croissants small batch

By foodiva

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon 2% milk, divided use
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, divided use
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons high-quality butter (European style)
• 1 large egg yolk, beaten

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 1440mins
Cooking time 1455mins
Adapted from dessertfortwo.com

Preparation

Step 1

Instructions DAY ONE:
Heat ½ cup of the milk to 115-degrees Fahrenheit, and stir in the yeast until dissolved. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the flour. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, remaining 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of the flour, and salt. Add the foamy yeast to the mixture, and knead until smooth with a wooden spoon, about 3-4 minutes. The dough will be sticky, but it will stick to itself and not the edges of the bowl. Refrigerate overnight. DAY TWO:
Let the butter come to room temperature.
Remove the dough from the fridge (it should have risen some and seem bubbly). Flour a surface, and roll the dough out into a 6 x 10" rectangle. The 6" side should be closest to you.
Spread all 6 tablespoons of the butter evenly over the rectangle, but leave about 1cm of a border on all edges.
Fold the dough like a letter: fold the top one-third to the middle. Fold the bottom third up to the middle also. Roll the dough back into a 6 x 10" rectangle. Cover and refrigerate the rectangle of dough for 2 hours.
Remove the dough from the fridge after 2 hours, fold it like a letter again, and then roll back out to a 6 x 10" rectangle. Place it back in the fridge for 2 hours.
Repeat this two more times for a total of 4 folds, refrigerating for 2 hours between each fold and roll. After the last roll out, refrigerate the dough overnight. DAY THREE:
Remove the dough from the fridge, and roll it on a floured surface into a 10 x 10" square.
Using a knife, cut the rectangle into 4 evenly-sized triangles. Roll the rectangles up, starting at the wide end. Roll towards the skinny tip.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick mat, and brush with the remaining tablespoon of milk.
Let the rolls rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. If your kitchen is cold, let them rise for longer--they really need to double in size before baking.
Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.
Brush the egg yolk generously over the croissants. Be sure to get it in the nooks and crannies of the dough.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until very golden brown. Start checking on the rolls at 10 minutes, and shield them with foil if the edges threaten to burn. You just spent 3 days making rolls, keep an eye on them in the oven so they don't burn!
Let cool 20 minutes, and serve.

Instructions