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These vegan croissants are a dream come true. They have a flaky exterior, while the interior is soft, chewy and so delicious. This recipe yields 8 vegan croissants. To make it, you'll need 6 ingredients and 2 days of time. Yet, you'll be hands-on for just about 45 minutes, and the rest of the time is all about letting the dough chill or rise. To make this recipe within 1 day, check out the "quicker version" chapter.
If you've fallen in love with this recipe, then you're in for a treat! Consider exploring my vegan chocolate croissants recipe for a chocolatey twist. If you like to add an extra touch of indulgence to your croissants check out this vegan dandelion honey or this vegan chocolate spread.
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⭐ Why I love this recipe
I love this recipe because it makes the most delicious vegan croissants. Also, making it feels like an act of love. It involves a dash of time, a sprinkle of effort and a dollop of patience, but at the end of the day it's a truly rewarding culinary experience.
Also, this recipe is super handy. When I end up with more croissants than I can serve, I just freeze them. That way, everytime I'm down for a yummy breakfast, I take them out of the freezer, let them thaw overnight, and bake them in the morning. It's an easy way to have a delicious breakfast always ready.
🧾 Ingredients
When I make croissants, I always use high-quality ingredients. These are the key ingredients for this recipe:
- Vegan butter: I go for a non-spreadable one, that turns hard when chilled. Opting for vegan cultured butter is even better—it adds a hint of tanginess to the croissants, making them extra special. As an example, check out Myoko's cultured vegan butter. Try to find something similar.
- All-purpose flour: I go for all-purpose flour with around 12% protein content. A flour with this characteristic gives the dough the needed structure to handle the high fat content without making it tricky to roll out. It's the secret to achieving that perfect balance of flakiness and ease in your croissants. Choosing the right flour sets the stage for baking success!
- Vegan cream: I like to brush the croissants with vegan cream before baking them. This gives them a shiny, golden finish. Opt for a neutral-tasting vegan cream to let the croissant's flavor take the spotlight.
Substitutes
With just six essential ingredients, each plays a crucial role in this recipe. That's why only the following ingredients can be substituted without compromising the taste, and texture of the croissants.
- vegan cream: can be replaced with 4 tablespoons of oat milk mixed with a dash of maple syrup.
- oat milk: use the same amount of almond or soy milk.
🥄 Equipment
To make the best vegan croissants I use the following few essential tools: a rolling pin, a ruler, a pastry brush, plastic wrap and baking paper.
While a standing mixer with a dough hook isn't mandatory, it proves to be a helpful ally, making the kneading so much easier.
🥣 How to make
This chapter breaks down the recipe with step-by-step instructions. Follow along, and let the pictures guide you through the recipe. The technique used in this recipe is inspired by the one used by the chef Claire Saffitz, which in my opinion is easy to follow and gives the best result. Happy baking!
Timing
Before jumping to the step-by-step instructions, it's necessary to understand the timing. It takes 2 days to make these vegan croissants. On the first day we make the dough and laminations. On the second day we form the croissants, let them rise and bake them in the oven.
On the first day I recommend calculating 8 hours of time. Of which we should actively work 45 minutes. On the second day I recommend calculating 4-6 hours. Of which we should work actively about 20-30 minutes.
Détrempe (day 1)
Step 1: Start by making the dough. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oat milk and water. Mix until a dough forms. If you have a stand mixer use it on low speed, fitted with the dough hook.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes. Then knead until the dough is smooth. Add the butter and knead until fully incorporated. The dough should be smooth and shiny.
Step 2: Form the dough into a ball, cut the surface with a sharp knife forming a +. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. Then put it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Beurrage
Step 3: Add the vegan butter into a large bowl, stir in the flour and using a fork mix until combined. This step will prevent the butter from leaking out of the croissants. Then allow the butter to rest in the refrigerator for a few minutes until it firms up a little.
Step 4: Next spoon the butter onto a 20x20 centimeters (8x8 inches) piece of baking paper.
Step 5: Flip the butter onto a larger piece of baking paper.
Step 6: Pack it tightly, flip it, and roll it so that the butter fills the corners of the square. Put it in the refrigerator to rest.
