Vegan Croissants

4.98 from 68 votes

This recipe shows how to make the perfect vegan croissants. These vegan croissants have a flaky, crispy exterior while the interior is soft, tender, and slightly chewy. This recipe is easy to follow, with step-by-step instructions making it accessible for everyone.

Prep Time1

Cook Time25

Resting time12

Total Time13 40

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Croissants

Servings:

Calories: 557kcal

Author: Carlo Cao

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

Metric - Imperial (US)

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.

Notes

** Use non-spreadable vegan butter, it should turn 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.

*** 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 in the recipe 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.

Nutrition