This recipe makes six proper laminated croissants — the kind with audible crunch and a layered, open crumb — using a straightforward three-fold lamination that any home baker can manage. The timeline is long, but the actual hands-on work adds up to under an hour. Make them on a weekend when you can let the fridge do most of the work, and you’ll have croissants ready to eat across several days.
Why this recipe works
Two things drive the result here. First, the dough is deliberately under-kneaded — just enough to hold together, not enough to build strong gluten. Strong gluten fights you during rolling and tears the butter layers. Second, powdered milk replaces fresh milk in the dough. It adds the same richness and helps the crust brown deeply in the oven, but without the extra liquid that would make the dough slack and harder to laminate. Together, these two choices give you a dough that stays cooperative through three folds and still bakes up with a defined, honeycomb interior.
About the ingredients
- Powdered milk: Find it in the baking aisle near evaporated milk. Bob’s Red Mill and Carnation are both widely available. Don’t substitute fresh milk — the extra moisture changes the dough consistency.
- Butter for laminating: Use the best unsalted butter you can find. European-style butter (82–84% fat) works better than standard American butter (80% fat) because the lower water content means less steam and crisper layers. Skip the fancy cultured butter — not worth the extra cost here.
- Active dry yeast: If substituting instant yeast, use the same amount and add it directly to the dry ingredients without proofing first.
- All-purpose flour: Works well. Bread flour will make the dough tougher to roll; stick with all-purpose.
Make-ahead notes
Croissants are built for spreading across two or three days, which makes them practical for batch cooking. The dough can rest in the fridge after the initial mix for up to 24 hours before you start laminating, and again for up to 24 hours after the three folds are complete — both rests improve flavor. Once shaped and egg-washed, unbaked croissants can go straight into the freezer on a parchment-lined tray; once solid, transfer them to a zip bag and freeze for up to one month. To bake from frozen, place them on a lined sheet, cover loosely, and let them proof at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours before baking as directed. Already-baked croissants keep at room temperature for up to 2 days in a paper bag — not a plastic bag, which traps moisture and softens the crust. To refresh a day-old croissant, place it directly on an oven rack at 350°F for 5 to 6 minutes. It won’t be identical to fresh-baked, but it’s genuinely good.
Troubleshooting
- Butter shatters and breaks through the dough during rolling: The butter was too cold. It needs to be cold but pliable — it should bend slightly without snapping. If it shatters, let the dough package sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then try again gently.
- Croissants spread flat in the oven instead of puffing: They were over-proofed. A properly proofed croissant jiggles like set gelatin when you shake the tray. If it sloshes, it’s gone too far and the butter has started to melt into the dough rather than staying in distinct layers.
- No visible layers in the baked crumb: The dough warmed up too much during lamination and the butter merged with the dough. Keep everything cold — if the dough feels soft or greasy at any point during folding, stop and refrigerate it for 20 minutes before continuing.
- Croissants unroll or open up during baking: The seam wasn’t placed firmly against the pan. Press the tip of each triangle gently but firmly onto the parchment before proofing, and make sure the seam side is down.
- Pale, doughy-looking crust after the full bake time: Oven temperature was too low or the egg wash was applied too thick. Use a thin, even coat of egg wash and verify your oven with an oven thermometer — most home ovens run 15 to 25 degrees cooler than the dial reads.
Homemade French Croissants From Scratch
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook
- Rolling pin (French-style tapered pin recommended)
- Large baking sheet (18x13 inch / 46x33cm half sheet pan)
- Pizza cutter or pastry wheel
- Pastry brush
- Parchment paper
- Instant-read thermometer
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups water divided
- ⅓ cup powdered milk also called dry milk powder
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces, for dough
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter in one block, for laminating
- 1 large egg for egg wash
- 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Instructions
- Soften the yeast in ¼ cup (60ml) warm water (105-110°F / 40-43°C). Let stand for 5-10 minutes until foamy. Meanwhile, stir ⅓ cup powdered milk into 1 cup (240ml) room-temperature water until dissolved.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the ¼ cup cold butter pieces and rub into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no visible butter lumps.
