Classic French Pastry, Part 1 of 2 – Light and Buttery Vegan Croissants

Croissants are a common continental breakfast staple in many European countries. These days this ever-popular veganized pastry is available in many countries throughout the world.

First, we will make the dough by adding into our mixing bowl all the dry ingredients in the “Ingredients A” group of our recipe: 250 grams French-style flour, type 45, which is ideal for the finest croissants. We have 40 grams of powdered sugar, five grams of nutritional yeast, and three grams of salt. Mix well.

Next, we will add the wet ingredients under the “Ingredients B” group: 10 grams of inverted syrup, softened with 45 grams of water, 108 grams of soy milk. Keep mixing thoroughly until no dry powder is left. Sprinkle 5.5 grams of instant yeast evenly onto the mixture. Then cover with a damp cloth and let it sit. After 30-60 minutes, sprinkle some dry flour on the kneading board and knead the dough mixture until the dry yeast has melted into it. Then add vegan butter and continue to knead until the dough becomes smooth and shiny and comes off your hands and the kneading board, leaving them clean. Cut a small piece of the dough, pull it with both hands to test its extensibility.

Now our dough has been proofed for one hour. Sprinkle some flour on the kneading board. Then roll the proofed dough into a size that is wide enough to encase the vegan butter sheet. Gently place the vegan butter sheet on the top of the dough and fold the four sides of the dough inwards to wrap the vegan butter sheet and pinch together the edges to seal in. At this stage, the buttery dough is starting to soften and needs to be firmed up in a freezer. So, fold the dough into four layers and wrap it with saran wrap before putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes. We will repeat this laminating process two more times.

Proof the finished croissant dough at 28°C for one hour. Place the proofed croissant dough into the oven to bake for 12 minutes first. Then rotate the baking tray by turning its front to the back of the oven and continue baking for another seven minutes. When you finish baking, you turn off the oven but leave the croissants in the oven for three minutes. Remove the baked croissants and brush the top with maple syrup while it is still hot. Then transfer the glazed croissants onto a cooling grid. Wow…these croissants look so delicious. I can’t wait to get my hands on them!