Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants)

Flaky croissant pastry with a crisp exterior, fluffy interior, and a chocolate centre, the perfect pain au chocolat

Jump to:

• What is a laminated pastry?
• How to create the perfect pain au chocolat
• The Folding Process
• Assembly
• What chocolate should I use?
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Pain au chocolat, or what I grew up knowing as chocolate croissants are the perfect treat. Layers of buttery croissant pastry filled with chocolate, what more could you ask for?!

Laminated pastries are one of those things that are hard to master because there are so many different factors that can cause them to go wrong, whether that be the temperature of the butter, the proofing of the bread, or the folding process.

Out of all the laminated pastries, the classic croissant is the hardest to master because of its unique shape and rolling technique. On the other hand pastries like a pain au chocolat or danishes are a lot easier as there is less reliance on the shape itself.

What is a laminated pastry?

A laminated pastry is when a pastry is formed through the process of lamination. Lamination is the process of rolling butter in between dough to form increasingly thin alternating layers of dough and butter. Common examples of laminated pastries would be things like puff pastry, croissants, danish, palmiers, etc.

This process of rolling butter in between layers gives the pastries the characteristic flaky texture that makes them so delicious. Not to mention a crispy exterior, buttery aroma, and deep brown colour; all the things that come together to create something absolutely delicious.

How to create the perfect pain au chocolat

There are two main components to creating the pain au chocolat pastry, the butter block, and dough. There are a couple of tricks and tips that can help you achieve the pastries of your dreams, keep reading to find out!

The dough

Knead until supple, but not completely smooth

If you have made bread before you would know that doughs should be kneaded until they can pass the 'windowpane test'. This is the stage when the dough can form such a thin sheet that it is translucent to light, like a window. This indicates that a good amount of gluten has formed (the essential network for all bread to rise)!

When making croissant dough we want knead until just before this stage. If we develop too much gluten it will make the folding process more difficult. Gluten gives the dough elasticity, and the more gluten that has formed the more spring back the dough will give when you're trying to roll it out.

When kneading the dough it will be very rough at first. As the dough starts to come together add the butter and knead for 10 minutes. At this point the dough will be much softer, slightly elastic, but the surface won't be 100% smooth. That's exactly what you want!

Rest overnight

It is important to let your dough rest overnight for a couple of reasons. First it allows the dough to proof. Second it develops flavour. And third it lets the gluten networks that you formed while kneading to relax, that way when you roll it out to enclose your butter it won't try and resist you.

The Butter

The most important ingredient... butter! The butter in between layers of dough creates the characteristic flakiness. So, it is important that you choose a high quality butter!

Low quality butter contain more water, which can decrease the amount of flakiness you get from your pastry.

Most bakeries will use butters with a minimum of 85% milk fat, however when buying butter from your supermarket you may not have as many options. I wouldn't go below a minimum of 80% milk fat in your butter.

Making the butter block

When is comes to making croissants the most important steps are the layering of butter and dough. In order to make this process as easy as possible it important to optimise your ingredients. By shaping your butter into a flat rectangle it will make the rolling out process so much easier. A couple of tips to help you form the perfect slab of butter.

• Fold a piece of baking paper into the rectangular shape you want to achieve. I rolled my butter to a 20cm x 15cm rectangle, so I would make a rectangle that is 20cm x 15cm. Make sure the baking paper can be folded over to enclose the butter
• Use softened butter, this will let you roll it out into the shape of the baking paper with less effort
• Once rolled refrigerate until just set. I chill mine for 30-45 minutes. If it is too hard it will be impossible to roll out.

If you find it too difficult to roll the butter out, you can use a food processor and pulse the butter until smooth, then spread over a sheet of baking paper into the right shape. This makes the consistency of the butter even throughout, however, if you over-process the butter you can introduce air pockets into the butter, so make sure you only use short and fast pulses.

The Folding Process

Making laminated doughs can seem very intimidating at first, but once you nail the basic process you'll be pumping out your own pastries in no time!

Different people have different ways of folding their dough.

I go for three folds:

1. Enclose the butter
2. Single fold
3. Double fold
4. Single fold

Enclosing the butter

There are a couple of different ways to enclose the butter. I find the easiest way is to enclose the butter like an envelope. Place the rectangle of butter diagonally on your rolled out dough. The corners of the butter should just touch the edges of the dough sheet. Then fold each corner of the dough down towards the centre of the butter slab. The edges of the dough should join in the centre of the butter and you can then pinch the edges together to enclose the butter.

Single fold

Single folds are the easiest. Simply roll your dough out into a rectangle and visually divide the sheet into thirds. Fold the bottom third up, then the top third down. Easy!

Double fold

Double folds, also known as book folds are a little more challenging. After rolling the dough out visually divide the sheet into fourths. Fold each side towards the centre line. Then fold that in half. This is also called a book fold because it looks like a book!

Assembly

The fun part! Once you have completed all your folds and allowed the dough to rest for 45 minutes in the fridge it's time to roll it out. Roll it out at evenly as possible into a rectangle. This recipe makes 6 pain au chocolat so I rolled it out into a 40cm x 25cm rectangle. I then cut it into 6 even rectangles.

To roll the chocolate into the croissants you should place the chocolate along the bottom of the dough and roll the dough to enclose it. Once the chocolate is folded into the dough, place another baton on top of the dough and roll all the way. Then place the croissant seam side down on a lined baking tray to proof.

What chocolate should I use?

Typically pain au chocolat uses chocolate batons made specifically to be used for this purpose. Unfortunately, they aren't the easiest thing to find, especially when you don't live in France.

The easiest solution is to use a chocolate block and cut the bar into your desired lengths. If you have rolled your dough into a 40cm x 25 cm rectangle, your rectangles should be approx 6.6cm in width and 25cm in length. Therefore you should cut your chocolate bars to be 6.5cm in length, that way they'll fit into the pastry perfectly.

Let's Get Baking!

If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went.

Also, don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and TikTok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!

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