Sourdough Chocolate Croissants (Pain au Chocolat)

Made with layers of flakey buttery dough, these Sourdough Chocolate Croissants (Pain au Chocolat) are simply exquisite and so delicious. These croissants are crispy and light on the outside while the inside melts in your mouth with delicious chocolate sweetness throughout.

Making croissants from scratch is a definite labor of love! But there is really nothing like sharing homemade warm, crispy croissants with your loved ones. It only happens a handful of times a year at our house, but I had to share this Sourdough Chocolate Croissant recipe with you so you can enjoy these delicious pastries too.

I usually like to double batch croissants when I make them, and do one batch of plain sourdough croissants, and one batch of sourdough chocolate croissants to have as a sweet treat. After the croissants have been shaped and proofed for a second time (before baking), I freeze half of each batch so that I can have frozen croissants ready to bake fresh without any effort!

What’s the difference between croissants and sourdough croissants?

Most croissants found in bakeries are made with active dry yeast. This is so the dough can be made quickly and the proofing times are minimal. Sourdough croissants uses active sourdough starter which causes the dough to ferment and rise. Sourdough croissants takes longer to make because the proofing times are slower with sourdough starter. The benefits from

What’s the difference between Pain au Chocolat and Chocolate Croissant?

Sourdough chocolate croissants are also known as Pain au Chocolat, which is the French name for these decadent sweet and buttery pastries.

How to make Sourdough Croissants

Ingredients:

• Sourdough Starter, active and bubbly – fed within the past 6-8 hours
• Filtered Water
• Whole Milk
• Unsalted Butter, melted – I purchase in mine organic in bulk from Azure Standard for a great price!
• Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• Cane Sugar
• Sea Salt
• Unsalted Butter for Butter Filling
• High Quality Bittersweet or Dark Chocolate Chips
• Egg for egg wash

Tools you may need:

• Mixing Bowl
• Kitchen Scale
• Dough Whisk
• Unbleached Parchment Paper
• Bench Scraper
• Basting Brush
• Silicone Baking Mat (optional)
• Baking Sheet

Make, Knead and Proof the Sourdough Chocolate Croissants Dough

With an active sourdough starter (starter that has been fed in the past 6-8 hours and is at peak rise), whisk the sourdough starter, melted unsalted butter, water and whole milk together in a bowl. Add in the organic unbleached all-purpose flour, sugar and sea salt to the bowl. Using your hands or a dough whisk, mix the dough together until everything is combined. Cover the croissant dough with a tea towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, turn the dough out onto a clean surface (no flour needed). Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until it is no longer sticky but forms a nice smooth dough ball.

Place the dough into a butter greased glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough to bulk rise at room temperature until it has doubled and looks a bit puffy- about 6-8 hours.

Once the dough has doubled, place the covered bowl in the fridge to continue a slow fermentation for a minimum of 12 hours. You can leave it in the fridge like this for up to 3 days as long as it is covered with the plastic wrap so the dough does not dry out.

Le Beurrage (Butter filling)

On the day you are ready to bake your sourdough croissants, grab some good quality, high fat, room temperature unsalted butter to make the butter filling, or beurrage. This is my favorite organic butter I purchase in bulk from Azure Standard.

Start by folding parchment paper into an 8×8″ square packet. Slice cool (not straight out of the fridge cold) butter to 1/4″ or so thickness and lay the slices down on the parchment paper. Fold the paper back up, enclosing the butter, and roll the butter into all of the corners and spaces within the packet. The French term for this butter packet is called le beurrage. The butter filling is what gives the sourdough croissants those beautiful flakey layers.

Place the beurrage in the refrigerator for 5 minutes until it is a little cool but has not hardened. You want the butter to be pliable and a similar consistency to the cold dough you will be working with.

If the butter gets too hard, it will break while you roll it in the dough and will result in less flakey croissants. If the butter hardens, it really is best to give it time to soften until it is more flexible.

Laminate the dough

Once the beurrage is at the right temperature, pull the sourdough croissant dough out of the fridge. Place it on a floured surface and begin to roll it out into a 9×18″ rectangle. The dough will be just slightly longer than the beurrage so that it can fold over and cover it completely.

