How to Make the Perfect Croissants

Updated on June 06, 2025

Imagine this: you're holding a croissant in your hand, its warm crust crackles, a buttery aroma tickles your nose, and that very first bite instantly teleports you to the cozy atmosphere of a Parisian bakery – complete with the melodious noise of a coffee machine and the scent of (ideally) Italian coffee.

Behind all these miracles lies a process: choosing the right flour and butter, and ensuring the temperature is maintained just right.

Are you ready to learn all the secrets that will bring you closer to reaching the perfection of croissants? Then let's start with the most important elements – ingredients and working conditions.

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Butter: the heart of laminated dough

Flour: the foundation of perfect croissants

Temperature: your best friend

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

French baker's glossary

Butter: the heart of laminated dough

You know, with croissants, it's all about butter. It is not just a core ingredient, but the heart of the croissant. The flavor and texture, along with that unmistakable aroma, brings you back to the bakery again and again.

Why is butter’s plasticity so important?

The perfect butter for croissants must be pliable. This isn’t solely about fat content (82% or higher is the absolute minimum), but rather the balance of fatty acids in the butter:

• High-melting-point fatty acids make the butter resilient and stable.

• Low-melting-point ones provide flexibility, so that the butter does not crumble or crack.

How to test the plasticity of butter?

Try a simple test:

1. Check the texture:

Cut a 5–10 mm thick slice of cold block of butter. Good quality butter should be cut neatly, without cracking or leaving any oily "crumbs".

2. Check the flexibility:

Bend the slice of butter in your hands, moving it like a snake. It should bend easily without breaking. If the butter snaps or starts to soften too much when at room temperature, loses its shape or – even worse – forms a greasy puddle, then unfortunately it’s not suitable for laminating.

💡 Tip:

Want to avoid the extra hassle? Choose a special butter designed specifically for laminated dough – it will do all the work for you!

Professionals prefer what is called "beurre sec" (dry butter) with low moisture, excellent plasticity and a high melting point. Examples include brands like Lescure, Echire, Elle & Vire, Isigny Ste Mere, Montaigu, Corman, Debic and others.

Taste and aroma:

A croissant is equal to butter, and butter is equal to a croissant. Unsalted butter made from high-quality cream gives a nutty undertone and a rich, creamy flavor to the pastry.

That's why you should taste the butter at every stage – from the process of choosing the product to the baking result. Its taste and aroma should fully satisfy and delight you.

Flour: the foundation of the perfect croissants

The French know their flour very well, and the flour labeled as T65 is the best choice. It provides the dough with all the necessary elasticity and lightness, and here’s why:

• Protein content: around 10–13%. This balance gives the dough the flexibility needed for rolling and creating layers, while not making it too thick.

• Mineral content: an ash content of 0.75–0.90%. This provides a creamy hue and a rich flavor to the pastry.

What can you use instead of T65 flour?

If you don’t have it on hand, try this blend:

1. 50% all-purpose flour (10–11% protein) – for softness.

2. 50% strong (bread) flour (12–13% protein) – for elasticity.

It’s not advisable to use only the strong flour, since the dough would become overly elastic and stretchy, making it hard to be rolled out.

💡 Tip:

Not sure how the new flour will behave? Make a test batch to see how it performs.

Temperature: your best friend

When making croissants, all the preparation steps depend on the temperature. Understanding this will help you avoid making most mistakes. Croissants "love" a cooled environment, so remember this at every stage and try to maintain a chill temperature by any means necessary.

Room temperature:

The preferable temperature is 18–20 °C / 64–68 °F. At higher temperatures, the butter melts, the dough becomes sticky and its refined layers get destroyed.

Cold ingredients:

Chill the water you will be using to mix in advance. If you are working in very hot conditions we also recommend cooling down the flour, the mixer bowl and the hook attachment (if they are removable).

Cold work surface:

If you do not have air conditioning, use a marble surface or cool your workstation with frozen packs.

Dough temperature – a golden rule for professionals

1. After mixing: the dough temperature should not exceed 24 °C / 75 °F. (This is a general rule of thumb; a lot depends on the recipe and its author’s technique!) If it gets too warm, cool it down in the fridge and continue to mix.

2. Lamination: during lamination, both the butter and the dough must have the same consistency. This happens when the butter is at 12–16 °C / 54–61 °F and the dough is at 1–3 °C / 34–37 °F. When both the butter and dough are equally firm, it’s easier to roll them out, which also helps maintain the layers and prevents the butter from cracking.

3. Fermentation: after the shaping stage, croissants should proof at 24–27 °C / 75–81 °F. This temperature is good not only for yeast development but also for the butter spreading.

💡 Tip:

If you don’t have a proofing cabinet, use your oven with a container of warm water at the bottom. This helps create a moist, stable microclimate.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them:

1. Butter cracks:

If the butter that’s inside the dough cracks, it means that it was too cold. Before doing the first lamination, make sure the prepared butter block is flexible enough (use the plasticity test).

2. Croissants turn out small, dense and “rubbery”:

They have not been proofed enough. Let the croissants rise 2–2.5 times in volume. A well-proofed croissant will gently wobble like an airy “cloud” when you lightly shake the baking tray back and forth.

3. Layers do not separate, and the croissant looks like a bun:

The dough and butter were too warm, so the butter blended into the dough, making the layers stick together. Keep a close eye on the temperature of ingredients and the dough at each stage.

4. A doughy mass forms in the center after cooling down:

There are several causes, the most common is when the temperature of proofing is too high or when the duration of proofing is not long enough. Either of the cases can form the unbaked and stuck-together dough chunks. The advice is the same as in the two above.

Conclusion

Croissants are not just about technique – they are about passion. When you watch the temperature, select the right ingredients and pay attention to every detail, the result will definitely exceed your expectations.

Just don't be scared of making mistakes every now and again. Every batch of dough and rolling-out attempt is a step towards perfection.

Good luck in creating a perfect croissant of your own!

And, naturally, if you want to learn more, check out our collection of in-depth recipes here.