First Lamination
Step 7: Take the dough out of the fridge and form it into a 20x20 centimeters (8x8 inches) square. Lay two sheets of plastic wrap on the work surface in a cross shape, and position the dough on the intersection.
Step 8: Wrap the dough while keeping its edges squared. Roll your pin over it, ensuring the dough fills the plastic and forms an 8-inch square with straight sides and right angles. Pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Step 9: Remove the dough from the freezer and the butter from the fridge.
Roll out the dough into a 40 x 20 cm (16 x 8 inches) rectangle. Place the vegan butter block in the center of the rectangle. Fold both sides of the dough over the butter towards the center and press it together along all seams, ensuring no butter is visible.
Step 10: Turn the dough 90 degrees to position the center seam vertically. Roll the dough out lengthwise along the seam until it reaches a length of 60 centimeters (24 inches). Ensure that the width of the dough remains 20 centimeters (8 inches) throughout the rolling process.
With a sharp knife, cut off the excess dough at the shorter ends. Square off the corners to create an evenly shaped rectangle with straight edges.
Step 11: Fold the shorter sides of the rectangle towards the middle of the dough slab, ensuring the sides align seamlessly, allowing a small gap where the ends meet in the center.
Step 12: Fold the entire slab in half crosswise along the gap at the center. This transforms the dough into a rectangular packet with four layers of dough.
Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Set it 20 minutes in the freezer and then 1 hour in the fridge.
Second Lamination
Step 13: Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Then roll it out into another 60x20 centimeters (32x8 inches) long slab. Perform a tri-fold on the dough, resembling the act of folding a letter. Lower the top third of the slab over the center third, then raise the bottom third up and over.
Wrap the square tightly in plastic wrap, freeze for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 14: Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll it out into a 30x35 centimeters (12x14 inches) slab. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze for 20 minutes, then chill overnight (8 to 12 hours).
Shaping (day 2)
Step 15: Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll it out to 45x35 centimeters (17x14 inches).
With a sharp knife cut the shorter sides, creating a rectangle that’s 40x35 centimeters (16x14 inches) long.
Step 16: Next cut the rectangle into four 10x35 centimeters (4x14 inches) rectangles.
Separate the rectangles so that they do not touch, then cut each rectangle diagonally, creating 2 triangles.
Step 17: Starting at the base of each triangle, roll up the dough, making sure the tip of each triangle ends up tucked under the croissant to hold its shape.
Transfer the croissants to a baking tray lined with baking paper leaving some space between each croissant.
Step 18: Brush the vegan croissants with water and Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise until doubled in size. This will take around 2-3 hours at 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).
Baking
Step 19: Brush the croissants with vegan cream (maple syrup or soy milk works too).
Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius (375 Fahrenheit) and bake the croissants for about 30 minutes in the middle of the oven, until they are golden and crispy.
Step 20: Allow to cool down briefly and serve right away.
👨🏻🍳 Expert tip
The key to success in making croissants is to keep the temperature of the dough under control at all times. In fact, if the dough remains cold, the butter layers will remain intact. For this reason, never shorten the resting time of the dough in the freezer and refrigerator.
If the dough warms up and you see butter leaking out, put the dough immediately in the freezer for 20 minutes before letting it rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Once cold you can continue the lamination process.
Also when you flatten the dough do it gently, press only lightly. This way you will create even layers of butter. If the dough springs back while rolling it out let it rest a few minutes at room temperature and you will see that it will be easier to roll out.
One last tip is to always flour the work surface, that way the dough will never stick to the surface which is extremely important to keep the layers of butter intact.
💭 Baking tips
Once the croissants have been formed we have 3 different options for baking them.
We can let them rise and bake them right away, as explained above. We can opt for a longer proofing done partly at room temperature and partly in the refrigerator or we can freeze them and bake them another day.
To extend the proving time, let the croissants rise for 1 hour at room temperature covered loosely with plastic wrap. Then place the tray in the refrigerator and allow them to rise for 12 hours. After 12 hours they should be doubled in size and ready for baking. If you want to bake them sooner simply remove the tray from the refrigerator and finish the rising at room temperature.
