Croissant Roll Recipe

Croissants are one of the best rolls ever invented. Layers of flaky pastry and butter. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. They are surprisingly simple to make. Don't let others fool you, and scare you into thinking they should only be attempted by professional bakers. If you can make plain rolls you can make croissants. They only require one extra step: folding butter into the dough, a process called lamination. Here is my recipe for croissants.

1 1/4 cup warm milk or water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup oil or 1/2 stick butter melted
1 egg

Mix the above ingredients then add 4 to 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour to form a soft not sticky dough. Allow dough to rise 2 hrs. While dough is rising prepare butter you will fold into dough. Take three sticks of butter and lay them side by side touching. Roll them in flour and then place them between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin flatten the butter into a rectangle about 1/2 in thick and 7in by 10in. When the dough is risen roll it out to a rectangle about 22in by 16in. Lay the butter in dough to one side. fold the dough over and seal butter inside. Now for the fun part (or hard part depending on how you look at it). Roll dough out to its original size. Fold it over itself. roll it out again, and repeat 5 or 6 times. If butter starts to ooze at any point place dough in the refrigerator for 1 hr to firm it. After the last fold, roll dough out to 1/2 in thick. Cut it into triangles with wide bases. Roll the triangles up and fold them into crescent shapes. Place them onto parchment lined baking sheets and allow them to rise 1 1/2 hrs. Bake at 375 degrees until golden. Time to doneness will depend on how large yuo made them.