“Croissant Pockets”
YOU GUYS. I was prepared for this to flop. What I was not prepared for was the absolute perfection that is the croissant-pocket. FLAKY. BUTTERY. Filled with whatever sweet or savory goodness your heart desires. I devoured an entire meatball croissant-pocket while standing over the sheet pan. It was everything I dreamed while burning the ever loving shhh out of my taste buds.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Mix The Dough
- With hook attachment on a stand mixer on low speed, combine 250g cold whole milk, 50g sugar, 10g salt, 12g instant yeast, 1 egg yolk. Slowly add in your 450g bread flour. You do not want it to be too dense. Once combined, add your 40g of softened butter.
- Allow hook to knead 1 minute until fully combined.
- Transfer dough to lightly dusted surface and knead by hand for 3-5 minutes until smooth, bouncy and pliable.
- Shape into a ball, place in a lightly grease bowl & cover with damp tea towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rest in a room temperature environment until about doubled in size. You do not want it to be too warm, so just be mindful. Mine was ready in about 1 hour 40 min.
- If you believe your dough is ready but aren't sure, try the thumb test. Gently press your thumb about 1/2 in deep in the top of the dough. If it bounces back quickly, it is under proofed and needs more time. If it slowly rises back, it is ready! If it does not move, it is over proofed. (I would still use it, but the results will not be the same. Best to check early!)
Form Your Butter Block
- While your dough is resting, form your butter block. Cut your 2 sticks of butter in to thirds, long wise.
- Lay them flat, side by side in the middle of a piece of parchment paper, creating an 8x10in rectangle of butter. Place in the fridge.
BBQ Chicken Filling
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.
- Heat olive or avocado oil in a skillet or cast iron pan over medium heat. Once glistening, add your chicken thighs and sear until very golden on one side. Flip and cook until internal temperature reaches 165℉.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before adding to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until chicken is shredding up nicely. Begin to add bbq of choice and mix thoroughly.
- Set aside until ready for use.
Roll out Dough + Laminating
- Remove butter block from the fridge. You will want your butter COLD but PLIABLE by the time we add it to our dough.
- Transfer dough to a well floured surface. Roll out to an even 8x16in rectangle.
- Add butter block to the center of the rectangle so that both 10in sides align with each other. If at any point your butter looks glossy or like it's melting, or the dough feels warm, put everything back in the fridge to cool back down.
- Fold your outer edges of the dough over the butter block to meet in the middle like an envelope. Pinch the middle folds and outer edges to seal the butter in. You should now have an 8×10 size dough with butter sealed inside.
- Turn the dough over so that the seal side is face down. *Gently* pound the dough with your rolling pin all the way down one time vertically and one time horizontally.
- Roll the dough out to create a 24x10in rectangle. Alternating sides to create an even dough and prevent the butter from breaking up.
- Fold one third of the dough into the center, then fold the other side on top. Then take the top and fold in half on top of itself. Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove from fridge, repeat the same gentle pounding and rolling out to a 24x10in rectangle. Fold into itself, cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Assemble & Bake
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Remove from fridge, repeat the same gentle pounding and rolling out to a 24x10in rectangle. Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut into 8 equal size square pieces. Chill cut pieces again for about 15 min.
- I rolled each square just slightly thinner to make them more pliable before adding my filling. Just be careful not to roll too thin so they can support the weight of the filling. I will share the bbq chicken preparation on this recipe and possibly add more in the future! Get creative!!! Meatball, ham and cheese, berries… the sky is the limit.
- Add your preferred filling to the center.For bbq chicken croissant pockets, place cheese down first then a good spoonful of bbq chicken, followed by a few of the red onion slices. Measure most of this with your heart!! You will know if it's too much if it doesn't close….Fold over to form a triangle.
- Use a fork and press down to seal the edges completely.
- Brush entire croissant pocket with egg wash.
- Cut two small slits in the tops of your croissant pockets & sprinkle with flake sea salt.
- Bake in 400℉ oven for 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway. Should be golden and flaky when finished!! Some filling may escape, it's okay, embrace it.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes before enjoying!
All ovens vary, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer for consistency when baking.
Notes
The most important part of any laminated dough is to make sure the butter and dough remain the same temperature as one another so that the butter does not fully incorporate into the dough. Move to the fridge immediately to cool back down if you even suspect that the butter is getting warm.
All ovens vary in temperature. Learn your ovens hot spots and use an oven thermometer.