Pain Au Chocolate Recipe

Closeup of the inside of a pain au chocolat.

Pain au chocolat (aka chocolate croissants) are a chocolate-filled French pastry with buttery, flaky pastry layers. All the steps you need.

For best results, use a kitchen scale and the grams measurements. Cup and oz measures may not give a good results but are offered here for those who choose not to use grams.

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Prep Time: 1 10

Cook Time: 22

Resting and chilling: 18

Total Time: 9 32

Servings: pastries

Calories: 504kcal

Equipment

Stand mixer with dough hook attachment helpful but not essential
Or mixing bowl
Dough scraper
Ruler or tape measure
Knife or pizza cutter
Insulated baking trays helpful but not essential
Silicone baking mat helpful but not essential
Proofing mat helpful in cold weather but not essential

For best results, weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale.

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH (DETREMPE)

335 g bread flour (~11 ¾oz / ~ 2½ cups)
50 g white sugar (~ 1 ¾oz / ¼ cup)
5 g salt (~1 tsp)
8 g instant dry yeast (2 ⅔ tsp)
125 ml water (½ cup)
80 ml whole milk (⅓ cup)
21 g unsalted butter cold and cubed (1 ½ oz)

BUTTER BLOCK (TOURRAGE)

200 g unsalted butter (82-84% butter fat) (14oz)

FINISH

1 egg yolk
20 ml whole milk or thickened cream/heavy cream
16 dark chocolate batons 8-9cm / 3 ½ inches (notes 2)

