Get the best croissant tips from Molly Wilkinson, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef living and working in Versailles, France.

Is there anything better than an authentic French croissant fresh from the oven? The perfect croissant can transport you to a coffee shop in Paris or a patio in the French countryside – no matter where you actually are! 

But making authentic French croissants at home can feel daunting even for the most skilled home bakers. But learning how to make perfect croissants is totally possible! 

To help you start the journey toward baking buttery, flakey goodness in your own kitchen, I’m sharing my best croissant tips – learned throughout my many years as a French pastry chef!

Are Croissants Hard to Make?

Before we jump into my croissant baking tips, let’s address the idea that croissants are hard to make. The truth is, yes – croissants are considered one of the most difficult pastries to make at home.

Croissants can be challenging because the process is long and requires a lot of precise attention to detail, but it is completely doable at home! And the reward… fresh croissants in your PJS is absolutely worth it.  

Understanding Croissant Basics

To understand my pastry chef croissant tips, you first need to understand the basics of what it takes to make your own croissants. Here’s an overview of the steps:

Make the Dough

Prepare an enriched yeast dough with flour, sugar, salt, yeast, milk, and water.  Give the dough time to rest before moving on and incorporating the butter.

Lamination

Layer the dough with a butter block by rolling and folding it multiple times to create thin, even layers.

Shaping

Roll out the dough, cut it into triangles, and roll each into a crescent shape. Work quickly so the dough stays chilled.

Proofing

Allow the shaped croissants to proof until they have doubled in size. Make sure to maintain a warm, but not too warm, environment to prevent the butter from melting.

Baking

Brush the croissants with an egg wash and bake at high heat until golden, flaky, and crisp.

Timing and temperature control are very important during the croissant baking process. Keep reading for my top tips to make better croissants.

Top Tips for Making Croissants at Home

Use the croissant tips I’m sharing today to practice the art of making authentic croissants.

Tip #1: It’s all about the ingredients. 

Using the right butter and flour can make a HUGE difference when making croissants at home. The flour is what will contribute to the gluten formation in the dough, which will impact the shape of the croissant, how easily the butter is incorporated, and the inside honeycomb structure. 

Best Flour for Making Croissants at Home

If you use flour with not enough protein (for example, pastry flour or cake flour), there isn’t enough gluten formation for these critical steps to happen. The best flour to use is bread flour or a mixture of all-purpose and bread flour. Learn more about flour types in my guide to French vs American flour. Psst – there are great flour options to make croissants worldwide!

Best Butter for Croissants

In terms of butter, a high-butterfat European-style butter of at least around 82% is where it’s at. The higher the fat content, the easier it is to work with when it’s cold. This helps it keep its shape as it’s rolled out in between the dough and then folded to create those iconic layers in croissants.

Tip #2: Spread the process over several days. 

Making authentic French croissants can be time-consuming. If you try to rush the process you’re most likely going to end up stressed and with a less-than-ideal result. One of the simplest croissant tips? Set aside some me-time, turn on some classical music, and enjoy! The ride is so worth it!

I typically make my dough on the first day to allow it to rest long enough to where I’m not fighting with it when I’m rolling it out. On the second day add the butterblock, do the folds, and then shape the croissants. Then on the 3^rd day, I’ll proof and bake them. 

What a lot of folks don’t realize though is that this process is completely adaptable and you can change it based on your schedule – and most importantly on when you want to eat croissants! 

For example, want to eat them right away? Go for it! Proof them in a steamy oven. Want to spread out the croissant happiness? Oui! Eat some now and then freeze the rest. When ready to eat, proof from frozen in a turned-off oven overnight! Don’t want to wake up super early to bake frozen croissants? Ah yes, there’s a way to do that too!

In my Ultimate Croissant Course, I did a little map showing all the proofing, baking, and making possibilities so you don’t feel trapped by the recipe and process. You can learn more about my Ultimate Croissant Course by checking out this link!

Tip #3 Keep things cold…but not too cold 

If you’ve ever tried to make croissants at home (or even just read a couple of recipes), then you know that it’s incredibly important to keep your dough chilled every step of the way. You need your butter to stay chilled to create all the beautiful flaky layers!

Maintaining the right temperature is a balancing act. When incorporating the butter block it can’t be too warm or it will squish out the sides, but it also can’t be too cold. If it’s too cold, the sheet of butter will break into lots of pieces. 

A game-changer for me when making croissants was actually taking the temperature of the butter and dough and waiting until they were at the perfect range before moving forward. 

Another step you can take is to check the pliability of the butter itself. Straight out of the fridge, it will be hard and immovable. Let it warm up a little and when you hold each of the sides, you’ll be able to gently move the center while still staying in a block shape.

Tip #4: A lot of issues come from the proofing! 

If you’re new to yeast and bread baking, this can be one of the hardest most crucial steps in making croissants (and one of the least talked about in recipes). Psst – I talk about it extensively in my croissant course. 

Underproof croissants and you’ll have a lot of butter leakage and the inside won’t be as open. Overproof croissants and too much yeast/gas is created, which will cause the croissants to fall, be flat and have a super yeasty taste. It’s about getting that perfect balance – and it takes practice!

Learn to Make Authentic Croissants At Home

Croissants are tricky but the results you can get at home … well they can be just as good as what you find at a boulangerie in France. It’s all about the recipe, the method, and enjoying all the trials… because even those trials will be delicious even if they aren’t absolutely perfect.

For more croissant tips and more elaboration on everything shared here, check out my Ultimate Croissant Course, enrolling now!

Inside is my croissant recipe that I worked a month on developing using ingredients flown in from the US so my main audience can reproduce the results at home. You’ll also get more than 20 other recipes using croissant dough like Kouign Amann, pain au chocolat, and even cinnamon rolls using dough scrapes. And of course, you’ll get access to all my best croissant tips!