Chocolate Croissants

Classic flaky and buttery croissants dipped and drizzled in melty chocolate.

I’ve been wanting to make croissants for foreverrrr, but I’m always intimidated when were talking about homemade dough and laminating and I just always decide to bake cookies instead. But I finally did it and OMG like what was I waiting on?! They were easier than expected and JUST. SO. GOOD.

You do need to start the night before you want to bake and eat them, and they’re a little time consuming, but it’s mostly resting time and actually very little active working time. I also list all of the ingredients in this recipe by weight in grams. I find it to be super important and much more accurate when working with dough. So you’ll need a kitchen scale. Here’s one similar to mine!

How to Make Chocolate Croissants

The night before, add the flour, sugar, active dry yeast, cold milk, soft butter, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Knead on medium high speed for 10 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 8X10. Wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, place the cold butter in between two sheets of parchment paper and roll into one “slab” of butter that’s roughly 7X8. Place it into the freezer.

Take the dough from the fridge and roll it to about 8X15″ using as little flour as possible on the surface and your rolling pin. Put the slab of butter down on one side of the dough, then fold the remaining dough over the top and pinch the edges all the way around to seal. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 8X15. Try to just roll in one direction. Lengthening the dough rather that widening it. The dough should be about 1/4″ thick. Try to keep the edges as straight as possible, and shape the corners square with your hands.

Now for the folds. Make sure to dust off any flour. Then take the dough from one of the 8″ (shorter) edges, and fold 1/3 of it onto itself. So now 2/3 of the dough is folded and about 1/3 of it is left. Take the remaining 1/3 and fold it bringing the edge to touch the other edge. The seam will be off center, but that’s what we want. Now take the whole thing and fold it in half. Now you have a long rectangle with 4 layers. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Take the dough from the freezer and place it in front of you so that the long open edge is to your right. Roll the dough to about 8X15 once again. Now fold the dough letter styler. (Fold 1/3 over on itself then the remaining 1/3 on top of that so that you have a long rectangle with 3 layers.) Wrap again with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15 more minutes.

Remove from the freezer and roll into a rectangle about 26X12. Take a pizza cutter and trim the edges by about 1/4″ all the way around, exposing the layers you created with all those folds. Grab two opposite corners of the dough and tug on the slightly so that the shorter edges are at a diagonal rather that straight. Take a pizza cutter or sharp knife and make marks about every 3 inches on both long sides, then cut the dough into rectangles about 3 in wide and 8 in long. Place the triangles on a cookie sheet and place into the freezer.

Remove from the freezer and take a sharp knife to make a little slit in the middle of the 3″ part of the triangle, then roll each triangle into a croissant. Tuck the corner underneath so it doesn’t unravel while baking. Brush each croissant with egg wash. And place on 2 cookie sheets leaving room in between as they will almost triple in size while rising.

Place the cookie sheets into the oven (oven is turned off) to rise. Also, place a bowl of boiling water in the oven with the croissants. This will help with the rising process and make sure the dough stays moist. Let rise in the oven for 1.5-2 hours.

Remove the croissants from the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Brush the croissants with the egg wash again. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until golden brown. While the croissants are baking, melt the semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler, or in 30 second bursts in the microwave.

When the croissants are cool enough to handle, dunk and-or drizzle them with the melted semi-sweet chocolate. Serve immediately. Best enjoyed the same day you bake, but they will last in the fridge for up to a week, just reheat to serve!

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If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to check out my Browned Butter Brioche Cinnamon Rolls.