Homemade Croissants

Published: 10/05/2017Updated: 8/10/2020

This post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Why bother with homemade croissants? Because they are light and airy goodies with ultra buttery crust, cotton soft interior and beautiful golden color! Plus, you get a huge ego boost looking at your beautiful creations.

Croissants are my biggest weakness. But unfortunately, you won’t find a bakery with amazing croissants around here. Actually, there is no bakery in town. Period!

And the only way I can get my hands on real croissants is to learn to make them myself. Or enjoy them while traveling.

So back in October, 2013, I was on a work trip in San Antonio, TX. While enjoying this delicious croissant for breakfast at the hotel restaurant, I made a promise to myself to never buy a croissant again until I learn to make it myself.

While I didn’t quite keep that promise (I couldn’t resist one at my favorite bakery in Minneapolis!), but I did learn to make some fabulous croissants from scratch later! Yay for me!

I’m not gonna lie to you that it’s a piece of cake to make, because it’s not!

Is it really that difficult? No, not really.

The ingredients and the technique are actually fairly simple. It’s just a time-consuming and needy process that requires your undivided attention a few times over THREE days. But you know what? It’s totally worth it!!

I made my first batch of croissants on April 20^th, 2014. And within a month I made 3 more batches. I thoroughly enjoyed the process and learned a ton! And obviously, eating buttery croissants is nothing to complain about!

We all can agree that anything homemade from scratch always tastes better, right? And these croissants from scratch are no exception!

Extra buttery, flaky crust, cotton soft interior, beautiful golden color and that buttery smell of fresh croissants… Nothing beats that feeling of achievement when you look at your picture-perfect croissants made with your own hands!

Now, you can do this too. I included step-by-step pictures below for you to follow. As I mentioned earlier, it takes 3 days to make these croissants. But before you give up on this idea, hear me out.

The first day, it’ll take less than 30 minutes.

The second day is when the most action happens. You’ll be rolling the dough a few times with two 30-minute breaks in between.

On the last day, you roll the dough one final time and shape the beautiful croissants. And you will be enjoying the buttery goodness in no time.

Contents hide

1 DAY 1

2 DAY 2

3 DAY 3

4 Homemade Croissants

4.1 Ingredients

4.1.1 For dough:

4.1.2 For laminating:

DAY 1

Day 1 is the easiest. We’ll make the dough and let it rest. Combine all the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. The mixer is not required; you can easily do it by hand. You need to refrigerate the dough for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. (I like to make this on Friday night after dinner and enjoy the croissants on Sunday.)

Shape the butter into flat square right after making the dough, so that you don’t have to worry about it the next day. Don’t be tempted to expedite this process by freezing the butter. Frozen butter doesn’t soften easily in the next step, and it’ll only lead to frustration. Refrigerating for at least 30 minutes will do the trick.

DAY 2

On this day, we’ll be rolling the dough with butter. This process is called laminating. Don’t get intimidated by this. It’s actually easier than you think! Once you place the butter inside the squared dough envelop, you will roll it into long rectangle 3 times with 30-minute break in between.

DAY 3

Since my countertop is not long enough, I cut the dough into two equal parts. It’s much easier to roll this way too. You see how many layers you’ve created by rolling and folding the previous day? Those are the layers you will see in your baked croissants!!

Now, just cut into triangles and roll into croissants. You will get 16 big croissants. If you love chocolate, you place a few chocolate squares, or spread some Nutella.

Whenever I make croissants, I plan on freezing some for later, and that has yet to happen. Because everyone at the ranch loves these croissants as much as I do.

But I have frozen two of them (just 2 croissants!) for testing purposes, and they do freeze really good. See freezing instructions in the notes section of the recipe below.

Hope you’ll make these beautiful croissants. Thanks for reading!

This recipe was originally published on May 26th, 2014.

Funfetti Macarons + Video

Pear Tarte Tatin (Rustic French Pear Pie)

Leave a Review Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Victoria says

Posted on 22 December 2020 at 10:10 am

I make these every Christmas morning and they are a hit at family brunch! I’m making it just for my household but one question: can I make and form them and leave them in the fridge over night and bake in the morning to save time?

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 22 December 2020 at 11:27 pm
  
  Yes, you can, Victoria!! So happy you enjoy this recipe year after year! Thank you for your feedback! Merry Christmas!
  
  Reply
Rachel Haase says

Posted on 28 March 2020 at 6:03 pm

Hello! I’m trying your recipe for the first time, but I’m halfing it since it’s just my husband and I during the quarantine. I feel stupid, but could you tell me how I would have the measurements? I understand how to half the amounts of ingredients, but I’m not a baker, so I’m unsure about the inch measurements as far as rolling out the butter, the dough, marking inches, etc. Do I just half those, too? My dough is in the refrigerator as I type! Thank you so much!

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 1 April 2020 at 2:01 pm
  
  Hi, Rachel. I’m a little confused here. It sounds like you already made the dough?? How did it turn out? I’d have advised not to halve the recipe, but hope yours turned out fine.
  
