Is there a greater treat anywhere than a fresh, fragrant, buttery recipe

croissant?

Let's be honest about this. Croissants are not easy to make. They are not
fast to make. They are not low calorie and certainly not low fat. However,
they are good. Darned good. And therefore, making your own croissants
is worth the trouble from time to time.

Trivia: The croissant is thought to have originated in Buddapest in 1686.

Bakers working at night raised an alarm when Turkish invaders attempted
to dig into the city. Later, the bakers created the crescent-shaped delicacies
to mock the Turkish flag.

And now, on to your recipe croissant. You will find three recipes here.
Two are made with white flour and one with whole
wheat flour. One, marked easy, is somewhat simpler to
make than the other two.

Tip: It is important to keep the dough cold while working with it. You will
get best results if you roll the dough on acool, marbled surface, using
a cool marble rolling pin.

Tip #2: Each time you cover recipe croissant dough, wrap securely to keep
air out. Wrapping prevents an unwanted skin from forming.

Tip #3:Cut the dough of recipe croissant with a very sharp knife or pizza
cutter.

Tip #4: Resist eating your croissants when they come from the oven.
Croissants need time for the layers of dough to settle.

Recipe Croissant #1 -- Basic

1 cup milk 
1 tbsp butter (first amount)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 pkg dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 cup cold butter (second amount) 

Combine milk, first amount of butter, sugar and salt in a small pot and
bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

While mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast in the water and add it to the
milk. Place the liquid in a mixer and add the flour. Using the dough hook,
mix until the dough is elastic and sticky.
Place in a bowl, cover and let rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
Place in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

While recipe croissant dough is chilling, soften the remaining cold butter
by pounding with a rolling pin.

Roll the dough on a floured board to form a 1/4-inch thick rectangle.

Spread the butter over 2/3 of the rectangle closest to you. Fold the
unbuttered third over the center third. Then fold the bottom 1/3 over the
doubled portion. Swing the dough around a quarter turn. Roll it again into
a 1/4-inch thick oblong. Fold again in thirds.

Cover the dough and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more. When
the dough is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and repeat the folding
and turning twice more. Then roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness once
more. Cut the dough into 3-inch squares then cut the squares on the bias to
form two triangles. Roll each triangle beginning with the wide side, then
shape the rolls into crescents. Place on baking sheets such as theCuisinart
Chef's Classic Nonstick Baking Sheet  lined withparchment paper. Leave
enough room for each croissant to triple in size. Chill for 30 minutes in the
refrigerator before baking.

Preheat oven to 400F. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and
continue to bake another 15 minutes.

Remove recipe croissant from the oven. Cool and enjoy.