Since I can remember, my love for croissants grew deep, which expanded tenfold when I got to experience what a real croissant is supposed to taste like during my honeymoon in France with my wife. Our experience in Nice was the culinary adventure we always dreamed of, and we got to taste some of the local delicacies like ‘Socca,’ which opened our eyes to the ingredients others leaned on for survival.

Around 2022, my wife and I moved in with her parents, and that’s where I tried my hand at making croissants. My first couple of attempts worked great; following the recipe to a tee, they were pretty good, akin to grocery store croissants. However, they could have been improved. My next two attempts occurred after we moved into our own home, where I had my own space and room to work.

My mistake was making a double batch. Trying to balance family life, work, and baking proved too much. The croissants looked the part but were dense, reminding us of rolls. Failing at a recipe that takes two days can really dent your self-confidence in the kitchen.

Attempt #4 was hardly worth mentioning. The goal was to make enough croissants to enjoy at home and share with family and friends. This time, I made the double batch in two parts, but I repeated previous mistakes, adding too much flour to the first dough. Trying to recover by adding liquid afterward was frustrating. Dough #2 had a better start but was underworked during the initial knead.

Overnight, I left the doughs and woke up with the start of an exhausting cold that kept me in bed whenever possible. Despite feeling rushed, frustrated, and sick, I attempted to salvage something from the process. Unfortunately, the results were underworked, dry, and underproofed, turning them into dense biscuits.

Attempt #5 – Redemption!

After taking my time and acknowledging the flaws of the last attempt, I focused on precision. I used a scale for every ingredient, though I still adjusted the flour slightly to avoid the mistakes of attempt #4.

This time, I paid close attention to shaping the dough and butter layers, ensuring the butter was seamlessly distributed between the slices to prevent it from breaking up through the dough.

Success! Despite a somewhat sketchy proofing process – 1.5 hours in an oven with just the light on, which seemed a little underproofed – I managed to salvage the batch by using the bread proof function. Though I exceeded the intended proofing time by 40 minutes, resulting in puddles of butter.

This resulted in a much better attempt. The croissants were full of flavor and crispy. The longer proof resulted in a much fluffier croissant, and turned out way less greasy than I expected from the lost butter! Admittedly, the layers inside were still thicker than I aimed for, so next time, I might take the risk and attempt another book fold to thin them out a bit more!

Picture for your criticism XD

Happy Baking!

Dan