Preparation

Today we want to share with you this recipe for mouth-watering home-made croissants. The advantage of making croissants at home is of course that we know exactly what's in them. In fact, home-made croissants are healthier than bought ones, which contain preservatives to help them keep for longer, but which are not good for us. The key to obtaining a lovely layered, spongy pastry is in the long process of rolling, folding and resting the dough. For this reason, it is best to start making this recipe early in the day.

Preparation:

The first thing to do is to dissolve the yeast in the tepid water, together with the sugar, and to leave it to ferment for around 10-15 minutes in a warm place. You should notice foam starting to form on the surface.

Next, heat the milk and add the salt to it, together with most of the olive oil and stir well. Add this mixture to the two types of flour (previously blended together) in a large bowl and continue to stir well. When you have obtained a smooth dough, leave it to rest for 5 minutes and then kneed it well, until it is even and springy (taking care to sprinkle flour over the worktop surface first).

Cover the dough and leave the yeast to act in warm place for around 90 minutes, in which time it should double in size. After this, place the dough in the fridge and leave it for 20 minutes.

Next, kneed the dough again for about 2 minutes, then roll it out into a rectangle measuring 30 cm x 15 cm. Then, using a pastry brush, coat the pastry in a little olive oil. Fold the pastry sheet in half, press the edges together lightly and roll it out again, into an oval shape this time. Fold the pastry again, this time into a third of its original size, and then cover it and leave it in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Repeat the previous step of coating and folding the dough twice more, and then leave it to cool in the fridge for another 90 minutes. After this time, roll the dough out again and cut it into 4 rectangles measuring 7 cm x 9 cm approximately. Cut these rectangles diagonally into 2 parts and roll each triangle into a croissant shape, starting with the widest edge.

Place the croissants on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper and leave them in the oven for an hour, without turning the oven on. Lastly, brush the croissants with egg yolk, water and a little salt and bake them at 190°C (gas mark 5) for 15-20 minutes.

Note this recipe is for 8 croissants.