Pain au Chocolat

This is the easiest version of croissant dough I've ever made. What I really like about this is that you use room temperature butter which is really easy to spread and fold. It's not the same as working with cold butter which I find very time-consuming. I actually was a little worried about the outcome, but the result surprised me! The dough was very flaky. I think the amount of butter is also reduced a little bit in this recipe. So these weren't as buttery as traditional croissant/pain au chocolat, but I definitely can't complain. Next time I think I would do a few additional folds to create even more layers! Anyway, if you do not want to make croissants three days, wait until the dough rests in the fridge overnight and so on, this recipe is exactly what you need.

Pain au Chocolat

2 tsp (7g)  instant yeast
100g granulated sugar
250 ml warm milk
500g all-purpose flour*
½ tsp salt

150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
100g dark chocolate

1) Add yeast, sugar and warm milk in a large bowl and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add half of the flour, salt and mix to combine. Add the rest of the flour (I had a lot of extra flour which I didn't need to use. Stop adding flour as soon as you get a soft but not sticky dough). 

2) Transfer the dough to the floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes until elastic. Lightly oil the dough and place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, from 1 to 2 hours.

3) Divide butter into 3 equal parts. Punch the dough down and shape into a rectangle (0.5cm/1/4 inch) thick, the longer side facing you. Spread 1/3 of the butter onto two right thirds of the rectangle, fold the left third over the buttered middle third, and then the remaining uncovered third over the other two folds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

4) Repeat the process two more times, for the total of three folds. Shape the dough into a rectangle and cut strips (5cm/2 inch wide and 10cm/4 inch long). 

5) Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.


6) Place a chocolate piece on the end of the strip and fold into a roll. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and flatten a little bit. (I would recommend brushing the tops with egg wash at this step, this would give a shiny top. I missed this step. If you do not use egg wash, you can dust the baked rolls with some powdered sugar instead).

7) Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden on top. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from here.