Zaatar Croissant
Croissants are so rewarding to make at home, but they can also be very challenging. They are not hard to make but croissants require a lot of patience in order to come out perfect. You can spend between 1 full day to 3 days making them. So they are more like a weekend project you don’t feel like giving too much time to at once.
I will recommend two recipes for you that I tried multiple times, and tips I learned along the way.
First one is by America’s Test Kitchen. (click link to access video)
Recipe:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
Butter Slab: 24 tbsp European Butter (82% fat content or more)
1 3/4 cups whole milk
4 tsp instant yeast
4 1/4 cups all- purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 tsp cold water
The Second Recipe is by Bruno Albouze (click link to access video)
Recipe:
500 g Bread Flour
12 g Instant yeast
12 g Salt
50 g Sugar
100 g Butter
250 G Water
Butter Slab: 250 g European Butter
For Zaatar Croissants: Melt 4 tbsp of butter and add about 1/2 cup Zaatar. (Avoid using Olive Oil because it will burn the Croissants while baking.
Tips on getting the perfect Croissant:
You must use European Butter.
The weather plays a big role while making croissants. Make sure your kitchen is cold while making croissants to avoid the butter from melting while rolling. Turn on the air conditioner if you can.
While rolling the croissants, make sure the temperature of the dough and the butter are the same or similar. The butter slab should be firm, not frozen nor melted.
Be very patient with croissants while they rise at the end. They need at least 2 hours to rise after shaping.
How you cut the triangles at the end will determine the final shape of the croissants. I like to cut them at 3 inches apart to get that big shape. That means you have to make them longer, for about 30 minutes.
