Croissants by Crafty3 - Making the Dough

By RoketJSquerl

Notes: Doughs made with bleached flour can be more difficult to roll out. I use King Arthur unbleached flour. For the salt, I use La Baleine fine sea salt.

Ingredients

• For the Dough (Detrempe):
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 16 ounces (454 g) water at about 90 F
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (10 g) instant yeast
• 1/3 cup (28 g) nonfat dry milk powder
• 6 1/2 cups (957 g) unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons (39 g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, softened not melted
• 2 teaspoons (7 g) fine sea salt

Preparation

Step 1

For the Dough:

Mixing using the heavy duty mixer:

Put the eggs, yeast, water and dry milk powder in the mixer bowl. Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Mix on speed 1 for 30 seconds to combine and dissolve the yeast. Add the flour, sugar, butter and salt. Mix on speed one for 4 minutes, until the dough reaches “clean-up” stage. This is when it clears the side of the bowl and forms a cohesive mass in the center. Mix for 1 more minute on speed 1.

Remove the dough from the mixer and knead for a minute or 2. Do not add any additional flour to the dough or to the work surface. If the dough feels sticky, lightly flour your hands.

The dough should be soft like a pillow and slightly underdeveloped because the laminating (folding) process develops gluten and structure.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Mixing using the dough whisk:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, yeast, water and dry milk powder. Stir to combine, then add the flour, sugar, butter and salt.

Mix with the dough whisk (it will take some muscle) until the dough comes together. It looks a little shaggy at first, but it smooths out as you mix. When the dough clears the side of the bowl – achieving “clean-up”
stage – you are ready to start kneading the dough by hand.

At this point follow the same instructions for kneading as detailed in "Mixing using the heavy duty mixer" above.