Preparing a classic puff pastry is often the cause of nightmares, even for seasoned bakers. This recipe for croissants does not require special skills from you and will save time and effort, and as a result you will get a soft layered delicacy melting in your mouth.
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Ingredients:
- 2½ cups (190 g) of flour;
- 150 g of butter;
- 120 ml of milk;
- 45 g of sugar;
- 25 g fresh yeast;
- a pinch of salt.
Preparation:
- Start by mixing the yeast base. Preheat the milk, making sure it is not so hot to kill the yeast, but warm enough to activate them. Dissolve sugar in hot milk and stir fresh yeast. Leave the mixture warm while preparing the second part of the dough.
- Mix the sifted flour with a pinch of salt and add to it pieces of ice-cold oil. With a knife or blender, turn everything into a crumb.
- Pour the yeast solution to the crumb of flour and butter, mix everything with a spoon. Try to minimize the contact of the dough with your hands so that the pieces of butter do not melt.
- Form the finished dough in a rectangular brick, wrap with a film and leave in the refrigerator for half an hour.
- Now there is the most time consuming - rolling. Roll the dough into a rectangular formation.
- Fold the layer along in half.
- Then - once again in half, but already across. Fold the dough the way shown in the photo to get a piece of the original size.
- Repeat the dough and repeat the procedure three times. At first the dough will be lumpy, but as it rolls-folding, with a drop of patience and a small amount of flour, it will become very pliable and smooth.
- All the basic manipulations are over. Now it remains only to wait. Wrap the dough with a film and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or all night. Such a blank can also be frozen.
- After the dough is rolled into a rectangle 25 × 40 cm and divided into 8 triangles.
- Each of the triangles now remains to roll into a roll, moving from the base to the top, laying on a baking tray, grease with an egg yolk (or its mixture with milk) and send baked: 8 minutes at 220 degrees, and then 12-15 minutes at 180 degrees.
- These simple croissants are very soft and puffy. If desired, at the stage of folding the dough into the roll, you can add a filling of jam or chocolate.
Thanks for reading. Stay healthy!