Chocolate Croissants

By vealam

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
• 1/3 cup chocolate chunks

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 1440mins
Cooking time 1452mins
Adapted from dessertfortwo.com

Preparation

Step 1

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 6" x 12" rectangle.
Using a knife, cut the rectangle into 4 evenly-sized smaller rectangles.
On one side of each rectangle, place a heaping tablespoon of chocolate chunks.
Staring on the short edge of the rectangle, roll each into a roll shape, like shown in the photo above. Tuck the chocolate in as you go.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick mat or parchment paper, 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 minutes. Check on the rolls, and shield them with foil if the edges threaten to burn. Bake for another 2 minutes if the rolls aren't very golden brown.
Let cool 15 minutes, and serve.