The internet is obsessed with croissant bread — here's how to make it
Tips from the baker who created this viral trend and a Toronto food blogger
If there's one thing the internet loves, it's a croissant. Over the past couple of years we've seen viral recipes for cube croissants, crookies, flat croissants and even croissant cereal. Incoming: croissant bread — a playful spin on sourdough, which has captured the imagination of amateur bakers.
It all started when Kentucky-based recipe developer Amy Coyne, grated chilled butter into her sourdough, a method commonly used for pie crusts, scones and blitz or rough puff pastry.
"One day, while baking a batch of my sourdough-discard scones and grating the butter, I had a batch of sourdough dough fermenting at the same time," she said. "I had a thought: What if I added the grated butter to the dough?" Thus croissant bread was born.
"I've tried all kinds of inclusions in my sourdough breads before, but I hoped the butter would create a light, flaky, croissant-like flavour and texture," she said. "It ended up surpassing my expectations.
"From there, I tested different amounts of butter, played with fermentation temperatures, and even experimented with sweet and savoury inclusions."
Since her reel went live on March 5, Coyne's recipe has amassed over 11 million views — evidently inspiring other creators to bake their own.
Luay Ghafari, the Toronto-based food blogger behind Urban Farm and Kitchen, came up with his own version of Coyne's recipe — a no-knead croissant focaccia. It doesn't require a Dutch oven or sourdough starter and is based on his popular overnight focaccia.
"It's foolproof and very accessible, requiring minimal effort and technique," he said. "So even if you are off by a little bit of flour or water, the focaccia should still turn out great."
Pro tips from Coyne
"Temperature is key," Coyne said. The dough needs to be cool enough so the butter doesn't melt, but not so cool that the dough stops fermenting and rising. "I've found 70 to 72 F to be a good dough temperature to shoot for," she said.
Then during the proofing, allow the dough to rise about 70 per cent of the way before shaping and cold-proofing.
"[When] laminating the butter, incorporate the grated butter during the stretch-and-fold process — not just before shaping," Coyne said. This helps to disperse the butter throughout the dough and prevent clumping.
For added flavour, she suggests mixing in ingredients like chocolate chips, frangipane or even ham and cheese.
Pro tips from Ghafari
Always use ice-cold butter. Ghafari recommends popping the butter in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to grate and less messy. You could also wear gloves. And be sure to use ice water to preserve the chunks of butter in the dough.
"Don't hurry the process," Ghafari said. "Allow the focaccia to rise in the fridge for at least 18 hours, and you'll need [an additional] one to two hours for the second rise."
"This might be my best focaccia baking tip to date: before you oil the pan, butter it," Ghafari said. This creates a layer between the pan and the dough, which makes it easier to get the bread out of the pan once it's baked.
And as tempting as it might be to dig in right away, let the focaccia cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting it or it may be gummy. "I know it's hard," Ghafari said. "But trust me — it'll be worth the wait."
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