it is cold but pliable.

Important note: Throughout the entire lamination process, your butter needs to be cold but pliable, or bendy. 55°F is the temperature you are aiming for with both the dough and the butter. If you roll when it’s colder that that, the dough will be hard to work with and the butter will crack into pieces and through your dough, creating places for the butter to melt and run out while your croissants bake which destroys the layers you’ve worked so hard for. The temperature your dough and butter are at when laminating is very, very important so remember 55°F!

Rolling & Laminating the Dough

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin into about a 14×14″ square (about 1/2 inch thick).

Remove the butter from the pan and unwrap it. Place the butter in the middle in the opposite angle on top of the dough. The butter will look like a diamond shape.

Fold the four corners of the dough up toward the middle of the butter. The dough kind of look like a square envelope.

Roll the dough into a rectangle.

Tri-fold the dough by bringing the left side toward the middle and the pull the right side over the left side.

There should be three layers when you are done.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. I recommend using a Sharpie to write the number of times you’ve placed it in the fridge on the plastic wrap so you don’t forget which lamination turn you are working on.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or up to 8 hours for more flavorful croissants).

Bring the dough out, place a thermometer into it, and wait for the temperature to reach 55°F again. Roll  the dough out on a lightly floured surface and then tri-fold it again.

Wrap in plastic wrap again. Place it back into the refrigerator for 2 hours (or up to 8 hours for more flavorful croissants).

Roll  the dough out on a lightly floured surface again and then tri-fold it again.

Bring the dough to 55°F again. Wrap in plastic wrap. Place it back in the refrigerator for 1 hour (or up to 8 hours for more flavorful croissants).

Cutting and Shaping the Croissants

Cut the rectangle of dough in half. Place the half you aren’t rolling out right now back into the refrigerator to keep it cool.

Roll out the dough you’re working with into a long rectangle to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut around the sides to make straight edges. (You can make the scraps into fun shapes if you like & bake them too).

Cut in half again the long way. Cut both strips of dough into triangles.

Make a 1/2-inch slit cut at the bottom of each triangle.

To form the croissants, start at the bottom and roll upward. Pull up a bit on the top of the triangle as you roll the bottom upward.

Make sure the tip of the triangle is tucked under the croissant when you place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave enough room in between each croissant so they have space to rise.

Finish forming the rest of the croissants and placing them on the tray. Pull the remaining dough out of the refrigerator and complete the process. Once all of the croissants are formed and on the trays cover them lightly with plastic wrap.

Allow them to raise in a warm place for 1 hour and then place them in the refrigerator to let them rise for 1 more hour.

Baking the Croissants

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove one tray of croissants from the refrigerator, uncover the them, and gently brush the tops of each with the well-beaten eggs.

Place them into the oven to bake for about 18 minutes or until light golden brown. Continue the process until all the croissants are baked.