Homemade Chocolate Croissants (Printable)

Learn to make flaky, buttery croissants filled with rich chocolate using this detailed guide with preparation and cooking times.

# What You Need:

→ Dough

01 - 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
02 - 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
03 - 1 teaspoon salt
04 - 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
05 - 3/4 cup whole milk, lukewarm
06 - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

→ Butter Layer

07 - 1 cup cold unsalted butter

→ Filling

08 - 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped or 8 chocolate batons

→ Egg Wash

09 - 1 large egg
10 - 1 tablespoon milk

# How-To:

01 - Dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
02 - Add flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter. Mix until a rough dough forms. Knead for 5 to 7 minutes until smooth.
03 - Shape dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
04 - Place cold butter between two sheets of parchment. Pound and roll into a 6 x 8-inch rectangle. Chill if soft.
05 - Roll dough on a floured surface into a 10 x 14-inch rectangle. Place butter slab on one half, fold over the other half, sealing edges.
06 - Roll dough gently into a 10 x 20-inch rectangle. Fold in thirds like a letter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
07 - Repeat rolling and folding, turning 90 degrees each time, two more times. Chill for 30 minutes between each fold.
08 - Roll dough into a 10 x 20-inch rectangle. Cut into 8 rectangles.
09 - Place chocolate at one end of each rectangle. Roll tightly into a log, seam-side down. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
10 - Cover loosely and let rise at warm room temperature for 2 hours, until puffy.
11 - Preheat oven to 400°F.
12 - Beat egg with milk. Brush croissants with egg wash.
13 - Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Cool slightly before serving.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The moment you tear into a warm croissant and see those buttery steam layers rising up is absolute kitchen magic that never gets old.
  • These freeze beautifully before baking, so you can wake up to homemade pastry on a Tuesday without any morning effort.
  • Your house will smell like a French bakery, and honestly, thats worth the process alone.
02 -
  • If butter starts melting through the dough while rolling, stop immediately and wrap it up for another twenty minutes in the fridge.
  • Use as little flour as possible during rolling, excess flour creates tough spots instead of flaky layers.
  • They will look small and sad before proofing, do not panic, they double in size during that final rise.
03 -
  • Rotate the dough 90 degrees between each fold so it stays rectangular and your layers develop evenly.
  • European butter has less water content than American butter, which means flakier layers and less leaking.

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