You know you are apporaching 40 when you start saying things like "I've never really been a fan of almond croissants but lately I don't know what it is about them, but I've really been craving them.". Well this has been me. It was purely because of this, I thought I would make a recipe for them using my rough cruff pastry.
I have mentioned in the pastry recipe that you can make the dough vegan. I'm afraid to say that these aren't vegan (cut to the egg I use), however they are dairy-free if you have made the pastry dough using vegan butter.
Be patient with the proving of them but do keep an eye on how they progress, I've found that if you take your eye and mind off them the next thing you know they have overprooved.
I mentioned in my rough cruff recipe I already have made a croissant recipe before. If you want to make croissants with this dough, I would bake them for 30 minutes like the almond croissants. With the slight differences between dough recipes (laminated versus rough cruff) they seem to need the extra 5 mins.
Makes 8
Hands-on Time 30 minutes
Proving Time +2 hours
Baking Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
55g Ground almonds
1 tbsp Bread flour plus extra for dusting
55g Unsalted butter or plant-based butter (softened)
60g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
2 Eggs, medium
1 portion of rough cruff dough
1 handful Almond flakes
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Equipment
Mixing bowl
Spoon
Rolling pin
Pizza cutter or sharp knife
Baking sheets
Baking parchment
Roasting tin or tea towels
Small bowl
Fork
Pastry brush
Wire rack
Sieve (optional)
In a bowl combine the ground almonds, one tablespoon of flour, butter, sugar, almond extract and one egg.
Set aside.
Line the baking sheet with parchment.
Roll a piece of the dough onto a very lightly floured surface into a rectangle measuring about 50cm x 25cm.
Roll from the middle outwards, being sure to lift the dough occasionally to let it relax as you roll.
Using a pizza cutter or knife make 9cm wide indentations along the bottom of the dough. In the middle between two of the indentations place your cutter/knife along the top edge of the dough and make another series of indentations 9cm apart. Now cut across the dough, indentation to indentation to make triangles. You should be able to make 8.
Place a triangle width closest to you and cut a small slit in the middle of that edge.
Dollop no more than a tablespoon of the frangipane mix onto the widest part of the dough, if it’s too much of a mound, use the back of the spoon to smear it up the pointy part of the pastry, avoid going over the edges.
Gently roll the dough up away from you until the point is underneath. I like to give the dough a little wiggle to flatten the point under it. Repeat with the other triangles. You should have some frangipane left, pop this into the fridge for now.
Place the croissants onto a lined baking sheet evenly spaced apart.
Cover with a roasting tin if you have one large and deep enough, or similar, or failing that cover very gently with a tea towel.
Leave to prove for at least 2 hours until doubled in size and wobbly. It helps to leave them somewhere slightly warm but not hot or humid.
Preheat the oven 170°C/150°C(Fan)/325°F/Gas mark 3.
Using a spoon, gently dollop the remaining frangipane onto the tops of the croissants and carefully spread it out a little using the back of a spoon.
Beat an egg in a small bowl until very loose and smooth.
Gently brush the top surfaces of the croissants, avoiding the frangipane, with with the beaten egg.
Sprinkle the almond flakes over the tops of the croissants, paying attention to the frangipane in particular.
Pop the sheet into the oven on a middle shelf for 30 minutes until the croissants are golden.
Remove and leave to cool.
Transfer them onto a wire rack and leave until completely cooled. It’s worth the wait. Dust with icing sugar if you like, it will add a little more sweetness, and let’s face it make the croissants a little prettier.
Enjoy!