  Reply
Cheryl says

Posted on 22 January 2018 at 7:17 am

Wow! I made these yesterday, and they are flaky and delicious. Started in the morning with the dough, then mid day did the next portion, then cooked half last night (taste test/shaping practice batch), and put half in the refrigerator to bake this morning. This recipe definitely made croissant making easy. Thank you.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 1 February 2018 at 9:26 pm
  
  Yay, so happy to hear you tried this recipe and got to enjoy homemade croissants, Cheryl! And thank you for your feedback!
  
  Reply
Rochelle Gibson says

Posted on 28 October 2017 at 9:50 pm

i begun very excited to try this recipe, after reviewing the instructions multiple times, ensuring I had purchased the correct ingredients, I finally began the process. However, some how in my excitement to practice this before the holidays, and wowing my family for our breakfast, I overlooked that the instructions for Day 2 does not provide the amount of time or how the dough should rest prior to the final processing of Day 3.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 28 October 2017 at 10:19 pm
  
  Hi, Rochelle. I’m sorry my directions are not clear for you. It looks like step counts are restarted for each day. And I can see how step 3 in Day 2 looks confusing, because it says repeat step 4 two more time, when there is no step 4. Oops, it was referring to the step above. So basically, you roll the dough out into 8x24in rectangle, then fold into thirds and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, and do this two more times with 30-minute rest time in between. Then you wrap the folded dough in plastic and refrigerate it overnight for day 3. Hope I clarified it for you. And please let me know if you have any more questions.
  
  Reply
  - Rochelle Gibson says
    
    Posted on 29 October 2017 at 1:01 am
    
    yes it does and thank you I am in day 2
    
    Reply
    - Shinee says
      
      Posted on 29 October 2017 at 8:03 am
      
      Yay, so excited for you. Please let me know how they turn out tomorrow. 🙂
Sandy says

Posted on 14 October 2017 at 12:42 am

Croissant got me @ hello! Great job with the steps & the pictures. That makes it easier to follow. I’m planning on making croissant soon😋🥐. Thanks for sharing & May God continue to bless you.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 14 October 2017 at 4:26 pm
  
  Hi, Sandy! I’m glad the step by step photos are helpful. Hope you’ll make these soon. Let me know if you do. And thanks for stopping by!
  
  Reply
ToriB says

Posted on 16 December 2015 at 1:06 pm

Never mind, I just read the actual instructions at the bottom. Duh. Trying these next week for Christmas morning breakfast!

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 17 December 2015 at 9:26 pm
  
  Hi, Tori! I’m glad you found your answer. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the homemade croissants. What a fabulous idea to treat everyone with croissants on Christmas morning! Happy holidays!
  
  Reply
ToriB says

Posted on 16 December 2015 at 1:05 pm

Quick question for step 2: roll it once so it’s long as shown in picture in the third bottom picture of day two. Then do you fold it into a square as shown in the last picture, let sit for 30 mins, then roll so it’s a rectangle again, then fold once more to rest? Or do you leave it long and roll it out without reforming it?

Reply
daniel says

Posted on 21 February 2015 at 7:10 pm

Hi, What if during the laminating process the dough rips a bit, do i add more flour??

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 21 February 2015 at 7:33 pm
  
  Yep, sprinkle some flour and keep rolling, being careful around that area.
  
  Reply
Kate @ Veggie Desserts says

Posted on 27 May 2014 at 8:33 am

Wow, these look amazing and well worth the DIY. Beautiful.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 27 May 2014 at 9:16 am
  
  Thank you, Kate! Yes, totally worth all the labor. 🙂
  
  Reply
Tseenee says

Posted on 27 May 2014 at 4:07 am

Энэ хир их болох вэ?

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 27 May 2014 at 9:10 am
  
  16 shirheg tom croissant bolno.
  
  Reply
Nicole @ Or Whatever You Do says

Posted on 26 May 2014 at 10:55 pm

Beautiful!

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 27 May 2014 at 12:11 am
  
  Thanks, Nicole!
  
  Reply
mugi says

Posted on 26 May 2014 at 10:13 am

Улам л уран зохиол уншиж байгаа юм шиг. Нүдэнд харагдаж байна шдээ. Хэхэ ингэхээр хийхээс өөр яахав. Туршнаа.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 26 May 2014 at 11:00 am
  
  Hehe bayarlalaa, Mugi! Za ashgui dee, nuded haragdtal bichij surj bnaa gedeg chini minii huvid amjilt! Turshaad uzeerei, uneheer goe boldog yum bn lee shuu.
  
  Reply
Matt Robinson says

Posted on 26 May 2014 at 9:43 am

I am a HUGE croissant fan and can’t believe how awesome these are. So easy to make! No doubt I will give this a try soon.

Reply
- Shinee says
  
  Posted on 26 May 2014 at 10:58 am
  
  Me too, Matt, love croissants! One of these days, I’ll be making your ham and cheese croissant sandwiches! I always plan on that, but they just disappear before lunch time! 🙂
  
  Reply

Homemade Croissants

Share on:

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

Homemade Croissants

Ingredients

For dough:

For laminating:

For egg wash:

Instructions

Day 1

Tips & Notes:

Nutrition Facts:

Related Recipes

Never Miss a Recipe!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Never Miss A Recipe

Subscribe and receive my FREE Portion Planning Cheat!