French Croissants

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to distribute. Add all wet ingredients to the stand mixer bowl, followed by the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, reaching low to moderate gluten development. Shape into a disc and refrigerate overnight.

Draw a 7" x 7" square on a piece of parchment paper with a pencil. Flip the parchment over so the butter won't come into contact with the pencil marks. Place the softened butter in the center of the square, cover with another sheet of parchment paper, and fold over 7" creases to lock in the butter. Use a rolling pin to spread the butter evenly to fill the square. Refrigerate overnight.

Lightly flour your work surface. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, making sure it is very cold throughout. Place the dough on the work surface. Arrange the butter block in the center of the dough so it looks like a diamond in the center of the square (rotated 45 degrees, with the corners of the butter block facing the center of the dough sides). Pull the corners of the dough up and over to the center of the butter block. Pinch the seams of dough together to seal the butter inside. You should have a square slightly larger than the butter block.

Lightly dust the work surface with flour to ensure that the dough won't stick. With a rolling pin, using steady, even pressure to roll out the dough from the center so that it triples in length. This will take several passes and you may need to add more flour in between rolling to keep the dough from sticking to the surface and rolling pin. When finished, you should have a rectangle about 20" x 10" and ¼" thick.

Place the dough so the shorter sides run left to right. From the top side, fold one-third of the dough onto itself, keeping the edges lined up with each other. From the bottom side, fold the remaining one-third of dough on top of the side that has already been folded. Line up all the edges so that you are left with a smaller rectangle. This technique is called a "letter fold," since the dough is folded as if it were a piece of paper going inside an envelope. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and place on a sheet pan. Refrigerate for about 1 hour to relax the gluten.

With the seam always facing to the right, roll dough again to 10" x 20". Perform a second letter fold. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

With the seam always facing to the right, roll dough again to 10" x 20". Perform a third letter fold. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Roll dough to 10" x 36" length. If dough resists, fold and refrigerate for 20 minutes to relax gluten, then continue rolling to full length.

Trim about ½" from each side to make a neat rectangle. Using a ruler, score the bottom edge every 3". On the top edge, make the first score 1½" from the left end, then continue scoring every 3". Cut diagonally from each top mark to the two nearest bottom marks to form isosceles triangles about 3" wide and 10" long.

Elongate each triangle to about 12". Notch the base and roll tightly into croissant shape.

Arrange croissants on parchment-lined baking sheets. Proof at 76-79°F for about 2 hours until puffy and jiggly.

Apply a thin coat of egg wash just before baking.

Bake at 375°F (350°F convection) for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Rotate halfway through for even baking.