If you want to bake them another day instead, once the croissants are formed freeze them on a sheet of baking paper, then place them in an airtight container. The night before serving remove them from the freezer, place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and let them rise overnight at room temperature covered with plastic wrap. In the early morning, heat the oven and bake them as explained in the recipe.
⌛ Quicker version
This recipe is an improved version of the original croissant recipe I had on this blog. The old recipe was quicker and could be made in just one day.
To make the croissants within a day, once the détrempe dough is smooth, skip the rising and resting time in the fridge and go straight to the first lamination. Do both laminations and the shaping of the croissants on the same day, with breaks in between to always chill the dough first in the freezer for 20 minutes and then in the fridge for 1 hour. When the croissants have risen nicely, bake them as described on the recipe card below.
❄️ Storage
The best way to store these vegan croissants is to freeze them. To do this, once baked in the oven let the croissants cool completely then put them im an airtight container and freeze them. Let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (360 Fahrenheit) for about 5 minutes.
The croissants can also be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight recient for up to 3 days. In this case I recommend wetting them lightly with water before reheating them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 7-8 minutes.
👪 Serving size
This recipe makes 8 servings. If you want to double it, I recommend making two blocks of croissants. That way you can follow the recipe without any changes.
On the other hand, if 8 servings sounds like a lot of croissants, remember that you can keep them in the freezer for 2-3 months so you'll have breakfasts ready for a while! Yay!
📔 FAQ
Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, your croissants will need more or less time to rise. The lower the temperature, the more time they will need to rise. Let them proof longer and you will see that they will eventually rise.
To make sure this does not happen we add little flour to the butter when we make the beurrage. The flour absorbs the moisture from the butter and prevents it from leaking out of the croissants while baking. If you have added the flour and the butter still leaks out, it means that the croissants were not sufficiently proofed.
🎥 Video
📖 Recipe
Vegan Croissants
Equipment
- baking paper
- plastic wrap
- ruler
- stand mixer with dough hook (optional)
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Dough
- 600 grams all-purpose flour (11.5% protein) plus more for dusting
- 70 grams sugar
- 12 grams salt
- 7 grams active dry yeast
- 220 grams water at room temperature
- 100 grams oat or soy milk at room temperature
- 60 grams stable vegan butter** chilled
Beurrage
- 340 grams stable vegan butter** chilled
- 34 grams all-purpose flour
Brushing
- 3 tablespoons vegan cream
Instructions
Détrempe (day 1)
- Start by making the dough. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oat milk and water. Mix until a dough forms. If you have a stand mixer use it on low speed, fitted with the dough hook. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes. Then knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add the butter and knead until fully incorporated (it will look messy at first, it's normal). The dough should be smooth and shiny.
- Form the dough into a ball, cut the surface with a sharp knife forming a +. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. Then put it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Beurrage
- Add the vegan butter into a large bowl, stir in the flour and using a fork mix until the butter has totally incorporated the flour. This step will prevent the butter from leaking out of the croissants as they bake in the oven. Then allow the butter to rest in the refrigerator for a few minutes until it becomes harder.
- Next spoon the butter onto a 20x20 centimeters (8x8 inches) piece of baking paper. Flip the butter onto a larger piece of baking paper. pack it tightly, flip it, and roll it so that the butter fills the corners of the square. Put it in the refrigerator to rest.
First lamination
- Take the dough out of the fridge and form it into a 20x20 centimeters (8x8 inches) square. Lay two sheets of plastic wrap on the work surface in a cross shape, and position the dough on the intersection.
- Wrap the dough while keeping its edges squared. Roll your pin over it ensuring the dough forms a square with straight sides and right angles. Pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the freezer and the butter from the fridge. Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a 40x20 centimeters (16x8 inches) rectangle. Place the vegan butter block in the center of the rectangle. Fold both sides of the dough over the butter towards the center and press it together along all seams, ensuring no butter is visible.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees to position the center seam vertically. Roll the dough out lengthwise along the seam until it reaches a length of 60 centimeters (24 inches). Ensure that the width of the dough remains 20 centimeters (8 inches). With a sharp knife, cut off the excess dough at the shorter ends. Square off the corners to create an evenly shaped rectangle with straight edges.
