If you’re daring in the kitchen, give these exquisite Homemade Almond Croissants a shot! The laminated dough from scratch will make jaws drop!

Buttery flaky puff pastry dough is rolled around rich almond paste for one showstopping treat! A truly awesome flavor combination and this Almond Croissant Recipe AKA Croissants aux Amondes tastes like it came from a high-end French patisserie!

Homemade Almond Croissants on a white decorative plate with a strawberry.

Why You Must Make

  • If homemade croissants have been on your baking bucket list, this is a tried and true recipe from Dorie Greenspan.
  • Though it’s a two-day process of rolling, turning, chilling, and then repeating, you’ll have mastered a French delicacy!
  • From this laminated dough you can make regular croissants or filled croissants.
  • Made with real butter, they’re incredibly delicious!

Ingredient Notes

  • Kitchen Staples – Milk, Sugar, Salt, All-Purpose Flour, Egg (for egg wash whisked with water)
  • Butter – Cold, Unsalted
  • Almond Paste – Small can. Find in the baking or specialty foods aisle of larger supermarkets or gourmet markets.
  • Dry Active Yeast – The recipe calls for 1 ounce of compressed yeast, but I used 4 ½ teaspoons of active dry yeast.
Two almond topped Homemade Almond Croissants on a white ceramic plate.

Recipe Tips

  • If you decide to use a premade puff pastry dough to make your croissants, just make sure to purchase an all-butter variety like the Dufour brand. You may not get quite the puff as with this yeasted croissant dough, but they’ll still be fantastic.
  • PRO-Tip: Keep the dough cool for the best rise. If it warms up while rolling and shaping, just refrigerate 20-30 minutes before baking.
  • Since I had never filled croissants before, I just rolled a rectangle of dough around a thin rope of almond paste. SO delicious…but I wish I would have used more filling!
  • Chocolate is another easy filling. Use your favorite variety of chocolate and make sure it’s encased in the dough so it doesn’t ooze out while baking.
  • PRO-Tip: Top your almond-filled pastries with a few sliced almonds after you brush on the glaze. It’s a nice decorative touch plus it alludes to what flavor the filling is. This way the nut-avoiding hubby wouldn’t mistake one of mine for chocolate croissants I created just for him.

I made one of these homemade croissants disappear in no time flat while typing up this post…so it’s time to hop on the treadmill so I can have another! 

Almond croissants on a white plate on a red and white napkin with a bowl of fresh strawberries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Do the French Call Puff Pastry?

The French call this multi-layered pastry Pâte Feuilletée.

Besides Croissants, what else can be made with puff pastry?

Napoleons and Palmiers are made with puff pastry and it is also used to wrap fruit, cheese, and even meat.

What Makes Puff Pastry Puff?

Rolling the puff pastry, then folding it, and repeating it many times creates hundreds of layers of dough and butter. When the chilled puff pastry creation is placed in a hot oven, the moisture in the tiny bits of butter produces steam, causing the dough to puff and separate into flaky layers.

How Do You Store Homemade Croissants?

Croissants are best when eaten on the day they’re made. If you need to store your croissants longer, wrap them airtight and freeze. They can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature. To reheat, place them in a 350° oven for 6-8 minutes.

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Almond croissants on a white plate with a fresh strawberry

Homemade Almond Croissants

Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Additional Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 52 minutes
Yield 8

An exquisite treat with homemade laminated dough filled with sweet almond paste!

Ingredients

For Croissant dough:

  • 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1 + cup warm milk
  • 3 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt

For the butter square

  • 4 ½ sticks, 1 pound 2 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
  • For the egg wash:
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water

For Filling:

