Pain au Chocolat, deconstructed
My favorite breakfast treat is Pain au Chocolat:  Dark chocolate wrapped in croissant dough. Mmmmmmmm. Served warm with a rich cup of coffee, it is a completely satisfying way to start the day!

For many years, I purchased this delicacy premade and frozen.  All I had to do was remove one bun from the freezer, let it defrost and rise overnight, and pop it in the oven in the morning. One day, I attempted to order a new supply, but the vendor was out!  I was told it would be it would several weeks until I could get a new supply.  I was so frustrated, I decided to make them from scratch!

Making croissant dough is time consuming.  It is a three-day process.  That was one reason I had avoided it.  But eventually, I found some notes on making the dough that cut back on part of the work.  So I decided to attempt It.  I actually drew on three different recipes, taking the best from each.  All had the same butter to flour ratio, but they differed in the other ingredients.  Some called for powdered milk, others incorporated sour cream.  Some used vanilla, others called for butter flavoring. And some called for potato flour, while others used tapioca starch.  The dough was also treated to a variety of proofing methods.  Ultimately, I chose the one that involved the least amount of time, but produced the best results.

After I had made the revised recipe, I began to experiment with the ingredients to determine whether I could cut down on the fat content.  Ultimately, I learned two things.  First of all, butter is what gives croissants their flavor.  And fat between the many layers of the dough is what makes the croissant so flaky. 

I also tried a variety of flours and chocolates, trying to determine which alternatives affected the flavor the least. My conclusion:To control the fat content, it would be necessary to reduce the portion size.  So I made "mini-buns."  Second, sugar-free chocolate was almost more pleasing than it's sugar-laden alternative. The bitter flavor contrasted nicely with the buttery dough.  My recipe, and it's deconstruction appear below.

Jane's Pain au Chocolat

3 c. pastry flour (1 ½ c. cake flour and 1 1/2 c. flour)

1 ½ c. butter, softened

1 TB. dry yeast

4 TB. sugar

1 c. sour cream

1-2 TB. vanilla or butter flavoring

1 tsp. salt

1 egg yolk

Cold water

1-2 c. chocolate chips

Optional:  Nuts

Optional:  Cinnamon

Cooking spray

Egg wash

Optional:  Sugar, cinnamon, or expresso powder

In a gallon-size zip bag, add the flour, butter, sugar, salt, and yeast.  Close the bag, and with your hands, mix the ingredients together.  Form into a square, and flatten within the bag, using a rolling pin.  Shake the bag,  breaking up the ingredients, and roll flat again.  Repeat five times.  You should see smears of butter throughout the mixture.

Pour the contents of the bag into a large bowl.  Add the sour cream, flavoring, salt, and egg yolk, and mix well by hand.  Add enough water to the dough so that it forms into a ball.  The dough should be moist, but not wet.  Cover with a wet cloth and place in a warm area.  Let rise at least two hours.

Punch down the dough, and knead about five minutes.  Place in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

Remove the dough  from the refrigerator and cut in half.  Place half the dough in the refrigerator or freeze it for later use.  Lightly dust a 12” x 28” sheet of wax paper with flour.  Place the dough on the paper, making sure both sides are coated with flour.  Using your hands,  press into a large square.  Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately  12” x 18.”  Fold a third of the dough on top of another third, and seal it with the final third.   Press down and roll out again to 12” x 18”.  Repeat this process  eight to 10 times, making sure the dough is adequately dusted with flour to avoid sticking.  Finally, roll the dough roll out so that it covers the entire length of the wax paper.  Lightly coat  with cooking spray, and roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the wax paper between the layers.   Seal  in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Unroll the dough, keeping it on the wax paper, and light coat it with cooking spray.  If using cinnamon, lightly dust the entire length of dough.  Place the chips (and nuts) in the center of the dough, along the longest width.  Roll tightly and pinch the ends of the dough.

Lightly grease a 12-section muffin pan.  Cut the cylinder into 12 buns of equal size.  (At this point, you may choose to freeze some of the buns, allowing them to rise and bake another time.)  Place each bun in a muffin form, and cover the pan with a wet cloth.  Set in a warm place and allow to rise until double, a minimum of two hours.  

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, placing a small pan of  water in the oven, preferably under the rack that will hold the rolls.   Lightly brush each roll with egg wash or coat with cooking spray.  If desired, sprinkle with a light dusting of sugar, cinnamon, and/or expresso powder.  Bake at 425 degrees for five minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool about five minutes, and pop out of the muffin tin.  Continue to cool  until the chocolate solidifies.

Pain au chocolat, deconstructed

3 c. pastry flour (or 1 ½ c. cake flour and 1/1/2 c. flour)

>Health alert:  Pastry flour is preferred when making croissants. (If can be made by combining half white flour and half cake flour.)  If regular wheat flour is a problem, a gluten-free version may be used.  In the alternative, a whole wheat pastry flour may be substituted for half of the white pastry flour used in the recipe.

>Ingredient alert:  Whole wheat flour will affect the texture and the taste of the croissant.  It may be necessary to proof the dough for a longer period of time to avoid a more dense texture.

1 ½ c. butter, softened 

>Fat alert:  Butter is fat.  But in this recipe, the fat is an essential ingredient.  However, a light butter or margarine may be used, or the amount of butter may be reduced by ¼ without significantly affecting the outcome. 

>Ingredient alert:  In this recipe, the butter serves two functions:  It gives croissants a buttery flavor, and it is used to separate the many layers of dough, which makes the croissants so flaky.  The buttery flavor can be adjusted with a butter flavoring, and/or by replacing only half the butter with margarine.  (I Can't believe It's Not Butter light is preferred.) The fat between the layers can be replaced with any type of fat  that solidifies when cold or frozen, such as margarine or shortening.  However, use of a butter alternative will require that the dough be refrigerated or placed in the freezer more often when creating the layers.  Allowing the fat to soften too much will result in a mushy dough!

1 TB. dry yeast

4 TB. sugar

>Health alert:  The sugar in the recipe is used primarily for sweetening the dough, and may be replaced with an artificial sweetener, or honey. 

1 c. sour cream

>Fat alert:  Regular sour cream is high in fat, but may be replaced with a reduced or no-fat version.

1-2 TB. vanilla or butter flavoring

1 tsp. salt

1 egg yolk

>Health alert:  If eggs are a dietary concern, the egg yolk in this recipe can be replaced with an egg substitute, or eliminated by increasing the amount of sour cream by 2 TB. to ¼ cup. 

>Ingredient alert:  The egg yolk in this recipe adds a richness to the dough.  If eliminated, it may result in a slightly drier texture.  Increasing the amount of sour cream used appears to resolve this problem. 

Cold water

1-2 c. chocolate chips 

>Health alert: Chocolate chips can be high in sugar.  Reduced or no-sugar options are available. (Check out the no-sugar chips at Nuts.com.) Chocolate chips can also be replaced with cocoa nibs. However, cocoa nibs are very high in fat!

>Fat alert:  Read the labels of any reduced sugar chocolate chips carefully.  Reduced sugar can translate into increased fat.  

Optional:  Nuts

Optional:  Cinnamon

Cooking spray

Egg wash

Optional:  Sugar, cinnamon, or expresso powder

(Follow the instructions above.)