White chocolate dipped spring croissants are the best pastry you could have. They are so flaky, fluffy and oh so buttery! When you have them fresh out of the oven, there is absolutely nothing like them. Although the weather outside is really struggling to look like spring lately, I decided to take matters into my own hands by dipping these delicious breakfast pastries in some colorful white chocolate glaze and top with flavorful colors like raspberry and rose.
The downfall to these beautiful breakfast pastries? They can take up to 3 days to make. Between making the dough, letting it rest, folding in the butter block. It is absolutely a chunk of time you have to commit in order to make them.
Which is why I was so eager to create this quick step way to make the croissants. They fluff up just as well in the oven when they bake and I was honestly surprised when they came out perfectly golden and crispy.
Since it is springtime, I went with the theme of spring and made these pink and sprinkled with rose petals and dried raspberries. When biting into them, the flavor from the toppings really came through but its the white chocolate glaze that makes these so amazing…
The hardest part is after making the quick dough is folding in the butter block. Trying to keep both the dough and the butter the same temperature so that when you start to roll out and fold the dough the butter doesn’t break. I always start by making the butter block. Letting it rest in the fridge while i roll out the dough. Then when it’s time to fold in the butter, I let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes while the dough chills in the fridge. To me this seems to get them to the same consistency before sealing the butter in the center and rolling it out.
The dough is then folded and rolled out a few times to create this thin tissue of dough that gives croissants its signature flakiness. Below you can see how I begin to wrap the dough then fold into the center. I know earlier this week I posted about European Butter in my Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie post and I am once again going to stress that European Butter works best here. The higher fat content of the butter makes it easier to roll out and fold in the dough without breaking and risking the butter breaking through the dough. This could really be a waste of time going through all the steps of rolling and folding to just have the butter drip out of the dough while baking and be extremely flat.
You will just have to trust me on this one…
Once the croissant dough is made (you can always make the dough and butter block ahead of time and then refrigerate until ready to use) you will want to work on a cool surface in your kitchen for the rolling and folding process. I go through the steps of rolling the dough to a 12×8 inch rectangle to folding towards the center three times before I slice and bake. This is just because I like my croissants extra flaky, however, if you are in a time crunch, you can fold once or twice and you will still see some flaky results.
Finally, when you bake these croissants, you will see so many thin layers creating the crips outside with a chewy and buttery inside that will have you falling in love with homemade croissants. To take them just one step further or with any leftovers you don’t eat warm out of the oven, you can smother them in a chocolate glaze and take these from breakfast to dessert pastries in one step.
To go along with the spring i added some pink toppings and food coloring but the world is your oyster with all of the options you can take for your croissants. Dip them in Nutella, drizzle them in dark chocolate and sprinkle them with sea salt. I’ve even mixed a few tablespoons of matcha in white chocolate and made matcha croissants for a boost of energy with every bite.
White Chocolate Dipped Croissants
Ingredients
Quick Croissant Dough
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp good quality butter (cold)
- 2 tsp yeast (quick rising works best here)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
White Chocolate Dipped Croissants
- croissant dough
- all purpose flour for dusting
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp heavy cream (or half and half)
- 10 oz white chocolate melting wafers
- 2 tbsp butter
- optional: food coloring, freeze dried raspberries, dried rose petals for decorating
Instructions
- Start by making the dough. Mix the flour, water, milk, sugar, 2 tbsp butter, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Mix until incorporated. The dough should be soft and sticky. No need to overwork as it will be worked during the folding process. (If you don’t have a stand mixer, this will work just as well if you mix by hand or in a food processor)
- Gather up all of the dough on to a flat surface and roll it out into a square. About 8 in all the way around. Wrap with plastic wrap so the dough doesn’t dry out and place in the refrigerator while you create your butter block.
- Take the rest of your butter (1 cup) and bring it to room temperature. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a work surface and draw an 8 in square on top, then flip the parchment over so the drawn on side is facing down. Next spread your butter on top of the parchment into an 8 inch square trying to line up the edges as much as possible. Once you have your square, let the butter block rest in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Next fold the butter into the dough. Take both the butter block and the dough out of the fridge and place the butter in the center of the dough so that it is in a diamond shape and the corners do not line up with the dough corners. Then fold one dough corner towards the center of the butter sealing it so that there are no air pockets, then repeat with the rest of the dough corners until the butter is completely covered by the dough. Pinch together the seams tightly so butter can’t escape.
- Laminate the dough and fold. I like to do this next part on my marble pastry board so that the dough and butter stay cold and don’t get over worked. First start by flipping the dough over so that it is seam side down. Then roll it out into a long 18 x 10 inch rectangle. If at any point the butter starts oozing out (it shouldn’t unless your kitchen is really warm), sprinkle a little bit of flour over the area to seal it. After the dough has been rolled out, with the longest end perpendicular to you, fold into thirds like a business letter. Folding the left side in towards the center, then the right side on top. Rotate the dough, roll it out into another 18×10 inch rectangle and repeat two more times. If at any point your dough gets too warm, place it in the fridge for 15 minutes to get it back to a cool temperature before working with it again.
- After you’ve laminated the dough 3 times, refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Cut the dough into croissants. Remove the laminated dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured work surface, cut the dough in half so you have two portions of croissant dough. Leave on of them, and put the other in the refrigerator while you work with the first half. Then roll the dough into an 12 x 8 inch rectangle for the last time (eureka!). Using a pizza cutter or a knife, Make ticks at one end of the dough every 3 1/2 inches. Then repeat on the other side. Using a ruler or any flat straight utensil, begin to connect the top and bottom notches with diagonal lines, making 8 triangles. Cut a 1 inch vertical notch at the triangle base.
- Roll the croissants by starting at the base and stretching it so that it is about 5 inches wide, then holding at the base, stretch the triangle from its tip until its about 10 inches long. Then start to roll the base toward the center and wrap the tip around forming the classic croissant twist. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper and place the croissant seam side down. Repeat with the rest of the dough until you have 16 croissants, spacing them well apart on the sheet pan.
- Cover and rest the croissants for an hour in a warm area of your kitchen before baking.
- Meanwhile, make the egg wash by whisking the egg yolk with the heavy cream until the surface is nice and foamy.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- When ready to bake. Brush the tops of the croissants lightly with the egg wash. Then bake until golden brown and flaky, about 20 minutes. I like to switch the pans from the top to bottom as well as rotate them 180 degrees halfway through baking to guarantee an equal bake.
- Make the glaze by melting the white chocolate wafers with 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. I put mine in for a minute and stir every 20 seconds until melted.
- When the croissants are bake, let them cool until room temperature before glazing. Then dip or drizzle with the glaze and sprinkle on the toppings of your liking.
