Have you ever tried making quick croissants using ready-made puff pastry? They are empty, to be filled after baking. Super easy to make, ready in under 20 minutes, and can be used for sweet or savory dishes.
The essential ingredient and irreplaceable for this recipe is the puff pastry! Always having a roll in the fridge often saves last-minute dinners, like with the potato and mozzarella mini pizzas! To be precise, not just dinner! Ready-made fresh puff pastry is perfect for making many delicious treats, like the apple and cream pastries, a delicious indulgence!
In reality, to make quick croissants, you only need one ingredient, the puff pastry! Additionally, but not necessarily, you can brush the croissants with egg yolk, milk, or egg white and decorate the surface with sugar granules, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc.
The empty puff pastry croissants are thus perfect for bringing to the table many tasty recipes, even prepared at the last minute!
We can fill them in 1000 ways! For example, for the savory version, with cold cuts or smoked salmon and fresh spreadable cheese.
For the sweet version, the most delicious is surely with the famous hazelnut cream! Or with creams, preserves, or jams to your taste!
They are beautiful to present and, when you don’t have much time to dedicate to bakery goods, they still give great satisfaction!
During Christmas holidays, for a cocktail party or brunch with friends, a buffet, or birthday party. In short, puff pastry croissants can be prepared for any occasion without any effort!
Let’s now see how to prepare empty puff pastry croissants to fill, with step-by-step photos.
Here are some other simple and tasty ideas to make with puff pastry!
- Cost: Very economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 16 mini croissants
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 rolls puff pastry (round)
- to taste egg white (to brush the surface of the croissants. Or yolk, or milk or water)
- to taste poppy seeds (or sesame or nothing!)
Tools
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
Steps
First, unroll and lay both rolls of puff pastry on a work surface.
Overlay the first on the second disc, making them adhere well without pressing the pastry with your fingers.
Take a sharp knife and make a clean cut vertically and another horizontally.
At this point, starting from the center, continue cutting more wedges for a total of 16.
I chose to make mini croissants, in mini version. If you prefer, you can cut a smaller number of wedges for larger croissants.
We are almost done! Roll each wedge of puff pastry onto itself to form a croissant.
Place them all on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the surface with a bit of egg white.
Those who prefer can use yolk instead of egg white, or a bit of milk or simply water.
Decorate each croissant with poppy seeds, suitable for both sweet and savory versions. Or with sugar granules for sweet croissants, sesame seeds for savory ones.
Bake the quick puff pastry croissants in a preheated fan oven at 355°F for about 15-20 minutes. Static mode for about 20-25 minutes.
Remember, baking always varies from oven to oven! As soon as the croissants are nicely golden, remove and let cool.
Then cut in half and fill to your taste!
I hope I gave you a practical idea to create many tasty proposals! Come visit me again soon!
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Can I prepare the puff pastry croissants the night before?
I don’t recommend it! Puff pastry, to remain crispy and retain its texture, should be consumed within a short time. Preparing them the day before isn’t the best option because the next day, they will have likely lost a lot. At most, to avoid unnecessary waste, we can freeze the puff pastry croissants once formed, uncooked. When we want to fill them, they should be baked still frozen, so their shape will remain intact!
Can I fill the croissants before baking?
If desired, yes, but they might lose shape. Especially if, in the savory version, they are filled with cheese, which then melts during baking and often seeps out of the pastry! Usually, for the sweet version, they are filled with pastry cream or chocolate, pistachio spread or hazelnuts, jams, and again, the filling might seep out of the pastry. It depends on the type of result you want to achieve.
