January

• 6 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp water warmed to 105F
• 1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
• 1 - 1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp salted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 2 tsp cold water (to glaze)

Directions:

1. Place milk in a small saucepan. Scald the milk by heating over high heat until the milk begins to steam, but remove from the heat before it begins to boil. Stir in sugar and salt to dissolve. Set milk aside to cool.

2. Pour warm water into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with yeast and mix to dissolve. Add cooled milk mixture. Slowly add flour, siring well, until a soft dough forms.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

4. Place dough into a greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

5. When dough has doubled, punch it down and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 6”x8” rectangle.

6. Using a knife, spread 1 Tbsp soft butter gently over the bottom 2/3 of the dough. Fold the dough, letter-style, bringing the top, un-buttered third down first to cover half of the buttered section, then bringing the bottom third up to create an even rectangle. Give the dough a quarter turn and roll with short, even strokes into another 6”x 8” rectangle. Spread the remaining Tbsp of soft butter over the bottom 2/3 of the dough, and fold again. Roll and fold twice more without adding more butter, giving a quarter turn each time.

7. Shape dough into a ball and roll into a 15” circle. Cut into 12 equal sized wedges.

8. Starting at the large end of each wedge, stretch the bottom tips of the dough outward slightly before gently rolling from the bottom to the tip.

9. Place each croissant, point down, 1 ½” apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Cover, and let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 40 min.

10. Towards the end of rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. Gently, brush each roll with the egg yolk and water glaze. Bake 10-15 min, until well browned. Once finished, let cool on rack and enjoy!