Small Batch Sourdough Croissants

It's been a long time between drinks, but here's a recipe worthy of a comeback. 

I've made a lot of croissants and quite a few sourdough croissants over the years, but these are the best and easiest so far. The fact that the recipe only makes six is a bonus... hear me out.  Most recipes I've used make a dozen or more croissants which, naturally, means handling a much larger amount of dough. I don't know about you, but the thought of rolling dough out to nearly a metre long and trying to keep it cool over and over is just too much for me to deal with. Plus, having more than six buttery, golden, flaky freshly made croissants in my house at any one time is flirting with danger.

Small Batch Sourdough Croissants:

Makes 6

100g active sourdough starter

250g baker's flour

30g caster sugar

6g salt

1 egg

80g water

25g unsalted butter at room temperature

140g butter, cold

Place starter, flour, sugar, salt, egg water and room temperature butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low until it just comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and slap and fold dough about 3 times until reasonably smooth. Form into a ball and put it into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 2 hours.

Twenty minutes before the end of chilling time, take the cold butter out of the fridge and place it between two sheets of baking paper. Thwack it with a rolling pin until it is about 20cm x 20cm.

Take the dough out of the fridge and place it on a floured counter. Roll it out to about 25cm x 25cm. Put the butter block on top of the dough so it's like a diamond in a square. Fold the corners of the dough to meet in the middle of the butter block and press the edges of the dough together to completely seal in the butter. Put it in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

Roll the dough to 46cm long and 25cm wide. Fold the top down about 2/3 of the way, then fold the bottom to meet the top. Then fold it in half again. The block should be abut 25cm x  8cm. Put it in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

Take the dough out of the fridge and place it on a floured counter, making sure the the shorter side is parallel to you. Roll the dough again to about 45cm long and 8cm wide. Fold the top down to the middle, then fold the bottom over the top so that you have a rough square. Put it in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

Roll the dough until it is about 25cm high and 6mm thick.  Cut the croissants into triangles with bases about 8.5cm wide.

Roll the triangles of dough starting with the base, rolling to the tip. Place on a baking paper lined tray with the tip tucked under.

Put the whole tray into a large plastic bag and seal. Leave to proof at room temperature (about 21C), for 18-20 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Brush the croissants with egg wash (an egg beaten with a little water), and bake for about 25 minutes or until deeply golden.