Vegan Croissant

Le Cordon Bleu has announced the launch of a vegan croissant at their London café - and it's a permanent addition to the menu. Croissants require time, patience, and A LOT of rolling. I want to share plenty of tricks based on what I’ve learned from all my mistakes. I started working on croissants around 24 years ago as a teenager when I could't find any good really croissants in England. I studied many recipes, tested them, tweaked what I found necessary, and played with this dough for years. The croissants need to be golden brown, extra flaky, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside it does take dedication. Good thing is you don't need any equipments and you don't need any special ingredients. If you want to make it easier you can use vegan puff pastry as well. You can add Vegan Nutella to make pain au chocolat and it’s also fun to put in pistachio cream. My friend’s favorite is rose jam and raspberry jam with vegan cashew cream inside.

 Ingredients

• 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast

• 1 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (cannot be unsweetened)

• ¼ cup caster sugar

• 3 cups pastry flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup vegan butter (used Miyokos)

Instructions

1. Heat the almond milk until luke warm.

2. Pour one cup of the almond milk into a bowl. Pour the active dry yeast on top of the almond milk and mix for a couple seconds. Now let the almond milk and yeast set for approximately five minutes, or until the yeast begins to foam. The yeast must foam in order for the croissants to turn out. If the yeast does not foam try again.

3. Put the milk-yeast mixture into a bowl. Pour the rest of the almond milk along with the caster sugar and mix briefly to combine.

4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour to remove any lumps. Slowly add the flour to the almond milk-yeast mixture. The dough is ready when it looks soft and sticky. The amount of flour can vary depending on the temperature and humidity of the room. The amount of flour we usually end up with is somewhere between 2 ¼ cups and 2 ½ cups. After the dough appears soft and sticky, add the salt and mix to combine.

5. Sprinkle a quarter cup of the flour onto a clean surface and prepare a plate that is dusted with about 1 tbsp of flour. Dump the dough onto the floured surface and kneed for approximately two minutes. Then work the dough into a ball. If the ball starts to fall slightly, the dough was made correctly.

6. Place the dough on the plate and cut an X into the top of the dough. Sprinkle another tablespoon of flour on top of the dough and place it in the fridge. Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

7. While the dough is resting, take the butter and put it a bowl. Beat the butter until it is completely smooth. This should only take about a minute or two. Now beat in 2 tbsp of the flour. Mix until uniform in texture.

8. Put the butter on the floured surface and shape it into a 4 inch x 4 inch square. Wrap the butter-flour mixture in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to cool. The butter-flour block should be hard to the touch when you take it out of the fridge.

9. Once the dough has been in the fridge for an hour, remove it and put it back on the floured surface. Now, get ready to roll out this dough is some semi-complicated ways.

10. You’re going to roll out your dough so that the center has enough room to hold that 4x4 butter square. Roll your dough into a large square, much larger than the butter block.

11. Place the butter block in the center of the dough like shown below and fold in each of the petals. It should look like a nice little present.

12. Take your rolling pin and lightly smack the butter-dough wrap. Make sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Now roll the dough into an 18 by 10 rectangle.

13. Now we’re going to make our next fold. Imagine the dough in three sections. You’re going to make the fold so that the end result looks like a thick square, not a long rectangle. Fold the first third of the dough over, following by the second third. Lightly roll the dough to make sure the layers stick together.

14. Pop the dough back in the fridge for an hour and a half.

15. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it back out into another long rectangle. Do another tri-fold and set that dough back into the fridge for a minimum of six hours.

16. When the six hours are up, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a rectangle that is ten inches long and as wide as you can roll it out. Cut the dough into triangles that have a base of approximately four to five inches, depending on how large you want your croissants. Take the triangles and slightly stretch them out, just so they’re a couple inches longer. Starting from the widest side of the triangle, roll the triangles into crescent shapes.

17. Transfer the croissants to a parchment lined baking sheet and brush each of them with the rest of the almond milk. Let the dough sit out until the croissants double in size, this should take approximately two hours.

18. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Bake the croissants for ten minutes at this temperature. Then drop the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake for fifteen minutes or until golden brown on top.
    

