I found some recipes that adapted from the Tartine recipe, and both of them resulted in some super dense croissants. I further adapted the adaptation so the dough would look airy instead of like a medicine ball of butter.

Lesson: Follow your instict…go with your gut…add more milk.

Then when you’re confident the dough is airy, soft, and doughy enough…be brave and put some chocolate chips in the croissants.

I adapted from this adaptation: The Tart Tart Tartine Croissant Recipe

I figured it’s time to put my recipe down so I have a place to refer to when I get around to making these again. It’s been a while, so hopefully the recipe still works. If it doesn’t…trial and error, it’s the name of the cooking game right?

Ingredients
Preferment

• 6 T whole milk or 2% milk
• 1/2 T active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup of bread flour

The rest of the ingredients

• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup whole milk or 2% milk
• 3 cups of bread flour
• 1/6 cup (2 T + 2 tsp) of sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 T high fat butter melted, I used Kerrygold butter
• 8 oz of high fat butter COOLED, I used Kerrygold butter
• Eggwash – 1 egg, water, pinch of salt

What to do

1. Start by making the preferment –– Warm the milk up to around 100-115F. Don’t go over 120F because the yeast will die. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it dissolve and bloom for about 10 minutes. Mix in the flour to make a liquidy, poolish, sludgy looking mix. If it doesn’t look like that…add some more milk. Let it rise for at least 2-3 hours.
2. Making the dough — Add the preferment into your stand mixer with a dough hook. You’re going to cycle adding the yeast, milk, flour, sugar, salt, and melted butter slowly for the next few minutes. Add the yeast…mix on low for a few seconds…scrape the sides of the bowl. Add some milk…mix on low for a few seconds until incorporated…scrape down the sides of bowl. Repeat with the other ingredients until everything is fully incorporated.
3. If the dough looks dry, add more milk. The first time I made croissants I followed recipes to the tee and it turned out dry. Go with your gut, add more milk.
4. Once you have a nice, smooth, slightly sticky dough, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for at least 2 hours.
5. After 2 hours, lightly flour your work surface and transfer to the dough to your workspace. Gently roll the dough into a square (or rectangle like I did up there) that is about 2 inches thick. Loosely wrap your dough square in plastic wrap and let it rise in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. I have let it rise overnight and longer before, and it was fine.
6. Lamination –– Lightly flour a work surface large enough to roll everything out. Transfer the dough and roll it out into a square or rectangle that is about 1cm to 1.5 cm (3/8 to 1/2 in) thick. Take your cooled butter and cut it into 1/2 cm (1/8 in) slices. Lay the butter slices on your rolled out dough…kinda like tiles. Leave about a 2 cm (3/4 in) margin.
7. Imagine 3 columns in your dough. Take the right edge of the dough and fold it over the middle column, then take the left edge and fold it over that. So you’re folding your dough like a letter into thirds, if that didn’t make sense.
8. Seal the edges by pressing down on the margins you left. What you have now is a plaque! Roll it out.
9. Rotate your dough so that the long edge is near you (horizontal). Fold the dough in thirds again. Roll it out again. Repeat this 1-2 more times. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
10. Final Roll & Cutting — Now that the plaque is chill, roll it out again to a thickness of about 1 cm or 1/4 in (if possible 1/4 in is thin). If your plaque gets too large, cut it down to that the height of the dough is about 22 cm (9in) tall. Cut the dough into triangles….similar to how the Pillsbury crescent rolls are cut.
11. At this point, if you want to fill the dough with chocolate, cheese, or whatever…do it then roll the triangles. Shape the croissant’s points however you would like them (i.e. more straight or more curved).
12. Final Rise — Prepare a baking sheet or two lined with parchment paper. Place your croissants on the sheets so they have enough room to rise (about 6 per sheet). Cover the sheets with plastic wrap. Let it rise again (last time I swear) for at least 2 hours.
13. Preheat the oven to 400F. Get your eggwash ready. At this point, when you touch the croissants it should be fluffy/soft enough to leave a little dimple. Brush eggwash over the croissants.
14. Bake — Bake the croissants at 400F for 5 minutes. Bring the temperature down to 350F and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
15. Let the croissants cool and ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR! If they come out weird, it’s ok…learn from your mistakes and try again!