How to prepare homemade sweet croissants with leavened dough

Sweet croissants are a great classic for breakfast and they can be prepared with leavened dough. Whether they are stuffed or simple, accompanied by a cappuccino or a granita, it is difficult to resist the taste of freshly baked croissants. Preparing them at home is quite simple, and it is the best choice for a genuine breakfast, made with healthy ingredients.

Sweet croissants are a great classic for breakfast and they can be prepared with leavened dough. Whether they are stuffed or simple, accompanied by a cappuccino or a granita, it is difficult to resist the taste of freshly baked croissants. Preparing them at home is quite simple, and it is the best choice for a genuine breakfast, made with healthy ingredients, but as good as the breakfast bar.

Sweet croissants are soft triangles of leavened dough made with eggs, sugar and butter. Give the croissants time to rise, they will have to swell a lot. Brush them with egg, put them in the oven and enjoy them hot as soon as they are ready. You can also prepare a lot of them and then preserve them in the freezer: like all leavened doughs, even sweet croissants can be frozen. So here is all you need to know for sweet croissants to make at home.

How to prepare homemade sweet croissants with leavened dough

Melt the brewer's yeast in a glass with the lukewarm milk. Cut the butter into small pieces and let it soften at room temperature.

In a planetary bowl, sift the flour, then add the sugar and salt. Pour the yeast and milk mixture and knead at a rather low speed.

Add the eggs and continue to knead, for about ten minutes. Add the butter a little at a time, making it absorb well to the dough. Then slightly increase the speed.

Get a soft dough, wrap it in clingfilm and let it rise for about 3 hours. Keep it in the oven turned off, with the light on.

Knead the dough by hand, folding it several times on itself. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to make it compact.

On a clean and floured work surface, roll out the leavened dough and knead it until you will obtain a sheet of about 1cm thick. Cut the triangles into the dough with a knife. The dimensions must be about 8cm for the base and 15cm for the sides. Roll them on themselves from the base to the tip and bend the ends down.

Cover a baking tray with parchment paper, brush the croissants with egg and bake them in a preheated oven at 200° degrees C for about 15 minutes. Let the surface brown, then take them out of the oven, stuff them and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Tips

To prepare sweet croissants it is preferable to use a planetary mixer or a kneading machine. Alternatively you can also work the dough by hand, the important thing is to add the butter as the last ingredient, to avoid heating it too much with your hands.

Incorporate the butter a little at a time, it is important that each piece is well mixed with the dough before adding more.

Stuff the sweet croissants with your favorite creams, such as hazelnut cream, a homemade cream with white chocolate or milk chocolate, or with jams or marmalades. Also try the savory versions, stuffing the croissants with cooked ham and fontina cheese, speck and taleggio cheese or raw ham and rocket.

Preservation

You can preserve your homemade sweet croissants for about 3 or 4 days. To preserve their fragrance, close them in an airtight container or put them under a glass bell jar.

Like all leavened doughs, even sweet croissants can be frozen, both raw and baked. The advice to obtain soft croissants is to freeze the dough before the last leavening phase. Then leave them to thaw in the fridge, then in the oven off for 12 hours and finally proceed with normal baking.

You can also freeze baked croissants and heat them for a few minutes if necessary.