  • Small can of almond paste

Instructions

  1. Add the yeast to the milk and let it soften and bloom.
  2. For the dough, put the flour sugar, salt, and 1 cup of milk/yeast into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the machine on its lowest speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until a soft, moist dough forms on the hook.
  3. If the dough is too dry, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time (I added almost 6 T). You want all the flour to be moistened. The hook should pick up all the flour from the bowl.
  4. Set the mixer to the highest speed your manufacturer allows for dough (2 on my KitchenAid) and work the dough until it is smooth and elastic, no longer sticky, and close to the consistency of soft butter.
  5. Remove the dough from the mixer and put it in a plastic bag, leaving a bit of space for the dough to expand. Keep the dough at room temperature for a half-hour, then refrigerate the dough for 8 hours or overnight.
  6. Attach the paddle to your mixer and beat the butter and flour on the highest speed until smooth and the same consistency as the croissant dough, about 2 minutes.
  7. Put the beaten butter onto a large piece of plastic wrap, give it a few slaps to remove any air, then shape into an oval 5 to 6 inches long and 1 inch thick. Wrap it tightly and refrigerate it until needed.
  8. To incorporate the butter, put the croissant dough on a floured large work surface and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.
  9. Using a long rolling pin, roll the dough into an oval approximately 10 inches wide and 17 inches long.
  10. Center the oval of chilled butter across the oval of dough and fold the top and bottom of the dough over the butter to make a package. Gently stretch the folded layers of dough out to the sides and press the edges firmly to seal.
  11. Using a rolling pin, start whacking the dough to distribute the butter. Rotate the dough and pound it again in the other direction....you should see the butter moving towards the edges.
  12. After pounding you should have a 1-inch thick rectangle about 14 inches long and 6 inches wide.
  13. Keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured, roll the dough into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches long and about 14 inches wide, with the long side facing you. (If your dough and butter have become warm, you may want to refrigerate for an hour or two before this first rolling stage).
  14. Brush off the excess flour and, working from the left and right sides, fold the dough inward into thirds (like a brochure) so that you have a package that's about 8 inches wide by 14 inches long.
  15. Move the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You may want to make the parchment "Turn 1" to keep track of your turns.
  16. Second turn:
  17. Place the dough so that the 14-inch side runs left to right. Making sure the work surface is well floured at all times, roll the dough as you did before into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches long by about 14 inches wide. Note that it's OK if the dough cracks a little with the next couple of turns.
  18. As before, fold the dough in thirds. Place it on the parchment, mark the paper “turn 2”, cover it, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  19. Third turn:
  20. Start again with a 14-inch side running from your left side to your right. Roll the dough into a rectangle 24 by 14 inches wide. Fold the left and right sides of the dough into the center, leaving a little space in the center, and then fold one side over the other as though you were closing a book.
  21. Chilling the dough:
  22. Brush off the flour, wrap the dough in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours (I refrigerated overnight).
  23. Rolling the dough:
  24. Flour a work surface. Place the dough so that it resembles a book, with the spine to your left and the opening to your right. Then cut the dough in half horizontally...for easier handling. so that you have two pieces about 7 inches long and about 6 1/2 inches wide. Wrap and chill one half while you roll and cut the other. Extra dough may also be frozen to use at another time if desired.
  25. Flour the dough and roll it into a rectangle that's 24 to 26 inches long and 15 to 18 inches wide. Keep the work surface and the dough well-floured. This will give your muscles a workout! If necessary turn the dough so that the long side runs from left to right along the counter. Carefully fold the top half of the dough down to the bottom.
  26. Cutting the dough:
  27. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  28. When the dough is ready to be cut, measure off 3 to 4-inch-wide pieces, and simply cut the dough from bottom to top in straight lines; unfold each strip and cut crosswise in half.
  29. Place a rolled piece of almond paste at the top (I would use more than I did!) of each strip of dough and roll the dough into a coil, finishing seam side down. Shape the rest of the croissants and allow them to rise.
  30. Glazing and rising:
  31. Brush the croissants with egg wash, garnish with almond slices, and allow them to rise, uncovered, at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, until tripled in size and spongy. (Reserve egg wash, covered in the refrigerator.) The ideal place for rising is a turned-off oven containing a pan of hot steamy water.
  32. Baking the croissants:
  33. Preheat the oven to 350º. Brush the croissants once again with egg wash and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate front to back and bake another 4 to 6 minutes until the croissants are deeply golden. Cool on racks before eating.
  34. Storing: The croissants are best eaten the day they are made. Freeze in an airtight container. Thaw the croissants overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature and reheat in a 350-degree oven for about 8 minutes.

Notes

Source: Baking with Julia: Savor the Joys of Baking with America's Best Bakers

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 croissant

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 450Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 650mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 14g

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