Pain au chocolat
Pain au chocolat (chocolatine): laminated croissant dough rolled round dark chocolate batons
Pain au chocolat is the favourite after-school and Sunday breakfast treat of French children, called pain au chocolat in Paris and the north and chocolatine in Toulouse, Bordeaux and the south-west, a friendly argument that never ends. Croissant dough is cut into rectangles and rolled around two batons of dark chocolate, so every bite has crisp pastry and a melting seam of chocolate. The common mistake is rolling it too tightly, which stops the layers rising. Chef's tip: roll loosely with the seam underneath, so it does not unroll in the oven.
- Total time
- 680 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb strong white bread flour
- 2 oz caster sugar
- ⅓ oz salt
- ¼ oz instant dried yeast
- ½ cup cold milk
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 ⅜ oz unsalted buttersoft
For laminating and filling
- 9 oz cold unsalted butter
- 24 dark chocolate batons (bâtons boulangers)or 150 g dark chocolate cut in sticks
- 1 eggbeaten with 1 tbsp milk
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Mix the 1 ⅛ lb strong white bread flour, 2 oz caster sugar, ⅓ oz salt and ¼ oz instant dried yeast, add the ½ cup cold milk, ½ cup cold water and 1 ⅜ oz unsalted butter and knead for 5 minutes into a smooth dough. Flatten into a rectangle, wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
10 minStep 2: Beat the cold 9 oz cold unsalted butter between sheets of baking paper into a 17 cm square and chill until firm but bendable.
10 minStep 3: Roll the dough to 34 x 17 cm, enclose the butter in one half and seal the edges.
10 minStep 4: Roll into a 60 x 20 cm strip, fold in three, turn and chill 30 minutes. Repeat twice more, chilling between, for three folds. Chill 1 hour.
20 minStep 5: Roll the dough to a 30 x 64 cm rectangle, 4 mm thick, and cut into 12 rectangles of 8 x 16 cm. Lay a 24 dark chocolate batons (bâtons boulangers) baton across one short end, fold the dough over it, add a second baton and roll up loosely. Put on lined trays seam side down.
15 minStep 6: Brush with 1 egg and prove at about 75°F for 2 hours, until puffy and doubled.
150 minStep 7: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan), brush again and bake for 18–20 minutes until deep golden. Cool for 10 minutes; the chocolate is very hot.
20 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 340 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 20 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pain au chocolat take?
- About 680 minutes in total: 660 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of strong white bread flour?
- Plain flour, same amount (the dough will be softer and rise a little less).
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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