These homemade croissants are a classic French pastry with beautiful flakey tender layers. This labor of love is soft and fluffy on the inside with a buttery flakey crust on the outside.
Heat the milk to 110° Farhenheit-115° Farhenheit. Add the milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of a mixer and stir to dissolve the yeast and sugar.
Add the salt, butter, and flour and mix with the dough hook attachment until combined.
Mix on low speed until a smooth dough has formed, about 5-6 minutes. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for 1-1 ½ hours.
Form the butter block by measuring out an 8x6 inch square on a large piece of parchment. Flip the parchment over so the side with the markings won’t touch the butter.
Slice the butter into thin slices and lay them out inside the square until it is mostly full, then fold the parchment tightly over the butter.
Use a heavy rolling pin to roll the butter out flat, filling in all the gaps in the square. Be careful not to press too hard and tear the parchment. Try to keep it within the lines of your measured square as best you can.
Place the square of butter in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes while the dough finishes rising.
Laminate the dough
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and roll into a rectangle that is 6x14 inches. Place the chilled butter square in the center and fold both sides of the dough into the center of the butter so they meet in the center. Pinch the seams together.
Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled for 30 minutes you will begin the process of chilling and turning. Begin by rolling out the dough in the same direction as the seam down the center of the dough until you have a rectangle that is roughly 18x8. Try to keep it as even as possible with as square of corners as you can, which may require you to stretch the corners to keep them from rounding.
Fold the dough as you would a letter, which means to fold the bottom third up and the top third down over the top, as if you were tri-folding a letter in order to put inside an envelope. This is called a turn. In total there will be 4 turns for this dough in order to laminate it.
Rotate the dough so the exposed edges of the letter are facing you and roll out again into the same rectangle, followed by another letter fold. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Repeat steps 10-12 one more time, except the chill time after those two turns will be 2 hours.
Form and bake the croissants
Once chilled, with the exposed letter ends facing toward you, roll the dough into a long rectangle that is about 24x8. You want this to be extremely square on the corners, so take the time to use your hands to pull the corners to keep their shape as you roll it out. Try to work fairly quickly though, as the dough will warm up the longer you take. If you want extra sharp edges, use a very sharp pizza cutter to trim about ¼ inch off the edges.
Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into six equal sections that are 8x4 inches and then cut each of those along the diagonal.
Cut a ½ inch slit in the center of the long end and roll up until the point of the dough, being sure the point is tucked under. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, 6-8 on a pan.
Once all the triangles of dough are formed into croissants, cover them with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towels and let rise for 2-2 ½ hours. They should be nice and puffy with a little bit of a jiggle to them when they are ready.
When the croissants are done proofing, preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Make the egg wash by combining the egg and 2 tablespoons of milk together with a fork. Use a pastry brush to brush across the tops of the croissants. Let sit for 5 minutes or so to dry before brushing with a second coat of egg wash.
Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit then lower the temperature and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes. Bake until the croissants are a deep golden brown.