Instructions

THE CROISSANT DOUGH (DETREMPE): Place the flour, sugar and yeast to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a standmixer. Place the salt on the opposite side of the bowl to the yeast. Add the water, milk and 21g of cubed butter. Beat with the dough hook attachment on low or your hands until the butter has worked it’s way into the dough.
Turn the stand mixer up to the second setting or knead by hand for a further 5-8 minutes until the dough is mostly smooth, elastic and the sides of the bowl are clean. If kneading by hand, it will just become less sticky over time and look mostly smooth and elastic.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and place the bowl upside down over it. Rest for 45 minutes at room temperature.
Once rested, roll the dough out to a rectangle, 20x30cm (8x12 inch). Transfer to a sheet of baking paper or baking mat on top of a baking tray or chopping board, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight (or for at least 2 hours).
THE BUTTER BLOCK (TOURRAGE): Cut the butter into slices of similar thickness.
Fold a long piece of baking paper in half, then measure a rectangle 20cmx15cm (8x6in) folding along all the lines. Place the butter inside. Flip it over so the folded bits are underneath. Beat firmly but not aggressively with a rolling pin until it spreads out evenly into the rectangle.
Chill until required.
ADDING THE BUTTER BLOCK TO THE DOUGH: Take the frozen dough out of the freezer at least 1 hour before you want to start rolling and folding. Make sure its corners are as square as possible and that it is at least 20x30cm (8x12in).
Take the butter block out of the fridge and give it a gentle bash again with the rolling pin (not hard, you shouldn’t break the paper). Unwrap the butter block and place in the centre of the dough (if needed, pull out the side edges so the butter doesn’t overhang the dough).
Make sure the butter is pliable but not soft. You should be able to bend it without breaking but it shouldn't be melting in your hands.
Fold each of the ends of the dough over the butter to meet in the centre and press the seam together as best you can. Run a knife gently down the folded edges just to release a bit of tension - no need to cut all the way through.
FIRST FOLD: As long as it still feels cool to the touch (if not, chill for 10 minutes), roll the dough out to 20x50cm (8x20in). Keep it as rectangular as possible, tapping in the sides to straighten them from time to time. If you find it feeling sticky or sticking to the work top you can dust with a little flour but if it’s happening too often it probably needs to be chilled more. Turn and flip the dough as required.
Choose the ugliest side of the dough and face that upwards (this will then get encased inside so you end up with a smooth dough). With the short side closest to you, imagine the dough in 3 sections - fold the closest third up and over the middle third.
Now, fold the top section in half so that the two ends meet (not over the top of the middle but to meet the first one you folded to create a join). Press those two ends together gently to form a seam.
Finally, fold it in half away from you (so the bottom edge meets the top edge).
- You should now have 4 visible layers and this is called a double-fold or book fold.
Chill for 15 minutes.
(Or, you can freeze the dough to proceed with another day if you prefer. Make sure it thaws - it should be malleable but still cold before you start rolling again.)
SECOND FOLD: Score the folded edges with a knife again. Roll the dough out once again to 20x50cm (8x20in). Keep it as rectangular as possible, tapping in the sides to straighten them from time to time.
With the short side closest to you, imagine the dough in thirds again. Fold the bottom third up over the middle. Fold the top third down over the top.
- You should now have 3 visible layers and this is called a single-fold, simple fold or letter fold.
Chill the dough for 10 minutes in the fridge.
PREPARE THE CHOCOLATE IF YOU DON'T HAVE BATONS.
If you can't get the ready-made chocolate batons that bakeries use, just use a block of good quality baking chocolate.
- Heat a sharp knife for a few seconds over a flame or with a kitchen blowtorch. Boiling water will work too but make sure to dry it off before the next step.
- Lay the blade of the knife on top of full lines of chocolate 8-9cm/3 ½ inches and very gently saw backwards and forwards to cut it into two strips. Don't put too much pressure on them or the chocolate will break.
- Clean the knife off between cuts with paper towel and reheat as often as necessary. If your chocolate does break, you can still use it.
TURN THE DOUGH INTO PAIN AU CHOCOLATE: Score the folded edges of the dough again. Roll the dough out to 32x32cm (12 ½ x 12 ½in) keeping the sides as straight as possible. The dough should be about 4-5mm thick.
Place a ruler along the long edge furthest from you. Use the tip of a sharp knife to make small nicks at 8cm intervals. Repeat on the edge closest to you.
Place the ruler along the side edges and make a cut at 16cm (centre) and repeat on the other side.
Now use a very sharp knife and ruler to cut from all the top nicks to the matching ones along the bottom. Then cut across the centre one in the other direction, so you have 8 rectangles of dough.
ROLL THEM UP:
Place a baton of chocolate on one piece of dough just in from the edge (on the thin side). Roll the edge of dough over it.
Add a second baton of chocolate, then continue rolling the dough all the way up.
When you get near the end, squish the far end of the dough against the worktop, then finish rolling the dough up, using the squished end as the seam underneath the pain au chocolate.
Repeat with all the rectangles of dough.
Proof the dough rolls at room temperature or up to 24C for 1 ½-3 hours on a baking sheet lined with a baking mat. The cooler it is the longer the dough will take to rise but you don’t want it to get too warm or the butter will melt. They are ready when they look puffy, pillowy and they jiggle when you shake the tray. You can gently press the dough with your fingertip and the indentation slowly springs back halfway, they’re ready to bake.
- You can freeze the pain au chocolate at this point. Let them thaw on the day of baking or overnight in the fridge then continue.
BAKE: When you can see they’re getting close to being fully proofed, preheat the oven to 170C fan forced (or 190C/375F with no fan) - I find fan best for pain au chocolat. Try to preheat at least ½ an hour to make sure the oven is fully heated throughout. You can transfer the pain au chocolat to the fridge if you need to slow down the proofing process.
Mix together the egg yolk and milk (or cream), then gently brush it over the pain au chocolat rolls.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on the outside. Let them cool before cutting.
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Notes

Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
Chocolate Batons: If you can't get the ready-made chocolate batons that bakeries use, just use a block of good quality baking chocolate.
- Heat a sharp knife for a few seconds over a flame or with a kitchen blowtorch. Boiling water will work too but make sure to dry it off before the next step.
- Lay the blade of the knife on top of full lines of chocolate 8-9cm/3 ½ inches and very gently saw backwards and forwards to cut it into two strips. Don't put too much pressure on them or the chocolate will break.
- Clean the knife off between cuts with paper towel and reheat as often as necessary.
- If your chocolate does break, you can still use it.
- Chocolate can be prepared ahead of time.
Nutritional values are based on 8 pain au chocolate

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