I made a batch of small croissants for our Christmas dinner.  They were light and flaky and buttery enough to render a napkin an oily mess.   

Behold the perfect layers!  

Mmm layers!

FYI:  You make croissants by folding a sheet of butter into some basic dough.   You fold the dough around the butter like a letter, then you roll it out, fold it, chill it, roll it, fold it, chill it, roll it, fold it, chill it overnight, roll it, shape it, proof it, apply a “wash,” and finally bake it.   The rolling and folding process creates lots and lots of thin thin layers of butter (when I say butter I mean Earth Balance– the stick form because it is harder and doesn’t melt as easily during the rolling process).  The dough has to be chilled in between every turn to keep the butter in a solid form.  When it goes into the oven, the butter melts and the water in the butter melts and releases steam which causes the layers to raise and separate and renders the whole concoction light and airy and buttery and layery and flaky and delicious.  

I personally don’t think it’s hard to do, but that might be because I spent 6 months making hundreds of such pastries every day.  It’s not difficult, just time consuming.   You have to make sure not to handle the dough too much or it’ll develop too much gluten and become hard and chewy.  Also, you have to keep the butter the right temperature so that it spreads but doesn’t melt.  This is harder to do with margarine than butter because it melts much faster.  Which is why I recommend putting the sheet of butter in the freezer prior to the folding and rolling.   Earth Balance Sticks are really the best for this purpose.  The EB spread melts faster than the sticks.   

To make pain au chocolat–directly translated as “bread with chocolate” but commonly known as “chocolate croissants” in America (a misnomer as croissants mean crescent and pain au chocolat is not crescent shaped)–one simply makes a sort of ganachey, truffle-y chocolate filling and rolls it out into fat little sticks and folds the croissant dough around the chocolate like a pig in a blanket.  Et voila! Pain au chocolat.   

This is a good “how to” for croissants:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Croissants 

Just keep in mind that: 

- It is best to proof your yeast before mixing in the other directions.  Simply combine the warm soymilk, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and leave it for 10 minutes.  If it bubbles into a frothy yeasty mess, your yeast is alive and well and ready to create delicious croissants.  

- Use soymilk instead of milk.  It can’t be too hot or it’ll kill the yeast.  Water is also commonly used.  When I worked in a wholesale bakery, we used water instead of milk. 

- It is easier to use aluminum foil than plastic wrap for rolling out the “butter.” It holds the shape better.

- Earth Balance has salt in it, so if you use EB, lower the salt in the croissants a bit.   3/4 of a Tablespoon works well.

- You can use  half whole wheat flour for a healthier treat.  However, if you’re going to be eating croissants your goal shouldn’t be health.. it should be taste.   In my opinion, they’re best with normal bread flour or all purpose flour.  

- You don’t need a mixer.  You can just knead it with your hands old fashioned style.   Don’t over-knead it.  It should be a little smooth and elasticky but not too much so.  Don’t make it tough.   

- You will get a better flavor if you leave your dough in the fridge to rise overnight before the rolling and folding.  The difference is subtle though and most people won’t be able to notice if you let your dough rise in a warm place for an hour or in the fridge for 8 hours. 

- You can stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes rather than the fridge for 30 minutes.   

- Rolling the croissants takes a little bit of practice (Pain au chocolat is much easier to shape). Cut a little notch in the base of the croissants and stretch it so it looks like the Eiffel Tower.  Apply pressure to the legs of the croissant while you’re rolling so they’re long enough.  Bend the legs inward to make a true crescent shape.   

- To substitute for the “egg wash,” melt some Earth Balance and whisk in some Ener-G Egg Replacer and soymilk. 

-Try not to eat them all at once when they’re finally done.  Mmm.  Om nom nom!  

Good luck to anyone who attempts to faire les croissants!   I’d be happy to answer any questions.