Posted on Saturday, 29th January 2011 by Grace Massa Langlois
You already know I’m a huge lover of Italian Pastries. What you may not know (because I’ve hardly talked about it) there’s another pastry in my life. It’s true. I’ve been unfaithful to my beloved Italian pastries. I’m also a huge lover of French Pastries, especially Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants). Oh là là!
But to be completely honest, just about any type of pastry will do. I’ve had a sort of love/hate relationship with pastry because although I love to eat it, I have had a fear of making it. I decided recently that it was time to put my fears to bed and try my hand at Pastry Dough.
I’ve always wanted to make authentic Pain au Chocolat, a pastry with one or two pieces of chocolate in the middle. Pain au Chocolate can be made with Pâte Feuilletée (Puff Pastry) or Pâte Croissant (Croissant Dough).
I set out to compare the Pastry Dough’s, their recipes and their methods. And in the process I learned something very surprising. Pâte Feuilletée does not include a leavener. How could it rise so high I wondered? The answer is in the precise combination of its four main ingredients, flour, butter, salt and water.
Unlike Pâte Feuilletée, Pâte Croissant does in fact use a leavener, yeast. After careful consideration, I thought the method for making Pâte Croissant was a little easier with less opportunity for failure and the added boost from the yeast would help with the rise. Considering this was my first attempt at pastry dough, easier was better, right?
I soon learned that easier is only better when you read the recipe correctly. Sacrebleu! I thought I went through all the steps carefully. Then I shaped and filled the Croissants with chocolate and set them aside to rise for 45 to 60 minutes.
At the 30-minute mark I decided to take a peek and see how well my little pastries were doing. Imagine my surprise when I saw that they hadn’t risen at all! Mon dieu! In the midst of my French profanities I wondered if maybe they just needed a little longer to rise? I took a deep breath and reminded myself to be patient. Within minutes I had an “aha” moment and then it took everything in me not to scream a few more choice words. I knew exactly what I’d done wrong – I used active dry yeast instead of the called for instant yeast. Can you believe it?
You may be asking “How could she not have realized this sooner?” Keep in mind this was my first attempt. After making batch number two I realized the dough rose in between turns.
I finished my last turn for batch number 2 in the wee hours of the morning. Although I was tired I was determined to stay awake to finish the Pain au Chocolat so the kids could enjoy them for breakfast. I set out on this final batch of dough to roll, cut, shape, fill, set aside for final rise and then, finally, to bake. As determined as I was, at a certain point in the quiet morning hours, my drowsiness finally won over and I dozed off.
I did finally persevere and get those pastries done. How did they turn out? A far cry from batch number one (see photo just below), don’t you think? They were golden brown and crispy on the outside and they puffed up magnificently.
The pièce de résistance is on the inside – layers and layers of buttery goodness. I was finally successful in making flaky, melt-in-your-mouth French pastry and when combined with luscious dark chocolate – I couldn’t ask for anything more.
If this isn’t enough to entice you to try making your own Pâte Croissant for Pain au Chocolate, maybe thoughts of an intensely seductive aroma wafting throughout your house will. The combination of buttery, yeasty sweet dough and chocolate, baked together, was completely irresistible. It reminded me of the early morning trips to the bakery, surrounded by the sweet aroma of all-night baking. Yes, there are a lot of steps involved in this recipe, but the destination is well worth the journey!
Now that I’ve mastered the technique for making Pastry Dough the possibilities for using it is endless.
I’ve tucked away countless recipes for savoury appetizers from Dara’s site, Cookin’ Canuck but this one for Pancetta, Caramelized Onion Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce will be my first. Dara’s taken 3 of my favourite ingredients and rolled them into one amazing dish! Do yourself a favour and visit Dara’s site but just one warning – don’t visit on an empty stomach!
On the sweet end of things, my Chocolate Custard Tartlettes and Cannoncini will taste extraordinary with homemade pastry dough I can’t wait to enjoy.
Pâte Croissant and Pain au Chocolat-Croissant Dough-Chocolate Croissant
(From Cooks Illustrated, only slightly adapted)
- Pâte Croissant – Croissant Dough
- Pain au Chocolat – Chocolate Croissant
Pâte Croissant – Croissant Dough
Recipe Notes
A few things to keep in mind when making the Pâte Croissant – the croissant dough must be completely chilled before rolling. If it is not chilled the butter will melt making it quite difficult to roll and shape. If at any time through the rolling and folding process you find the dough becoming warm or sticky, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator to chill until the dough becomes workable. The pâte croissant is best made in a cool kitchen. The alternative is to place a large tray of ice on your work surface to chill it down before beginning the rolling and folding stage or if you are using a portable working surface you can place the working surface in the fridge to chill.
