The Fresh Loaf

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Whole Wheat Croissant - not as indulgent, is it?

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Whole Wheat Croissant - not as indulgent, is it?

It might makes you feel less guilty eating croissant. These croissants were made with 20% whole wheat flour.

Would it be classified as wholegrain croissants:P?

I used the recipe from Michel Suas's Advance Bread and Pastry. The recipe used preferment. The dough was quite soft and pliable and was relatively easy to work with when it came to rolling and lamination. 

These were great tasting croissants and full of flavours. It had subtle nuttiness from whole wheat, great sweetness from malt and preferment. And whole wheat was hardly noticeable in the baked croissants. It was a good alternative to traditional croissant and it was sort of comforting to, at least, have a healthy wholegrain croissant.

Full post and recipe is here (http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com/2011/05/whole-wheat-croissant-not-as-indulgent.html).

Sue

http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com 

 

Comments

rossnroller's picture
rossnroller

They look magnifique, Sue! Ooh la la - that crumb! Healthier? Maybe, but I imagine the butter content is as high as in any croissant. Then again, who cares - just wanna tear into one of those beauties!

Bake on!
Ross

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

How about higher in fibre:P

Sue

varda's picture
varda

But very nice to look at.   Thanks for posting.  Vicariously.....Varda

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

I know, it's guilty as charge....

Sue

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Sue,
The way you've written about the flavor in your beautiful croissants... wow, they sure do sound, and look, delicious.
Your post reminds me of the Whole Wheat Croissants in RLB's Pie and Pastry Bible. Rose wrote about the flavor of those croissants, in similar terms. 
I'd forgotten how badly I wanted to try making those whole wheat croissants - thank you for the reminder!
:^) from breadsong 

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Umm, you got me interested in another new book, RLB's Pie and Pastry Bible. I might have to check that out.

With your talent and attention to details, I'm sure you'll do extremely well with croissants:)

Sue

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello Sue, and thanks :^)
It's taken me awhile write back...but I wanted to say I think you'd love RLB's Pie and Pastry Bible.
There are lots of beautiful recipes for sweet, and savory, things in this book - perfect for such a wonderful baker like you :^)
from breadsong

teketeke's picture
teketeke

 Hi Sue,

That sounds like a good balance of whole wheat and malt, Sue.  I really like the color of the crumb !

Happy baking,

Akiko

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

I think malt powder and egg yolks contributed to nice crumb and crust colours.

Sue

mimifix's picture
mimifix

Many years ago, back in the early 1980's, I had just moved my home-based bakery into a small neighbor retail shop. My philosophy was health-oriented, with whole grains in most products. Croissant were just becoming popular so I learned how to make them, but used honey and fifty percent whole wheat flour.  They were delicious! Since they still had a hight-fat content the sign had a warning: Don't butter these breakfast treats - already too much butter inside! For a real croissant, it's quite impossible to avoid high-fat content.

Mimi

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Hi Mimi,

Wow, 50% whole wheat flour. It must have taken some skills to produce that. It sounds delicious. 

I love how you put the warning sign, great sense of humour. 

Buttery croissant is the weekend indulgence I love to have from time to time:) (sans butter, but with homemade jam).

Sue

mimifix's picture
mimifix

Thanks Sue, no skill, it just took a few tries to get the process right. The dough had to be quite wet; had to "pour" it from the mixer bowl onto sheet pans, then chilled it for several hours until it was stiff enough to lay in the butter. But starting with a wet dough made it easier to do the roll and folds.

And I love your blog (I have you bookmarked), the pictures are so helpful. I especially like that you cut croissant dough without using one of those "croissant cutters" which (in my opinion) is a non-essentlal tool.

Mimi

MadAboutB8's picture
MadAboutB8

Thanks for the tips. I too find that slightly tackier dough is easier to work with when it comes to rolling. But I tried not to have the dough too wet, as I feel it will somhow restrict the flaky layers of the croissants (I'm still experimenting with croissants and all, it's just my observation).

Thanks for the comments on blog. It was lovely to hear:)

Sue