Homemade Croissants et Pain au Chocolat

The FDB has started

to branch out into

breakfast pastries! We love croissants,

but have not found perfect ones in the area yet. So, we decided to try and make

our own. We found a recipe online (our favorite bread books do not have pastries in them), and then got to

work. The croissants are in the oven and it took about four hours of prep last night. I woke up at seven o'clock, so the whole process has taken six hours... We

hope it is worth it.After looking through many recipes, we found one and decided to start

with that. Then improvised. We changed it a bit by putting in way more layers of folding and

buttering than the recipe called for. We also found that we had to bake them twice as long as the recipe suggested. Maybe that is because our oven is not as hot as others.

Soooo tasty! We also decided to try brushing a little honey glaze on some of the croissants which just made them even tastier!!! We se

rved them with some of auntie Rara's homemade strawberry jam. Yum.

Next time we'll use even more butter to make them even flakier...

If you want to try out the recipe, here it is:

For the Dough

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 
  
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 3 1/3 cups bread flour (more if needed)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• about a stick of unsalted butter

For pain au chocolat

• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

For the egg wash

• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup whole milk

1. To prep the dough melt the 3 tbs butter in a small sauce pan then allow it to cool to room temp.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.
3. Place the flour, salt, sugar, milk and melted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix for about 5 seconds then add the dissolved yeast and mix for about a minute.
4. Knead by hand for about 30 sec, until dough is nice and smooth. Pat into a ball.
5. Place dough on lightly floured baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let proof at room temp for 30 min.
6. Place dough on lightly floured work surface and roll it out to an 8 x 15 inch rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours allowing retardation and more flavor.
7. Remove the dough and place on floured work surface long side facing you. Apply softened butter to one third of the dough then fold that third over onto the second third. Cover this surface with butter and then fold the remaining third over the freshly coated area.
8. Roll this new smaller rectangle out again to about 8 x 15 and repeat this process. Remember, the more butter and the more folds the flakier the final product will be. We repeated this process three times, but some recipes only have one fold. It's really up to you! If the dough springs back too much then rest it in the fridge for 30 min and try again.
9. Wrap your buttery goodness in plastic again and rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours.
10. Remove from fridge and place on floured work surface. Roll out to about a 10 x 30 inch rectangle long side facing you. Now we add more layers. Again fold in thirds and roll out. You can choose to butter these layers or not, repeating 3 times again. >butter=>yummy.
11. Wrap and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes again.
12. Finally roll this dough out to a 10 x 36 inch rectangle about 1/4 in thick.

For croissants

• Use a sharp knife to cut triangles at least 2 1/2 inches at the base with 10 inch sides. Lay each triangle with tip towards you and stretch slightly by pulling the to you. Roll gently from the base to the tip.
• Place rolled croissants on parchment paper covered baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Cover with plastic and allow to proof for about 1-3 hours until they have about doubled in size. You can then refrigerate them if you want to bake them the next morning.

For pain au chocolat

• Cut the dough into 3 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch rectangles. Lay each out in front of you and place about 1/2 tbsp chocolate in one third of the rectangle. Fold and apply chocolate to the next third. Make sure the final products are seam down so they don't open up to much when you bake them.

Baking!

• Gently brush egg wash onto your pastries, completely coating them.
• If you wish you can also add a honey glaze for added yummy goodness.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Good luck! And we hope you enjoy them as much as we did!!!

xo

the FDB

Hippie Bread!!!

This week, we worked on the basic Tassajara yeasted whole wheat bread. In the end, this
bread was very moist and delicious maybe from the olive oil and the honey.

The dough was not even a dough at first. It was more like a batter. We had to knead the "batter" for 15 minutes, which was extremely messy!!! As we kneaded it, we had to add more and more flour. Finally, it was a dough and not a pile of goop. Our hands

were covered in dough, and it looked like a creepy bread monster hand. Everyone who tried it loved it. Yum!

This dough is the starting point for all sorts of variations and additions. Try adding seeds, oats, nuts, dried fruit...

Here's the Tassajara wheat bread recipe- makes 4 loaves

I.

6 cups warm water

2 tablespoons yeast (which is a lot!)

1/2 cup of honey or molasses

2 c dry milk (optional)

7-9 cups whole wheat flour (substitute 2 or more cups unbleached white flour if desired)

II.

2 1/2 T salt

1/2-1 c oil

6-8 c additional whole wheat flour (for kneading)

Dissolve yeast in water.

Stir in sweetening and dry milk.

Stir in whole wheat flour until thick batter is formed.

Beat well with a s

poon (100 strokes).

Let rise 60 min.

Fold in salt and oil.

Fold in additional flour until dough comes away from sides of bowl.

Knead on floured surface for 10-15 minutes until smooth.

Let rise 50 min.

Punch down.

Let rise 40 min.

Shape into loaves.

Let rise 20 min..

Bake at 350 deg for one hour.

enjoy!!

The Father Daughter Bakery hopes that you enjoy this recipe!!! Have fun-

The F.D.B (Father Daughter Bakery)

..."we love bread"...