Absolute Show Stopping Vegan Croissants 🥐🥐 Flakey, crispy, melt in your mouth kind of croissants.. This is a pretty long recipe but totally worth it if you got the commitment 😉
FOR THE CROISSANTS (makes 16)
500g bread flour (you can use all purpose flour but the liquid measurements must be adjusted)
55g white sugar (or sugar of choice but keep in mind the sugar will affect the flavour of the croissant)
5g salt (can increase the salt if you like a more savoury croissant)
150g lukewarm milk (I used soy milk)
150g lukewarm water
8g dry yeast (I used instant dry yeast)
250g unsalted @thevegandairy Cultured Butter, room temp
Extra soy milk for brushing the croissants before baking
THE DAY BEFORE
Make the butter square:
Make sure that the butter is at room temperature before making the butter block but not too soft that it is melting. Arrange cut pieces of the butter onto a baking paper then fold the edges to create a 40 x 40 cm square and tuck the edges underneath. Using a rolling pin, spread the butter around the square evenly to create a 40 x 40 cm square block of butter. Freeze the butter overnight.
Make the croissant dough:
Add the dry yeast to the lukewarm milk and water, give this a mix and set this aside for 10-15 minutes. In a bowl, combine the bread flour, white sugar and salt together. I used a hand mixer with a dough hook but you can use a stand mixer as well. Add the milk mixture to the dry mixture and start the machine on low for 2-3 minutes (these timings are on hand mixer, use buttermilk pantry’s timing for stand mixer). Then on the next level of your hand mixer for 10 minutes.
Place the dough on a rectangular container and stretch it out to the corners. Cover and rest the dough overnight.
THE NEXT DAY
Encase your butter in the dough:
Take your dough and butter from the fridge and freezer and unwrap. Prepare your workbench with a light sprinkle of flour and place your dough on your workbench (always make sure that your dough is not sticking on the workbench). Roll your dough out to 40 x 20 cm (with 2 cm extra on each side). Place your butter on one side of the dough and fold the dough over the butter. Place the dough back in the fridge for 25-30 minutes.
Create your croissant layers:
Lightly dust your workbench with flour. Roll out the dough lengthwise to 60 x 20 cm. Using your rolling pin, push down the dough (this prevents the butter from oozing out). Fold the upper third of the dough towards the center then fold the lower third on top of the initial fold. Wrap the dough in baking paper and place the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes. This ensures that the butter is kept cold (but not too cold otherwise the butter will crack)
For the second fold, push and roll out the dough lengthwise to 60 x 20 cm (same method as (a)). This time, fold the upper part of the dough towards the center and same for the lower half, then fold on top of each other (like a book). Wrap the dough in baking paper and place the dough for 30 minutes. You can repeat this process for up to 6 times but I found 4 times is sufficient.
Cut and shape your croissants:
Roll out your dough into a 40 x 40 cm square and cut into 16 triangles. Prepare a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Shape the croissants by cutting a small slit on the short side of the triangle then rolling the triangle towards the tip while lightly stretching out the dough. Lightly press the tip onto the rolled croissant to seal the dough. Place the croissants at least 1 inch apart from each other on the prepared baking sheet.
Proof your croissants:
Brush the croissants with some soy milk to ensure they don’t try out during proofing. If your place is warm, proof until your croissants have risen to 70%, and are fluffy and jiggly when you give the pan a light shake or you can use the method in (c).
Place your baking tray of croissants into the oven (make sure your oven is off) and place a mug of hot water directly under the tray. Remember to replace the water throughout the proofing time. The humidity will help your croissants rise while keeping them from drying out. Also make sure that the overall temperature is not too hot in the oven otherwise, the butter will leak out from the croissants. Proof for anywhere between 2-4 hours, until your croissants have risen to 70% in size and are “jiggly” when you give the pan a light shake.
Bake your croissants:
Once your croissants have risen, take them out of the oven and preheat your oven to 200C fan forced. Brush your croissants lightly with soy milk for another time then bake at 200C for 7 minutes then turn the temperature down to 180C fan forced for 13 minutes until golden brown.
Serve warm and enjoy!
(recipe adapted from @buttermilkpantry – https://buttermilkpantry.wordpress.com/2019/07/06/how-to-make-croissants/ for the ingredients, proofing and baking times and https://biancazapatka.com/en/vegan-croissants-recipe/#recipe for creating the layers)
📸 @sinfulorganiccook
