Julia Child's Croissants

My most recent adventure in the kitchen was inspired by an episode of "The French Chef" with Julia Child. During this episode, Julia explained the "in's and out's"of croissant-making, in a way that made the long laborious process seem effortless and fun! There are many steps to the recipe, and in between each step, the dough has to rest for 1-2 hours. The resting periods make this recipe take up to an entire day! However, the end results make it all worth it. These croissants are the flakiest, richest, and most delicious croissants I ever had...and fresh from my oven! 

I followed Julia Child's recipe from "The French Chef" television episode step-by-step, so I do not take credit for this recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
(Makes 12 croissants)

Yeast mixture:
1/4 cup warm (not boiling!) water
1 package dry active yeast
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Dough:
2 cups flour (Julia uses a 2 part pastry flour to 1 part all-purpose flour mix; I only had all-purpose flour available and it turned out great)
4 teaspoons vegetable oil (2 teaspoons if using pastry flour)
1/2 cup tepid milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 oz.) cold butter (good quality makes a big difference!)

Egg wash:
1 egg
1 teaspoon water

The first step is to proof the yeast to make sure it is active before adding it to the dough. To do this, I mixed all of the ingredients listed above under "Yeast mixture" in a small cup and set that aside for 5 minutes. If after 5 minutes the mixture has begun to foam, the yeast is active. If not, you may want to check the expiration date or try making another mixture with a new packet of yeast.

Next, I made the dough by adding the flour, oil, milk, sugar, salt, and yeast mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl. I stirred the ingredients together with a spatula, just to combine, and then turned it out onto the counter to knead it. The dough is sticky at first, but as you knead it, it becomes less sticky and more elastic. I kneaded the dough for about 3-4 minutes, until it was fairly smooth, and then placed it in a clean bowl. I then cut a cross shape on the top of the dough as shown below, and then covered the bowl with plastic wrap and set it to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.

Ready to rise!

Once the dough has doubled in size (timing may differ depending on the temperature), I punched the dough down (removing the air), removed it from the bowl, and wrapped it in wax paper to refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Risen dough

The next step was incorporating the butter into the dough. I removed the butter from the refrigerator, placed it on a flat surface, and beat it with my rolling pin to make it pliable (yes, I know it sounds silly, but Julia did it!). The object is to make the butter smooth and pliable while keeping it cold.

Beating the butter

Next, I removed the dough from the fridge, rolled it into a small disc shape, and placed the butter on top of the center of the dough in a square shape.

I then brought up the four sides of the dough around the butter and pinched them together on top to form a square dough packet with the butter inside. I rolled the dough packet into a rectangle that was about 5" wide and 14" long. Be careful when rolling not to tear the dough. Use extra flour for dusting and pinch any openings that may appear!

The next step is to fold the dough into thirds, similar to how you would fold a letter. I brought the top edge down about 2/3 of the way, and then folded the bottom up. Then, I turned the dough 90 degrees so that I could begin rolling again. This is known as the first "turn."

First turn

I had to repeat the rolling out and folding process one more time for the second turn, and then took the folded dough, wrapped it in wax paper, and let it rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Resting allows the butter to stay cold and to rest the gluten, making it easier to roll.

After it had rested, I repeated the process again for another 2 turns (total of 4 turns), and set the folded dough in the refrigerator to rest for another 2 hours.

Finally, it was time to form the croissants! I buttered my baking sheet and set it aside, and then took the rested dough out of the refrigerator. I rolled the dough out into an even longer rectangle this time (about 20" long), and then cut it in half. I put one half back in the fridge to stay cold while I worked on one half.

I rolled one half of the dough out into a rectangle about 12" long, and then cut it into thirds.

I then rolled each third out a bit more, into a square, and then cut diagonally to make two triangles from each.

Using my hands, I then rolled each triangle up from the base of the triangle to the tip, forming the croissant shape. Be sure to keep the tip at the bottom so that the croissant doesn't open up while rising or baking.

Once I formed the croissants, I placed them on the buttered baking sheet, and set to work on the other half of the dough I had in the refrigerator. The croissants were then placed in a warm place to rise, uncovered again for another 45 minutes.

Ready to rise

At this point, I set my oven to preheat at 475F. Once the croissants had doubled in size (again, timing may vary, but be sure they have doubled before moving on!), I made the egg wash by whisking the egg together with the water in a small bowl. I then brushed the tops of the croissants with the egg wash.

I then placed the croissants in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tops were beautifully golden brown.

Once they were out of the oven, I placed them on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. This part felt like the longest! The apartment smelled like heaven!

Julia suggested eating the croissants with a bit of jam and a warm cup of cafe au lait, so that's just what I did! Bon appetit!