Pastry Dough
- 3 cups (15 ounces) plain (all-purpose) flour, divided (¼-cup reserved), plus more for dusting work surface
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar
- 1¼ teaspoons table salt
- 1¼ cups (10 ounces) whole milk, cold
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces
Butter Square
- 24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 24 pieces
- 2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
For the pastry dough
- Place 2¾-cups (12-ounces) flour into a medium-sized bowl. Add the yeast, sugar, and salt to the flour. Whisk until well combined.
- Place the cold milk into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the flour mixture and knead at low speed until a ball of dough forms, about 5 minutes.
- Add butter pieces, one-at-a-time, to the dough. Continue to knead until butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, begins to form a ball, and clears sides of bowl, 5 or 6 minutes. (Dough should be sticky, but if more dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl than itself, add remaining ¼-cup flour, 1-tablespoon at-a-time, as necessary.) Remove dough from bowl and transfer to a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
- Follow instructions below for the *butter square; shape butter and flour mixture into a 7-inch (18-cm) square, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Lightly dust clean work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll chilled dough into an 11-inch (28-cm) square. Remove plastic wrap from butter square and place diagonally on top of the dough square. Fold one outside corner of dough in toward the centre and bring the opposite corner of dough in and over so that they meet in the middle and overlap. Pinch the edges of the dough to seal. Repeat with the other two corners. Butter should be completely enclosed and the edges completely sealed.
- Using a rolling pin, gently tap the dough, starting from the centre of the dough and going outward, until the square becomes larger and the butter begins to soften. At this point, start gently rolling the dough into a 14-inch (36-cm) square, checking often to make sure dough is not sticking to your work surface, lightly dust with flour as needed. Fold square into thirds to form a rectangle, fold one outside edge of dough in toward the centre (using your finger tips, seal the edges of the dough) and bring the opposite edge in over the top (seal the edges of the dough). (This method of folding is called a “turn” and resembles folding a business letter.) Using a pastry brush, brush off excess flour. Make another “turn”; starting from the narrow end, fold rectangle into thirds to form a square (do not seal on this turn). You have now given the dough 2 turns. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Repeat step 6, giving the dough 2 additional turns (a total of 4 turns). Return the dough to the refrigerator to chill again for at least 2 hours.
For the butter square
- Sprinkle 1-tablespoon flour onto a clean work surface. Place the butter pieces on top of the flour. Sprinkle the remaining flour over the butter pieces. Using a bench scraper, toss together the butter pieces and flour.
- Using the bench scraper, smear the butter and flour back and forth against the work surface until they have combined into a smooth, homogenous mixture.
- Transfer butter to a piece of plastic wrap. Using the edges of the plastic wrap form a 7-inch (18-cm) square. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Pain au Chocolat
Recipe Notes
Pain au Chocolat is at its best when made with good-quality chocolate. The ideal shape is rectangular because it is much easier to execute than the classic crescent shape used for regular croissants. Depending on the dimensions of your chocolate bars, you may have a little left over chocolate when cutting out the batons; these pieces can be enjoyed by the chef or coarsely chopped and added to each croissant.
- Pâte Croissant (1 recipe)
- 200 grams (8 ounces) (2 X 100-gram or 2 X 4-ounce bar) good-quality chocolate, semi-sweet or bittersweet, cut into 24 pieces approximately 3-inches X ¾-inch (7½-cm X 2-cm) batons
- Egg wash – 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper, set aside.
- Place the chilled Pâte Croissant (Croissant Dough) onto a clean, lightly dusted work surface. Lightly dust the top of the dough and your rolling pin and then roll the dough into a 20-inch (51-cm) square.
- Using a pizza cutter and ruler, cut Pâte Croissant into 4 equal, 10-inch (25-cm) squares.
- Cut each of the squares into thirds to make a total of 12 rectangles, each approximately 10-inches by 3¼-inches.