- Fold the shorter sides of the rectangle towards the middle of the dough slab, ensuring the sides align seamlessly, allowing a small gap where the ends meet in the center.
- Next, fold the entire slab in half crosswise along the gap at the center. This transforms the dough into a rectangular packet with four layers of dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Set it 20 minutes in the freezer and then 1 hour in the fridge.
Second lamination
- Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Dust the work surface with flour, then roll it out into a 60x20 centimeters (32x8 inches) long slab. Perform a tri-fold on the dough, resembling the act of folding a letter. Lower the top third of the slab over the center third, then raise the bottom third up and over. Turn the dough 90 degrees, wrap the square tightly in plastic wrap, freeze for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll it out into a 30x35 centimeters (12x14 inches) slab. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Freeze for 20 minutes, then chill overnight (8 to 12 hours).
Shaping & Proofing (day 2)
- Let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then roll it out to 45x35 centimeters (17x14 inches). With a sharp knife cut the shorter sides, creating a rectangle that’s 40x35 centimeters (16x14 inches) long.
- Next cut the rectangle into four 10x35 centimeters (4x14 inches) rectangles. Separate the rectangles so that they do not touch, then cut each rectangle diagonally, creating 2 triangles.
- Starting at the base of each triangle, roll up the dough, making sure the tip of each triangle ends up tucked under the croissant to hold its shape. Transfer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper leaving some space between each croissant (they will double in size).***
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise until doubled in size. This will take around 3 hours at 24-25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).
- Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius (375 Fahrenheit). Brush the croissants with vegan cream, then bake for about 25-30 minutes in the middle of the oven, until they are golden and crispy. Allow to cool down briefly and serve right away.
Ricardo Barbosa says
I made it and OMG I can’t believe how good they turned out to be. I rolled the croissants with some dark chocolate chips and they’re heaven! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Hayley says
Unfortunately this didn't work for me at all. They barely rose after being in the oven for over an hour and a half (probably closer to two hours). I decided to bake them anyway without them rising because I figured they wouldn't rise at all if they hadn't already. I thought they would raise in the oven and get nice and fluffy like regular croissants, but instead they stayed the same shape and I ended up with a pool of butter at the bottom of my pan. This overcooked the bottom of them, and it's basically a dense, much-too-buttery thing that I'd consider only a halfway pastry. However, this was my first time making croissants, and the issue could have been the type of butter I was using or a number of other problems. They taste okay, but not as good as I was hoping. Any tips would be fantastic:)
carlocao says
Hi Hayley, the croissants need to raise before baking. Either your kitchen is cold and they needed more time to rise or the baking powder was dead.
Ricardo Barbosa says
One thing I did before starting was let the yeast react with the water (warm about 100) and the sugar for about 10 min. 3/3 of the butter would be more than enough. Since it was chilly here I pre-heated my over to 160, turned it off then put the croissants to rise. I hope that helps.
Amanda says
Hi - I look forward to trying this recipe this weekend! Thanks for sharing it.
Two questions though:
1. Is that instant yeast or active yeast?
2. Could I do all the prep through and including step 18, leave the unbaked shaped croissants in the refrigerator overnight, and bake them the next day?
carlocao says
Hi Amanda,
It's active yeast. You can allow them to rise overnight just cover them with plastic foil, I'd line a baking dish with baking paper, place them on top and cover the dish with plastic foild. Then put it in the fridge to rest. If they don't rise too much in the fridge just take them out of the fridge the next day and allow them to rise before baking. I hope this helps. X Carlo
Kate Bin says
Hi there!
How many grams the package of dried yeast that you are using? It's my second time making these and my crossaints don't puff up as much as they should, so I'm thinking it could be because I'm using less yeast
Chris says
I have made these 3 times now. Really tasty and they turn out pretty well! My only issue is that a bunch of the butter melts out onto the tray and then that butter burns the bottom of the croissants. (They still maintain nice lamination and delicious taste!)