- Add dry ingredients and powdered milk mixture to the yeast. Mix everything using a dough hook in a stand mixer until all elements are incorporated together. Continue mixing for approximately 30 seconds until the dough sticks together but is still crumbly. Comparable to a sugar cookie or shortbread dough. Do not over-knead. If you over-knead the dough, the dough will be too elastic and impossible to roll out. If you do this by hand, mix milk into the flour mixture until incorporated, then knead on a floured surface for about one minute.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, or place it into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag that is left one-third open. Place dough into the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
- Place the 1 cup block of cold butter between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, pound and roll the butter into a flat, even 6x6-inch (15x15cm) square, about ½ inch (1.3cm) thick. If the butter softens during this process, return it to the fridge for 15 minutes until firm but still pliable.
- Take out the dough from the fridge and roll it out into a 12-inch by 6-inch rectangle. Place the flattened butter sheet onto one half of the 12x6-inch dough rectangle, leaving a ½-inch border. Fold the other half of the dough over the butter and pinch the edges to seal. With the folded edge to your left, roll out the dough into a 22x10-inch (56x25cm) rectangle. Fold the rectangle into thirds like a business letter. Return to the bag and refrigerate for 45 minutes.
- Remove dough from the fridge and roll out the dough into a 22-inch by 10-inch rectangle and fold it into thirds. This completes the first turn. Return to fridge for 45 minutes. Repeat this step twice for a total of three turns. There must be three turns, not including the initial rollout. I mark with my finger after each turn, so I can keep track of how many turns I have done. After you have completed the three turns, return the dough to the fridge for 6 hours; again, I just leave it in overnight.
- The following day, roll out the dough into 25-inch by 14-inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle lengthwise using a pizza cutter, pastry cutter, or sharp knife. Then zigzag cut each half into long triangles. Be sure the dough stays cold. So if this process is taking a bit longer than expected, longer than about 10 minutes, return one of the halves to the fridge.
- Once triangles are cut, roll from fat end to short end. Before you roll, however, gently pull the dough to elongate or roll very lightly with a rolling pin to elongate. This will give a more pleasing croissant shape. Once rolled, attach the two ends to provide a crescent shape.
- Make an egg wash by whisking together 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Place shaped croissants seam-side down on parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced 3 inches (7.5cm) apart. Brush lightly with egg wash. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature (70-75°F / 21-24°C) for 1½ to 2 hours, or until doubled in size and the layers are visibly puffed. Gently brush with a second coat of egg wash.
- Bake at 400°F / 200°C (205°C conventional / 180°C fan-forced) for 20 to 23 minutes, or until a very deep golden brown colour is achieved.
Notes
- Storage: Baked croissants keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. Freeze fully cooled croissants in a zip-top bag for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen at 350°F / 175°C for 8–10 minutes.
- Make-ahead: The dough can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours at any resting stage. You can also shape the croissants, freeze them unbaked on a sheet pan, then transfer to a bag. Proof from frozen for 3–4 hours before baking.
- Substitution: Use whole milk (1 cup / 240ml) in place of the powdered milk and water mixture, though powdered milk produces a richer flavour and better browning.
- If using salted butter for lamination, reduce the salt in the dough to 1½ teaspoons.
- Pro tip: Keep your kitchen cool (ideally below 68°F / 20°C) during lamination. If the butter starts breaking through the dough at any point, stop immediately and refrigerate for 15 minutes before continuing.
- Resting/chilling time: 15–20 hours (includes two overnight rests).
Nutrition
Common questions
Can I make croissants without a stand mixer?
Yes — mix the dough by hand and knead it on a lightly floured surface for about one minute, stopping as soon as it comes together. The goal is a shaggy, just-cohesive dough, so hand mixing actually makes it easier to avoid over-working it.
How do I know when the croissants are fully proofed and ready to bake?
They should look visibly puffed and jiggle gently when you shake the tray — that wobble tells you the layers are still intact and the butter is still solid. At 70–75°F this takes 1.5 to 2 hours, but a cooler kitchen can push it to 3 hours, so go by look and feel rather than the clock.
My kitchen is warm. Will that cause problems during lamination?
A warm kitchen is the main enemy of lamination — butter above about 65°F starts to soften into the dough instead of staying in separate layers. Work quickly, chill the dough for the full 45 minutes between each fold, and if your kitchen is above 75°F, add an extra 15-minute fridge rest if the dough feels soft or sticky at any point.
If you liked this one
- Authentic French Bread
- Fluffy Cinnamoroll Milk Bread Cinnamon Rolls
- Authentic New York-Style Bagels
- French Chocolate Mousse
