How to make croissants

I've been wanting to make croissants for a while now. Now that exam season is over I have time to tackle them! As such a well known French pastry, they've always seemed quite daunting so I wanted to do them justice. I like to live by the "do it right or don't do it at all" motto.

Yummy croissants warm from the oven!

Ham and Cheese croissants

As a first attempt, I'm quite happy with how they turned out. They had a crunchy, flaky crust and fluffy, buttery layers. They do not keep well as they turned bread like the next day, but it's not something a few minutes in a hot oven can't solve. 

Dough structure after first proofing. Nature really is amazing!

Butter layers after the folds. The butter is not as evenly spread as I would like

Croissants ready for the oven

Reference for future improvements:
- Freeze the butter and then grate to form an even butter slab.
- Refrigerate the butter dough for only 30 minutes so the butter can spread more easily within the dough when rolling out.

- Only leave the shaped croissants to rise for 1-2hrs instead of overnight in the fridge.

Anyhoo, here's the recipe that I followed, but I would include the improvements above.

Ingredients:
1 cup (250 ml) warm milk (I used whole milk)
1/2 cup (125 ml) warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
3 3/4 cup (500 g) all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup + 2tbsp (9 oz/ 250 g) butter, room temperature

Method:
1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the milk and water and leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
2. Add the flour and salt and mix until it is all incorporated.
3. Knead for a 1-2 minutes and leave in an oiled bowl on the counter for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, cut the butter and create a 8x5" rectangle slab on a piece of clingfilm. Wrap the slab and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Tip the dough out, knock out the air and roll into a 16x10" rectangle.
6. Place the butter slab in the middle third of the dough, then fold one end of the dough over the slab followed by the other end, like a book. Seal the butter inside the dough.
7. Roll the butter dough into a 15x10" rectangle.
8. Flip the dough over and fold into thirds like step 6. Wrap in clingfilm and chill the dough for 1 hour.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 four times.
10. Cut the dough into quarters. Wrap each quarter individually and place 3 in the fridge whilst you work on one of them.
11. Roll the quartered dough into a 16x6" rectangle, cut into thirds, and cut each thirds into two triangles.
12. At this stage you can add fillings like cinnamon sugar, chocolate, ham & cheese, or just leave them plain.
13. Then shape the croissant by rolling the dough from the base of the triangle.
14. Place on a baking sheet, cover and leave on the counter for 1.5 hours. Then brush with egg to give it a nice shiny finish.
15. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until brown.

It's a long process, but the outcome is so enjoyable!