- Please take a moment to watch this video to ensure the instructions are clear. Form Pain au Chocolat one-at-a-time; working from the narrow end of the rectangle to the other; place one chocolate baton (about ½-inch in from the edge) on top of the dough. Lift the ½-inch edge of dough up and over the baton and seal the edge with your fingertips. Place the second baton on the sealed edge and then fold over so that the baton is covered. Continue to fold over to the end of the rectangle. Make sure there is enough dough remaining to fold under the croissant. (If you get to the end and there is not much dough left over so that the seal is at the bottom – unroll slightly and stretch the dough a bit to create a longer rectangle to ensure the seam-side is down.) Transfer to prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat until you have assembled all of the Pain au Chocolat. When placing Pain au Chocolat on baking sheets leave enough room for them to puff up; you should place 6 per baking sheet.
- Cover Pain au Chocolat loosely with non-stick baking paper and let them rise at roomtemperature until puffy (they will not double in size), 45 to 60 minutes.
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400° F (205° C).
- Immediately before baking, using a pastry brush, brush Pain au Chocolat with beaten egg. Spritz with cold water and then bake, rotating baking sheet from front to back halfway through baking time, until Pain au Chocolat are golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Transfer Pain au Chocolat to wire rack until warm, about 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
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Tags: after school treat, afternoon tea, breakfast, brunch, chocolate, chocolate dessert, croissants, dessert, desserts, donuts, doughnuts, food, french pastries, french pastry, individual dessert, individual desserts, Martha Stewart recipes, pastry dough
Posted in Baking & Pastry, Baking Mise en Place, Fillings, Frostings & Dessert Sauces, Pastry Doughs & Batter, Recipes, Yeast Breads & Yeast Dough
Comments (46)
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January 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am
These look amazing! Also, thanks for posting the white chocolate brownie recipe, huge hit with the fam and friends
I posted it on my blog. Hope you have the time to check it out! Love your photography too!
January 29th, 2011 at 11:52 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Alison Lewis and elena cestafe, Grace Langlois. Grace Langlois said: New Blog Post-I finally made Pate Croissant and used it to Make Pain au Chocolat http://su.pr/7qZsHg #desserts #sweets #chocolate #pastries [...]
January 29th, 2011 at 11:54 am
These look so gorgeous!
January 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Hi,
I also love pain au chocolate, definitely one of my very favourite pastries! Thanks so much for sharing these, they look lovely
January 29th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Hi Gracie
what a monumental undertaking! I am in awe! I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love Pain au Chocolat, and would love to learn to make it….thanks for all your tips, when I do try it I will refer to your recipe
Have a great weekend
Dennis
January 29th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Perfection!!! Looks so delicious!
January 29th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
French pastries are my #1 cravings! My big project this year is to try to make the pastry myself. I haven’t tried it yet and I’m looking around for all posts, books, tutorials that I can find so thanks for this post! it’s very useful and I bookmarked it for future reference (I need a long weekend to start trying this myself). you did an amazing job!
January 29th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
wow, amazing!
January 29th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Thanks Sara, it is time consuming but really not as difficult as I thought. I found it so much easier to work with that pie dough.
January 29th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
They look absolutely amazing! Would be perfect for Sunday breakfast treat!
January 29th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
There is nothing like a really good pain au chocolat. I ate far too many of them when I backpacked through Europe years ago. I am excited to try these!
January 29th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Sounds like fun Dara, I wish I would’ve have done that. Trying to convince my daughter to enjoy Europe this summer but I am failing miserably. Maybe I should hold back because I think if she went she may never want to come back.
January 29th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Oh yes perfect Sunday morning treat and so quick once the pastry is made to put together.
January 30th, 2011 at 12:31 am
oh Gosh! Perfecto!!
January 30th, 2011 at 12:54 am
Beautiful…simply gorgeous! You should be very proud, some people go their entire lives without mastering pastry!
Congratulations!
January 30th, 2011 at 3:27 am
Thank you Michelle, Puff pastry is next for me, hoping I can achieve those beautiful layers.
January 30th, 2011 at 6:27 am
Wow, these croissants look so crunchy and delicious… I wish I had time to make these..
Greets!
January 30th, 2011 at 6:35 am
I actually made a danish pastry way back in the beginning of my blogging days and couldn’t believe how easy it actually was. I love you chocolate ones – reminds me of he chocolate pastries I get at Panera Bread (the easy way for me to get my fix without over doing it!). Congrats on your accomplishment!
January 30th, 2011 at 7:38 am
I’ve made that same mistake! From the look of your gorgeous photos, it was definitely worth the one hiccup
January 30th, 2011 at 8:41 am
congrats Grace!! that is one be undertaking and one i personally won’t be attempting – so bowing down to you now girl!! beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!