Lucia says
Hi Carlo, I have problems with the “stable” margarine. Can you please tell me the ingredients of the one you use, so I can look for something similar? I live in Italy. Thanks
Emma says
Hello! Was wondering how much a package of dry yeest is ?
carlocao says
In Switzerland the normal package has 7g of dry yeast. X, Carlo
Steve Pilarski says
Hi, what brand of vegan margarine did you use?
Thanks,
Steve
carlocao says
Hi, I used V-love vegan butter. X Carlo
Mbabazi says
Preheating the oven as I write this! It was so fun and interesting making these for the first time! I accidentally bought white flour instead of our usual whole wheat, so I thought I'd try a more delicate recipe. Thanks for this, I definitely wanna browse and try out more of your recipes. This one was good for a beginner baker like me to try! Also, they look so cute after proofing 🥺😊
with love,
mbabazi
Jai says
Today was my second time making these - and they were even better than the first!! This recipe is so clear and easy to follow, thank you Carlo!
carlocao says
Dear Jay, thank you so much for the feedback! I'm so glad you love them! Hugs, Carlo
Thi says
Hi Carlo.
This recipe looks fantastic. It's difficult finding stable vegan margarine where I'm from. There is only the spreadable widely available. Do you have any suggestions on how I can still make these?
Thank you!
carlocao says
Hi Thi, you only can make croissants using a plant-based butter that get's rock hard once chilled or it will end up in a disaster 🙁 maybe you can find one online? Where are you based?
Tomasz Michałowski says
I had to spend decades to look for online, only website unfold the fully details, bookmarked and many thanks.
Chloe says
I made these and they came out really well! The only step where I stumbled was when it came to putting the croissants in the oven to prove - after two hours, they had still not even started rising and I feared a day of tending to my pastry had been scuppered!
After some quick and fretful googling, I covered the croissants with lightly oiled clingfilm and set them near a radiator for an hour, which did the trick! The clingfilm is not essential; a clean, damp tea towel would probably work too. The main things to consider are keeping them moist and providing a heat source to activate the yeast.
Anyway, bottom line is - don't panic if they don't rise! There are things you can do - hope this helps.
carlocao says
Hi Chloe, thank you for your comment 🙂 The rising time is different from kitchen to kitchen depending on the temperature you have. So it's totally possible that your croissants needed more time than mine to rise 😀 I'm happy you liked them and that the recipe was a success!
Ingrid says
When I proof the croissants in the oven, I put a boil of hot water underneath the tray. This prevents them from drying out and also adds the little heat in the oven that the croissants need to rise. You might need to switch out the water after it gets cold again.
Just don't forget to take out the bowl when you bake them 😉
Also you can keep the unbaked croissants in the freezer for up to 2 or 3 weeks. You'll only need to proof them a little longer, but you can have fresh croissants every day if you like or prep ahead for your party.
carlocao says
Hi Ingrid, this is an amazing idea I've never thought of! I'm definitely giving it a try next time I make croissants. Thank you for the input.
Maria & Sons says
So excited for this recipe and super clear steps! Our croissants (first ones for boys' with dairy, egg and nut allergies) came out well and were fun to make. Next time (there will be a next), I'd bake in a hotter oven so they get crispier. Thank you for the great directions!!
Robert says
Your dough looks so well done!
Alexa Larocque says
What is stable margarine vs spreadable? how do I know the difference
carlocao says
hi Alexa, stable margarine gets rock hard when in the fridge, while spreadable margarine stays spreadable even if cold. I hope this helps 🙂
Nolo says
Really good recipe. Easy to follow and turns out amazing
Marta says
Thanks for sharing the recipe, will try it out!
How many grams of yeast does one package contain? I'm guessing it can differ between countries etc. 🙂
Dani says
Sounds amazing, I've made croissants a few years ago, but I wasn't vegan at the time. Now, being vegan for a little over 5 years, I think I must try your recipe.
I am so exited!!
carlocao says
Hi Dani! Please let me know how they turn out :)!
Gabrielle says
Can’t wait to make this!! Amazing recipe!
carlocao says
Gabrielle, please let me know how they turn out once you make them! I'd love to hear your feedback! Hugs, Carlo