Unwrap the beurrage and lay it down on the bottom half of the dough. Fold the top half of the dough down and over the butter so that the edges of the dough meet.

Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll the dough/butter layers to about 18″ long.

Remember to keep your work surface nicely floured as you work with the dough to keep the dough from sticking.

Fold again x2

Once the dough is rolled out, fold the top part about 3/4ths of the way down. Bring the bottom part of the dough up to meet the edge of the folded dough. This should create somewhat of a square. Keeping the dough in the same position, fold it again in half.

Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll the dough lengthwise to about 20″ long. When rolling it, focus on elongating the dough rather than making wider.

Last fold!

Tri-fold the dough – fold the top part of the dough 2/3rds of the way down, then bring the bottom portion all the way up and over the dough you just folded down – like a pamphlet.

*I felt like I needed to chill my dough for about 10 minutes at this point. If your dough/butter is still cool, feel free to skip the chilling and roll it out to the final rectangle before cutting and shaping the croissants. This will depend on the temperature of your house, how quickly you work with the dough, surface temperature, etc. The main thing you want to avoid is the butter getting too warm and melting. If you need to chill it, cover the dough in plastic wrap and place it on a flat surface in the fridge till it is cool again.

Once the dough is folded pamphlet style, turn it 90 degrees and roll it out to create your final rectangle. Roll the final rectangle to approximately 12″ x 24″.

*This all may sound super complicated, but it really is just a bunch of folding and then rolling it out and folding it and rolling it out! 🙂 If you don’t follow my instructions exactly with the folding, don’t worry. As long as you are getting several layers of the dough/butter, your croissants will still have those beautiful, flakey layers.

Shape Sourdough Croissants

With a knife or pastry cutter, trim the edges to make straight lines. Divide the dough in half lengthwise (about 6″ to the middle) and cut in half. On the long side of the rectangle, make a small mark with your knife every 3 inches and cut to the other side, making 12 smaller rectangles total.

Take one rectangle and line chocolate chips on the edge of one of the shorter ends. Roll the dough over that layer of chocolate chips. Add one more line of chocolate chips where the dough folds over. Roll the dough over and continue rolling until it forms a log. Place the chocolate croissant on a parchment paper (silicone mat) lined baking sheet.

Repeat this for the remaining chocolate croissants. Depending on the size of your final rectangle, this recipe will make around 10-12 chocolate croissants.

Proof Sourdough Chocolate Croissants

Whisk an egg and apply egg wash onto the croissants with a basting brush. This will keep them from drying while they proof. Cover the whisked egg bowl and basting brush and store in the fridge. You will use it one more time before baking.

Leave the croissants to proof and double in size for 2-4 hours in a spot that does not have a draft. A cool oven is a good place for this, just don’t forget about them and accidentally turn the oven on!

As an option, you can cover them with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to have fresh baked croissants in the morning. These croissants can also be frozen, just place them in the freezer after they have proofed. Bake from frozen by adding just an extra 2-3 minutes.

Bake

Once the sourdough chocolate croissants have just about doubled and look puffy, set the oven to 380℉ and gently apply the egg wash once more. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until they are a dark golden color.

Take them out of the oven and allow the chocolate croissants to rest on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes undisturbed. They are still baking internally and this is an important time to leave them alone. If any butter has leaked out during baking, it will mostly reabsorb into the croissants if they are left alone.

Once the croissants have rested and cooled a bit, serve warm and enjoy the delicious reward of your labor! These are best enjoyed the day they are baked, however they can be stored up to 4 days in an airtight container. To reheat, warm in 250℉ oven for about 5-10 minutes.

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More Sourdough Recipes to Try

• Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cinnamon Crunch Sourdough Bagels
• Artisan Rustic Sourdough Bread
• Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• Sourdough Croissants
• Sourdough Tortillas
• Sourdough Apple Cake
• Pumpkin Sourdough Babka

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love to know! Come back and leave a review! Tag me on Instagram @oursimplegraces