Sourdough Croissants

Croissants feel like a luxury item to me, like I should be somewhere fancy and drinking a special coffee in a cute dress while wearing a dress. Oh and with the love of my life is there too, maybe in Paris? Is that too much to ask for every time I have a croissant? Probably. But I like to pretend I can do that every weekend.

My Sourdough Croissants are light, fluffy, airy, crisp on the outside, and buttery soft on the inside. They have the perfect balance with the sourdough flavor, butter, and salt to create your new favorite food. You will want to make these weekly.

Food to me is an experience, and these croissants are one of the best experiences. While they might not magically transport you to Paris when you eat one, they really will make you feel like you are living a luxurious life. And, they are SO easy to make. Seriously.

For years I put off trying to make croissants because they seemed like they would be hard to make, so I added them to my list of foods that I always get when I go to a restaurant because it is too hard to make. (yes, I have a special list of foods I get when I eat out because it’s too complicated to make). But, I also enjoy a good challenge so I decided to try to make them and it turns out they are not complicated at all!

After years of making bread I have accepted the fact that most delicious things take more than one day to make. Once you accept this truth your bread will be so much better, I promise. So get yourself prepared, because these amazing sourdough croissants will take you three days. Yes, THREE days. I know that seems like a long time and you are going to ask yourself, will I really want a croissant in three days? The answer is yes, it’s always yes.

While the 3 day process seems like it would be so much work, it’s really not at all. You are going to prep the dough the night before, make the croissants on the following day, and then bake them on the third day. You can take a short cut and make these in 2 days but I highly recommend 3 days, good things take time.

Sourdough Croissant Recipe

These easy to make sourdough croissants will have you baking every weeknd. A perfect way to use your sourdough, they are flaky, buttery, crisp on the outside and so soft in the middle. Perfect for brunch, making a sandwich, or serve them up with dinner. You will impress all your guests with something that seems difficult, but it is actually so easy to make!

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Prep Time 1 hr

Total Time 3 d

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack

Servings 10 Large Croissants

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

455 grams All - Purpose Flour
10 grams Salt
45 grams Honey
230 grams Warm Water
150 grams Sourdough Discard
50 grams butter, room tempter

Butter For Dough

255 grams butter, room tempter
1.5 tbsp Flour

Egg Wash

1 egg
1 tbsp water

Instructions

Day 1

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sourdough discard, honey, and warm water. Mix for 1 minute.
Add in the flour and salt. Knead the dough on medium speed for 5 - 10 minutes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides and creates a smooth ball.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Leave dough in a warm space to ferment for 3 hours. After 3 hours the dough should look puffy.
Place the dough in the fridge overnight.

Day 2

The following morning, place the flour and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. It helps if the butter is just a little bit colder then room temperature. Mix until combined.
Once the butter and flour are mixed together, place the butter on a sheet of parchment paper. Spread the butter out to be in a rectangle, aiming for 6 inches by 8 inches. Wrap the butter up in parchment paper and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
It is important that the butter is cold, but not too cold. You want it to still be pliable so that it spreads well into the dough but not too soft that it just falls out.
Take out your dough from the fridge and roll it out on a floured surface into a 8 inch by 16 inch rectangle. Place the cooled butter in the middle of the dough. Bring the top of the dough down to the middle of the butter and the bottom up to cover the other half. Make sure the butter is covered and tucked in the middle.

Fold 1

Turn the dough a quarter turn. Use a rolling pin to gently push on the dough to help disperse the butter into the layer of dough. Focus on lengthening the dough rather than making it wider. Roll the dough back out to the 8 inch by 16 inch rectangle. If the dough starts to stick, add flour to the surface.
Wrap the dough up in parchment paper and let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Fold 2

Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out in front of you into a rectangle 10 inches by 20 inches. Repeat the folding process and place back in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Fold 3

Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out in front of you into a rectangle 10 inches by 20 inches. Repeat the folding process and place it back in the fridge for 3 hours.

Shaping

Get your chilled dough out and roll it out on a floured surface into the 10 inches by 20 inches rectangle.
Using a pizza cutter you will make 2 inch marks all along both sides of the dough. Using the pizza cutter you will connect diagonal lines to create large, long, triangle shapes of dough.
Roll up the triangles by starting at the larger end and rolling to the tip o the triangle.
Leave the rolled up croissants to proof on parchment paper lined trays for 4 hours in a warm room. They will become puffy and jiggle when you shake the tray.
Once croissants have risen for 4 hours, place them in the fridge overnight. You can skip to bake them right away but I highly recommend leaving them overnight in the fridge. It really increases the sourdough flavor and creates a better croissant texture.

Day 3

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Mix the egg and water together
Take croissants out of the fridge. Use a small pastry brush to brush the croissants with the egg wash
Bake the croissants for 20 minutes and golden-brown

Keyword sourdough