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Croissants take a while to make because the dough has to rise,  laminated with butter, shaped, proofed, and then baked. You can fill your croissant chocolate, ham and cheese, almonds or anything else you like. Once you try them, you'll forget all about how long it took to make them!

Let's Get Started!

The Step By Step Directions To Follow Are: 

Croissants can be made over  two or three days.  You can prepare  dough the morning before you'd like to eat them, allow  dough to ferment for a few hours (or overnight) before you laminate it;  shape, proof, bake it in the morning.

You can  refrigerate  dough to slow down  rise; you don't want to rush your dough as it ferments and rises. Giving  dough time to rest will develop a superior flavor.
After  dough has fermented, prepare butter block.Butter should be cool yet malleable. You will want it flexible enough so it doesn't crack when folded with dough, but not too soft that it squishes out sides and begins incorporating into  dough. Pound it out, work  butter until you can shape it into a large square. Keep in  refrigerator to chill as your roll out your dough.
Once  butter is safely sealed inside your dough, begin rolling it out. Fold  top third towards  center,  bottom third up as well, like a business letter. This is one “turn.” Wrap in plastic, let rest in refrigerator 30 minutes or until  butter had chilled but is still able to roll out for  next turn.
You will need to complete six turns — rotating  dough 90 degrees, resting it between every couple turns.
Chill  dough after its final turn for an hour before shaping, or overnight if baking  following day.

Rolling And Shaping Your Croissants

On  lightly floured surface, roll  dough out to one large rectangle.Trim  rectangle in half, lengthwise. Cut each new rectangle into six- eight even triangles.

Cut  half-inch slit in  center of  base of triangle; this will help create  crescent shape. With slit side towards you,  pull  cut open a bit, roll up  croissant. Tuck  tip under  base, shape,croissant by pulling  ends toward  center, pressing into place.
Once  croissants are shaped into their signature crescent shape, they will need to proof again. They should rise to nearly 50 percent larger in size while you preheat oven.

Bake  croissants until they are a deep golden-brown. As they bake, the gas expelled by the yeast will puff up the layers of dough, while  moisture in butter turns to steam. The steam between  layers force  dough to rise to create  flaky crust and chewy, airy layers.

An egg wash will help with the browning and give them a nice, crackly, crisp outer shell. They should feel light when picked up when done.

If You Want Your Croissants To Be Filled

Pain au chocolat: Pain au chocolate or chocolate croissants are traditionally cut into rectangles to encase small bars of (or chopped) chocolate. The dough is rolled or folded over, creating  pouch for chocolate.
Ham and cheese croissants: Before  croissants are shaped, place thin pieces of ham and cheese, roll dough in crescent shape.
Almond croissants: Use day-old or pre-baked croissants to make almond croissants. Use a serrated knife to cut the croissant in half horizontally. Dip  top crust in simple syrup. Spread top crust, bottom half with  almond cream, sandwich  pieces together. Sprinkle  top with sliced almonds, bake until crisp. Shower with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

These homemade croissants are so wonderful, you may never buy a croissant from a bakery again! Have you tried making homemade croissants yet?

Let Us Know How They Turned Out For You!

Article Source: The Kitchn