Sourdough Croissants Recipe: 3 Tips for Flaky Croissant Dough
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Mar 10, 2024 • 5 min read
Sourdough croissants are a buttery, flaky, tangy pastry that uses an active sourdough starter instead of dry yeast. Serve them at brunch with butter and jam, or slice them in half for sandwiches.
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What Are Croissants?
A croissant is a French pastry that requires the lamination method to create alternating dough and butter layers. The lamination process results in a flaky, buttery, crescent-shaped pastry. Croissant dough, puff pastry, and Danish dough are all laminated doughs, but the ingredients in the recipes vary.
One popular version is a chocolate croissant, or pain au chocolat—rectangle-shaped croissants containing chocolate batons for a sweet element. Other croissants might include savory ingredients, such as ham and cheese. Try making Chef Dominique Ansel’s croissant recipe for a traditional homemade version.
Tips for Making Sourdough Croissants
The active sourdough starter in a sourdough croissant recipe results in a slightly sour flavor. It also requires more technique than traditional croissants, which use commercial yeast. Follow these tips for making homemade croissants that call for sourdough starter:
- Feed the sourdough starter the night before. Making sourdough croissants is a long process, with a lot of the necessary chemical reactions happening overnight while the dough rests. Feed the sourdough starter the night before starting the recipe, so it has all night to activate and is ready to use the next day.
- Stick to the recipe’s fermentation timeline. Commercial yeast croissants afford more leeway regarding the resting time between folds. Sourdough, however, takes a long time to achieve the same rise and reaction as dry yeast yields, so if a croissant recipe calls for a specific resting time or chilling the dough overnight between folds, follow the instructions carefully.
- Use a high-hydration levain. Croissant dough is a lightly enriched dough but still stiff. A high-hydration levain (the starting mixture of active starter, water, and flour) will give the dough the right consistency without the risk of it becoming too dry or too wet.
Sourdough Croissants Recipe
makes
8–10prep time
20 mintotal time
1 hrcook time
40 minIngredients
Note: The total time does not include about 50 hours of inactive time.
For the levain:
For the butter square:
For the dough:
For the egg wash:
Make the levain:
- 1
Feed a sourdough starter.
- 2
The following day, combine the active sourdough starter, ¾ cup of water, and ½ cup of all-purpose flour.
- 3
Cover the levain with plastic wrap.
- 4
Rest the levain in a warm spot overnight or for 8–10 hours.
Make the butter square:
- 1
The next day, combine 1 pound of cold butter and ¼ cup of all-purpose flour.
- 2
Use a fork, pastry cutter, or your hands to mix the butter and flour.
- 3
Form the mixture into an 8-inch square.
- 4
Wrap the butter block tightly in plastic wrap.
- 5
Chill the butter block in the refrigerator.
Make the dough:
- 1
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the levain, 2 ⅓ cups of all-purpose flour, bread flour, whole milk, sugar, and salt.
- 2
Knead the dough for 3 minutes.
- 3
Add 4 tablespoons of room-temperature butter one tablespoon at a time.
- 4
Knead the dough until it’s smooth and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
- 5
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form the croissant dough into a ball.
- 6
Put the dough ball in a greased bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
- 7
Chill the dough overnight or for 8–10 hours.
- 8
Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
- 9
With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large square, leaving it thicker in the center and thinner at the corners.
- 10
Place the butter square in the center of the dough square.
- 11
Bring each corner of the dough into the center of the butter square until it fully covers the butter.
- 12
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap.
- 13
Chill the dough for 1 hour.
- 14
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured work surface.
- 15
With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a 24-inch rectangle.
- 16
Starting from one of the short sides of the rectangle, you will now fold the dough by thirds, similar to how you might fold a letter. Fold one-third of the dough up and over the center of the rectangle. Now fold the remaining, uncovered one-third of dough over the previous one-third section. The footprint of the rectangle should now be one-third of what it was before you started folding.
- 17
Wrap the folded dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 6 hours to relax the gluten.
- 18
Repeat the letter fold twice more, for a total of 3 turns and a total rest of 18 hours.
Shape the croissants:
- 1
Roll the dough out into a 16-inch rectangle.
- 2
With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, trim off the rough edges of the dough.
- 3
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- 4
With the same sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8–10 equal triangles.
- 5
Cut a small notch into the top of the triangle.
- 6
Gently pull on either side of the notch, making sure not to rip the cut farther down the triangle.
- 7
Starting at the widest side, roll the dough down to the point of the triangle.
- 8
Turn the outer ends of the crescent shape toward the center of the croissant so they almost touch each other.
- 9
Place the shaped croissants on the lined baking sheet.
- 10
Cover the croissants lightly with plastic wrap (avoid tucking the plastic wrap under the baking sheet).
- 11
Proof the croissants in the refrigerator overnight or for 8–10 hours.
Apply the egg wash and bake the croissants:
- 1
The next morning, bring the croissants to room temperature.
- 2
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 3
In a small bowl, combine the large egg and 2 tablespoons of water or milk.
- 4
Gently brush the croissants with the egg wash.
- 5
Bake the croissants for 20 minutes.
- 6
Rotate the baking sheet.
- 7
Bake the croissants until they’re deeply golden brown, about another 20 minutes.
- 8
Transfer the baked croissants to a wire rack to cool.
- 9
Serve the croissants warm.
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