January 30th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Amazing Gracie! These look better than you can get in MANY Parisian Pâtisseries. Really felt for you being up checking on them at 2am but was worth it, n’est-ce pas? Fabulous.
January 30th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Wow, I am so impressed with your pastry skills! These look so beautiful and professional!
January 30th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Hey Grace! These are lovely!
January 30th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
They were definitely worth it Jill. I think I have the pastry bug, want to try the Pate Feuilletee this week, wish me luck. I know this pastry dough will be more difficult but I figure I might as well start it now and practise and practise until I get it right.
January 31st, 2011 at 4:59 am
AMAZING!!
January 31st, 2011 at 11:22 am
This is one of the most challenging pastry items to make by hand, especially if you do not have professional pastry equipment to roll out the thin layers of dough without breaking up between the layers of butter.
You did it!
Bon appetit!
February 1st, 2011 at 7:18 am
Thank you Chef!
February 1st, 2011 at 7:20 am
Definitely worth it in the end, thank you Jill!
February 1st, 2011 at 12:08 pm
These look so beautiful! I took a graduate course in Buenos Aires and they served some chocolate filled pastries that looked very similar to these (yours look better of course!). And so these pics are bringing back wonderful memories! I’m glad you persevered through this recipe!
February 1st, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Marly you never told me that, I must hear all about it!
February 2nd, 2011 at 2:53 pm
I always wanted to know how to make croissants without having to buy the dough. I’m gonna try your recipe over the weekend.
February 4th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
A+. You wrapped them perfectly. Nice work.
February 4th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
This looks wonderful. It is great you tried croissants.
May 10th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
I made these for my Mom on Mother’s day and they couldn’t have turned out better! Thankyou soooo much for the recipe.
May 10th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
You are most welcome Lindsay – so very happy you enjoyed!
May 11th, 2011 at 6:24 am
[...] most of the recipes use the store-bought variety. I found a great little recipe for making my own Puff Pastry and surprisingly enough, the list of ingredients was fairly small. But after making my own (a [...]
September 3rd, 2011 at 11:04 pm
I wanted to make croissants with zaatar, very popular (and delicious) in Lebanon, but all the French websites are not as clear as yours; I will follow your guideline as a start and hopefully will stop here! Thanks!
September 4th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
You’re most welcome!
September 14th, 2011 at 10:01 am
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February 10th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
[...] apples is my idea of comfort.I didn’t have time to invest the ”love” to make homemade puff pastry (the best) so I did the next best thing – I got on the phone and texted my loving and [...]
March 12th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
A pain au chocolat is not a chocolate croissant. The word croissant refers to a crescent shape, not the pastry dough it is made with. You can find chocolate croissants, but they are the traditional croissant shape, but with a piece of chocolate inserted into them. This is often done with day old croissants, which may have chocolate or custard cream or both put into a split croissant. Please stop this misinformation that a pain au chocolat and a chocolate croissant are one and the same thing. They are not! Just go to France, ask for a chocolate croissant, and see what you get. Probably a bewildered stare.
March 13th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Michelle I do know what a croissant is but here in Canada pain au chocolat are often referred to as chocolate croissants and often times people search for the pain au chocolat on the web using this term. I don’t believe I said that they were the same but if my placing the familiar term, Chocolate Croissants, in the title gave that impression I apologize because I did not mean to lead my visitors astray. I do want to point out that this was my description of the Pain au Chocolat “a pastry with one or two pieces of chocolate in the middle”. I went on to describe the two types of dough that are used the Pâte Croissant (yeasted dough) and the Pâte Feuilletée. Again I apologize it was never my intention to confuse or provide misinformation, I write and share recipes to pass along the tips I’ve learned along the way and also to impart the knowledge that I’ve learned.
March 21st, 2012 at 6:48 pm
[...] If this isn’t enough to entice you to try making your own Pâte Croissant for Pain au Chocolate , maybe thoughts of an intensely seductive aroma wafting throughout your house will. Pâte Croissant-Pain au Chocolat-Croissant Dough-Chocolate Croissant | La Mia Vita Dolce [...]
April 13th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
[...] used two recipes online for my adventure – this one (Simply So Good) for the ingredients and method, and this one (Graces Sweet Life) for the step [...]
June 1st, 2012 at 6:16 pm
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October 26th, 2012 at 9:54 pm
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