    To make it Vegan Pain au Chocolat please make your own Vegan Nutella
    
    Ingredients

    • 3 cups raw or roasted unsalted hazelnuts

    • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

    • 1/2 tsp sea salt

    • 2/3 cup dairy-free dark chocolate (chopped // see notes for cacao version)

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and add hazelnuts to a baking sheet in a single layer. If raw, roast for a total of 12-15 minutes. If already roasted, roast for 8-10 minutes just to warm the natural oils and loosen the skins. This will make it easier to blend into butter.

    • Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Then transfer to a large kitchen towel and use your hands to roll the nuts around and remove most of the skins (see photo). You want to get as much as possible off because it yields a creamier Nutella. But it doesn’t have to be perfect!

    • Leaving excess skin behind, add hazelnuts to a food processor or high-speed blender. Blend on low until a butter is formed - about 8-10 minutes total - scraping down sides as needed.

    • In the meantime, heat the chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second increments. Set aside.

    • Once the hazelnut butter is creamy and smooth, add the vanilla and salt and blend well. Then add melted chocolate a little at a time and blend again until well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt or vanilla if desired.

    • If your Nutella isn’t sweet enough, add stevia to taste, or 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave (amount as original recipe is written). NOTE: Just know the more liquid sweetener you add the firmer/stiffer the Nutella will get, so add sparingly.

    • Transfer to a clean jar and store at room temperature for everyday use for 2-3 weeks or more.

    Notes

    *If you don’t want to use melted chocolate, sub cocoa powder. Once the nut butter has formed, add 3 Tbsp cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla, and sea salt and puree. Once incorporated, add 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup, agave, or honey if not vegan. Or - our preferred - coconut sugar to taste. PLEASE NOTE: The more liquid sweetener you add, the firmer/stiffer the Nutella seems to get. Blend until creamy and smooth.
    *Recipe as written yields roughly 2 1/2 cups nutella spread.

    
    If, at any point, the dough becomes too warm… stop. Stop what you’re doing and place the dough back in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

    Laminating dough is the process of folding butter into dough many times, which creates multiple alternating layers of butter and dough. When the laminated dough bakes, the butter melts and creates steam. This steam lifts the layers apart, leaving us with dozens of flaky airy buttery layers.

    We’re going to laminate the dough 3 times, which will create 81 layers in our croissants. Yes, 81! Let me paint that picture for you.

    Start with dough, butter layer, dough = 3 layers

    Roll it out and fold it into thirds = 9 layers

    Roll that out and fold it into thirds = 27 layers

    Roll that out one last time and fold it into thirds = 81 layers

    So we’re only laminating the dough 3 times, but that gives us 81 layers. When the croissants are rolled up and shaped, that’s one 81 layer dough rolled up many times. So when you bite into a croissant, you’re literally biting into hundreds of layers.

Non Vegan Version
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons; 60g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 4 cups (500g) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling/shaping

• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast

• 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) cold whole milk

Butter Layer

• 1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 345g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour

Egg Wash

• 1 large egg

• 2 Tablespoons (30ml) whole milk

1. Read the recipe before beginning. Make room in the refrigerator for 2 baking sheets.

2. Make the dough: Cut the butter in four 1-Tablespoon pieces and place in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or you can use a handheld mixer or no mixer, but a stand mixer is ideal). Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Turn the mixer on low-medium speed to gently combine the ingredients for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the milk. Once all of the milk is added, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat the dough for at least 5 full minutes. (If you don’t have a mixer, knead by hand for 5 minutes.) The dough will be soft. It will (mostly) pull away from the sides of the bowl and if you poke it with your finger, it will bounce back. If after 5 minutes the dough is too sticky, keep the mixer running until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Remove dough from the bowl and, with floured hands, work it into a ball. Place the dough on a lightly floured silicone baking mat lined, lightly floured parchment paper lined, or lightly floured baking sheet. (I highly recommend a silicone baking mat because you can roll the dough out in the next step directly on top and it won’t slide all over the counter.) Gently flatten the dough out, as I do in the video above, and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4. Shape the dough: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. I like to keep the dough on the silicone baking mat when I’m rolling it in this step because the mat is nonstick and it’s a handy guide for the exact measurement. Begin flattening out the dough with your hands. You’re rolling it out into a rectangle in this step, so shaping it with your hands first helps the stretchy dough. Roll it into a 14×10-inch rectangle. The dough isn’t extremely cold after only 30 minutes in the refrigerator, so it will feel more like soft play-doh. Be precise with the measurement. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working the edges with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle.

