Apple Filled Croissants

[Fallon's Favorites]

For a church ladies' meeting today I made a variety croissant tray of apple croissants, chocolate croissants and lemon-almond croissants. A yummy treat for everybody there.


Apple-filled croissants

For the dough:

7 tbls. butter
2 tbls. white sugar
1 large egg
1 pkg. active dry yeast
7 tbls. milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

For the filling:

1/2 cup sweetened applesauce

For the topping:

1 egg white, lightly beaten
Pearl sugar or white sugar

Place the butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy. Set aside. Place the yeast in a medium bowl. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until slightly warm and pour warm milk over the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the yeast mixture to the butter mixture, then add the flour and salt. Stir to form a dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a 10-inch circle. Cut each circle into 8 triangles, using a pastry wheel or sharp knife.

Put 1 1/2 tsp. of the applesauce in the center of each triangle. Fold 2 corners over the filling and roll into the third corner, making croissant shapes. Place them on the prepared baking sheet with the tips folded under. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until almost double in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Brush dough with the egg white and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.


For chocolate croissants:

For the chocolate filling:

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted over hot water.

Follow recipe above for dough then place 1 1/2 tsp. of melted chocolate in the center of each triangle. Then brush chocolate over triangles and fold as directed above. Continue through end of recipe above to create delicious chocolate croissants. Before placing chocolate on dough, you can mix chocolate with 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts if desired. Place croissants on the prepared baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Then preheat oven to 475 degrees F. and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden.

For Lemon and Almond Croissants:

Follow recipe above for dough.

For Lemon-Almond filling:

1/2 cup almond paste, crumbled
1 egg white
1 tsp. grated lemon zest

For topping:

1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Combine the almond paste, egg white and lemon zest in a small bowl. Beat on medium speed until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the filling evenly over each dough triangle and roll to make croissant shapes. Place the croissants on the prepared baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Brush the croissants with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with the almonds. Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

In case anyone is wondering - yes, I made all the dough at once for creating the variety of croissants - being careful not to let anything rise too long or bake too much. If you pay close attention, this works!

 

[QSis]

Fallon, I am not much of a baker.

What kind of storebought thing would I get instead of making the dough? Pilsbury Crescent rolls? Puff pastry?

Lee

 

[Fallon's Favorites]

Good morning, Lee - You just know I'll take the shortest route and the path of least resistance if I possibly can and yes, Pillsbury Croissant rolls will work wonderfully. The taste isn't quite as rich but the effect is nearly the same. As far as puff pastry, I've never tried that but I suppose it would work okay. I've made vegetable pinwheels with the Croissant rolls on a number of occasions...just chop up some ham, fine chop, and veggies such as onion, peppers and/or things like that in a fine chop and add some shredded cheddar to create a filling, put two triangles of the dough together, working out the seam in the middle and put a tablespoon of the filling on each piece of dough. Then roll the dough up and slice it crosswise and bake as directed. These are really good and we have them frequently for breakfast. You can use just about any filling you choose to put into pinwheels like that, meat/veggie mixtures or fruit pie fillings. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Fallon

 

[Guts]

oh man I was hoping for pictures sounds good if anybody make some post a picture. I love to see it hint, hint mama LOL

 

[Cooksie]

Good morning, Lee - You just know I'll take the shortest route and the path of least resistance if I possibly can and yes, Pillsbury Croissant rolls will work wonderfully. The taste isn't quite as rich but the effect is nearly the same. As far as puff pastry, I've never tried that but I suppose it would work okay. I've made vegetable pinwheels with the Croissant rolls on a number of occasions...just chop up some ham, fine chop, and veggies such as onion, peppers and/or things like that in a fine chop and add some shredded cheddar to create a filling, put two triangles of the dough together, working out the seam in the middle and put a tablespoon of the filling on each piece of dough. Then roll the dough up and slice it crosswise and bake as directed. These are really good and we have them frequently for breakfast. You can use just about any filling you choose to put into pinwheels like that, meat/veggie mixtures or fruit pie fillings. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Fallon

The puff pastry is great. If you're in a bind and can't make your own, do try it. I think you'll really like it. It bakes up into light, golden, crispy layers.