The recipe came up purely because of brain worms if I am honest. Having made rough puff pastry a fair few times (mostly out of laziness as I don't mind making puff pastry), the only grey cells wondered if you could do the same with a laminated yeasted dough. Obviously there would be no kneeding and the main reason I make rough puff is for the less effort required and speed, so the same should apply to a yeasted dough. After a few laclustre performances in the oven, I think I have come up with a way which can give you croissant friendly dough but in half the time and effort compared to making it properly. I should caveat that I say this because the layers are more randomised and do you can't really get the same neatness you would with a properly made dough, also in order to combat the dough turning more pastry and less bready, I had to up the amount of yeast you need a little.
Although I've not stated it in the recipe, you can make the dough itself vegan/dairy-free as I've made these using the Flora plant based butter blocks.
I should note that I made this recipe during winter, so if you are having a mad desire to make this on the hottest day in summer, you should shorten the time you rest the dough on the worktop by at least half.
I've made an accompanying recipe you can make with the pastry: Almond Croissants. These can obviously become plain croissants if you wish as well. I do have a recipe for plain croissants using laminted yeasted dough, but the bake time is a little different and oh no I've gone cross eyed.
Makes approx 450g
Hands-on Time 20 minutes plus resting & chilling (overnight)
Ingredients
250g Bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
3 tsp Fast-action yeast
2 tbsp Caster sugar
1 tsp Salt
125g Unsalted butter or plant-based butter (cubed and chilled)
155ml Water (cold)
Equipment
Bowl
Sharp knife
Rolling pin
Baking parchment
Mix the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
Add the butter and toss in the flour using the knife until coated. The key is to pretend the blade of the knife is your hand, do be careful though.
Add the water and stir a little using the blade before repeatedly drawing the knife towards you through the butter and water sodden flour. Spin the bowl around a little and keep repeating these actions. You should find you will end up with a sticky dough with specks of butter. You’re not looking to have a smooth paste as the specks of butter are key for the layers.
Sprinkle half a tablespoon of flour the worktop and tip the dough out onto it.
Flour the top of the dough with another half tablespoon of flour and roll out into a rectangle. Try not to handle the dough too much but do keep both sides of the dough floured. You don’t want it to stick should the butter get soft and ooze out.
Fold one third of the dough into the centre followed by the remaining third on top of that so you have 3 layers.
Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it out into another rectangle. Again fold one third into the centre followed by the remaining third on top.
Wrap the dough in a piece of baking parchment and leave to rest on the worktop for up to an hour before placing it into the fridge to chill for another hour.
Dust the worktop with another half tablespoon of flour and place the dough on top. You are now going to repeat the exact steps you followed before, which I will list again.
Flour the top of the dough with another half tablespoon of flour and roll out into a rectangle. Try not to handle the dough too much but do keep both sides of the dough floured. You don’t want it to stick should the butter get soft and ooze out.
Fold one third of the dough into the centre followed by the remaining third on top of that so you have 3 layers.
Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it out into another rectangle. Again fold one third into the centre followed by the remaining third on top.
Wrap the dough in a piece of baking parchment and leave to rest on the worktop for up to an hour. This time you can either pop the dough into the freezer or leave to rest in the fridge overnight if you intend to bake with it sooner rather than later.
Enjoy!