5. Long rest: Place the rolled out dough back onto the baking sheet (this is why I prefer a silicone baking mat or parchment because you can easily transfer the dough). Cover the rolled out dough with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and allow the covered dough to rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. (Up to 24 hours is ok.)

6. Butter layer (begin this 35 minutes before the next step so the butter can chill for 30 minutes): In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and flour together until smooth and combined. Transfer the mixture to a silicone baking mat lined or parchment paper lined baking sheet. (Silicone baking mat is preferred because you can easily peel the butter off in the next step.) Using a spoon or small spatula, smooth out into a 7×10-inch rectangle. Be as precise as you can with this measurement. Place the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill the butter layer for 30 minutes. (No need to cover it for only 30 minutes.) You want the butter layer firm, but still pliable. If it gets too firm, let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to gently soften. The more firm the butter layer is the more difficult it will be to laminate the dough in the next step.

7. Laminate the dough: In this next step, you will be rolling out the dough into a large rectangle. Do this on a lightly floured counter instead of rolling out on your silicone baking mat. The counter is typically a little cooler (great for keeping the dough cold) and the silicone baking mat is smaller than the measurement you need. Remove both the dough and butter layers from the refrigerator. Place the butter layer in the center of the dough and fold each end of the dough over it. If the butter wasn’t an exact 7×10-inch rectangle, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to even out the edges. Seal the dough edges over the butter layer as best you can with your fingers. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough into a 10×20-inch rectangle. It’s best to roll back and forth with the shorter end of the dough facing you, like I do in the video above. Use your fingers if you need to. The dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. Again, the dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. This was the 1st turn.

8. If the dough is now too warm to work with, place folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 2nd turn. I usually don’t have to.

9. 2nd turn: Turn the dough so the short end is facing you. Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle, then fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter. The dough must be refrigerated between the 2nd and 3rd turn because it has been worked with a lot by this point. Place the folded dough on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before the 3rd turn.

10. 3rd turn: Roll the dough out once again into a 10×20-inch rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if you were folding a letter.

11.  Long rest: Place the folded dough on the lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. (Up to 24 hours is ok.)

12. At the end of the next step, you’ll need 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. The dough is currently on a lined baking sheet in the refrigerator, so you already have 1 prepared!

13. Shape the croissants: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured counter, roll the dough out into an 8×20-inch rectangle. Use your fingers if you need to. Once again, the dough is very cold, so it will take a lot of arm muscle to roll. The dough will want to be oval shaped, but keep working it with your hands and rolling pin until you have the correct size rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice the dough in half vertically. Each skinny rectangle will be 4-inches wide. Then cut 3 even slices horizontally, yielding 8 4×5-inch rectangles. See photo and video above for a visual. Cut each rectangle diagonally to make 2 triangles. You have 16 triangles now. Work with one triangle at a time. Using your fingers or a rolling pin, stretch the triangle to be about 8 inches long. Do this gently as you do not want to flatten the layers. Cut a small slit at the wide end of the triangle, then tightly roll up into a crescent shape making sure the tip is underneath. Slightly bend the ends in towards each other. Repeat with remaining dough, placing the shaped croissants on 2 lined baking sheets, 8 per sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature (no warmer! I suggest just keeping on the counter) for 1 hour, then place in the refrigerator to rest for 1 hour or up to 12 hours. (Or freeze, see freezing instructions.) I prefer the shaped croissants to be cold going into the oven. When you poke the dough with your finger, it will slowly bounce back. That means they are ready to be baked.

14. Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).

15. Egg wash: Whisk the egg wash ingredients together. Remove the croissants from the refrigerator. Brush each lightly with egg wash.

16. Bake the croissants: Bake until croissants are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. If croissants show signs of darkening too quickly, reduce the oven to 375°F (190°C).

17. Remove croissants from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before serving. They will slightly deflate as they cool.

18. Croissants taste best the same day they’re baked. Cover any leftover croissants and store at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator. Warm up to your liking.

Original Recipes are from veganosity.com and sallysbakingaddiction.com and minimalistbaker.com