Making Croissants: Rolling Out The Dough, Part 2

The next morning, the dough looked like this after I took it out of the fridge.


Incorporating the butter:

1. Place the croissant dough on a large, well-floured surface. (The recipe recommends marble–and if you have a slab of marble that big, you are SO lucky. Can I come see it?)

2. Roll dough into an oval (or if you are me–ovalish) approximately 10 inches wide and 17 inches long. Brush the excess flour off the dough with a pastry brush.

3. Center the chilled butter on the croissant dough.


4. Fold the top and bottom of the dough over the butter.


5. Gently stretch the left and right sides of the dough over to make a “tidy package.”


This is the “tidy package.”


Now to the fun part! Or the part where you can work out some aggression. And that’s fun in my book.

6. Using a large rolling pin–such as a French rolling pin without handles, seen below–Hold one side of the dough steady with your hand and strike the other side of the dough firmly, but gently. Some of the butter may start to creep out of the crevices. Strike the other side in the same fashion. After the pounding, the dough should be a rectangle 14 inches long by 6 inches wide and be about 1 inch thick.

7. Make sure the work surface and the top of the dough is well floured and begin rolling out the dough.

**If the butter is too soft, or this is the first time you’ve done this (like me!) then you may want to chill the dough at this point. Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with floured parchment paper. Cover it with plastic and chill for 1 to 2 hours.

If you feel confident and/or your dough is chilled…..

You are ready for the first turn.

8. Roll the dough into a rectangle 24 to 26 inches long by 14 inches wide, with a long side facing you. It will sort of feel like you are rolling the dough sideways. Brush off the excess flour again with the pastry brush.


9. Starting on the left-hand side, fold the dough into thirds, as you would fold a letter or brochure. The dough will measure about 8 inches wide by 14 inches long. Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. Mark the parchment “1st Turn” so you will know which turn you are on. Wrap well with plastic and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

**You can also freeze the dough at this point; defrost overnight in the fridge before proceeding.


10. You will make 2 more turns.

For the second turn, place the dough so that the 14 inch side runs from left to right. You will have made a quarter turn. Make sure the work surface is well floured at all time. Once again, you will roll the dough into a 24 to 26 inch by 14 inch rectangle.

Fold the dough in thirds as before, wrap with plastic and chill for another 2 hours.

This is the dough after the second turn.


The dough may crack a little–it’s just the yeast, but also, you may see the butter through the dough. This is how (I think) it is supposed to look.

Third and Final Turn:

11. Start with the 14 inch side facing you and running from left to right. Roll the dough into another rectangle 24 to 26 inches by 14 inches.

12. The folding at this point is called “The Wallet” and is slightly different than the previous turns. It is a double turn.

You will 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.


13. Brush off the excess flour again, wrap the dough in plastic, and chill the dough for 2 hours. At this point, the dough is (finally!) ready to be rolled, cut and shaped.

Rolling and Shaping the Dough:

14. Flour the work surface. Place the dough on the work surface and position it so it resembles a book with the spine on your left and opening to the right.

For easy handling, cut the dough in half horizontally. Each piece will be about 7 inches long by 6 1/2 inches wide.


This is what all those layers of yummy butter and dough look like. Yay! It worked!


15. Flour the work surface again and roll out the dough into a rectangle that is 20 to 24 inches long and 15 to 18 inches wide. This take much patience! You may need to the dough so the long side runs from left to right along the counter.


16. Carefully fold the top half of the dough down to the bottom. The dough is now ready for cutting.


This is a great tutorial on cutting and rolling. Much better than mine, unfortunately for you.

Basically you cut triangles with a 3 or 4 inch base, using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, then unfold and cut along the seam. You will have anywhere between 10 to 14 triangles. Keep any scraps you have–you may want to square off the ends and you will need the scraps for later.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shaping the croissants:

17. (This is scary…..)

Stretch the triangles to twice their length. Be careful, but not too careful.


Oops! I think I pulled too hard on this one. Just squish it back together if this happens.


18. Place a little bit of the scrap dough on the wide part of the triangle.


19. Roll into a crescent shape, starting with the wide end and tucking the narrow end under the rolled dough. Place on the baking sheet.

(See how some of mine were a little smaller than the others? They turned out fine, but I’ll be more careful next time to make them more even.)

20. Brush the rolls with an egg wash. (1 egg beaten with a little water will be enough for all the croissants.) Cover with plastic wrap and let the croissants rise until triple in size. The recipe says that if you squeeze the corner of the roll and it feels hollow, then it’s time to bake the croissants. Brush with the egg wash again before baking.

21. Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back and bake for another 4 to 6 minutes. The croissants will be deeply bronzed. Cool on racks. (The recipe recommends waiting until the croissants have had time to set before eating them. And I second that, but for different reasons….like a burnt tongue and mouth. Ouch.)

To Make Pain au Chocolat:

With the second half of the dough, I made pains au chocolat. So, at the point after the dough has been rolled into the 20 to 24 inch by 15 to 18 inch rectangle and is folded over on itself, I cut 6 strips of dough. I then unfolded them and cut along the seam to make 12 smaller rectangles.


I used about 1/2 ounce of chopped bittersweet chocolate for each pain au chocolat. The recipe calls for 1 ounce, but I couldn’t make it fit as I rolled them. One half ounce was plenty.


I placed the chopped chocolate on one short side of the dough and rolled it up tightly.


I pressed them down after I placed them on the silicone baking mat–I like to use that sometimes instead of parchment. They also get a good brush with an egg wash. They need to rise for the same amount of time as the croissants, another coat of egg wash, and bake for the same amount of time.


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2 Comments

  1. wow. your talents amaze me. this cannot be learned, this is genetic code make-up that you were born with and I am in awe seeing it in its glory.

    God’s Blessed Baker.

  2. You deserve WAY more than JUST ONE comment for all that work! Sheesh! You are amazing. I hardly like to make bread dough. Am I lazy or what! It’s too bad I look like I eat it all the time. I should be enjoying it. and then I’d have an excuse! Love your blog!

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