These buttery croissants have a beautiful flaky exterior and are soft and pillowy inside. Best served fresh out of the oven with your favourite jam. The techniques used may seem a little intimidating but they're surprisingly straight forward, give yourself a good three hours from start to finish.  

CLASSIC FRENCH CROISSANTS

Makes 10 small or 6 large croissants

INGREDIENTS

250g flour
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup of milk plus 2 tablespoons
250g butter, softened
Egg wash

METHOD

Warm milk and add yeast, stir and then let sit for 2 - 3 minutes. 

In a separate bowl combine the flour, caster sugar and salt. Add the milk mixture and combine. Knead dough until it has a shiny smooth exterior. Wrap bowl in glad wrap and leave for an hour and a half in a warm spot. 

Place the butter in the centre of a large piece of baking paper. Place another piece of baking paper equal in size to the first on top of the butter and gently roll out the butter until you have a square piece 1cm thick. 

Roll out your dough until you have a large square almost double the size of your square of butter. This should also be around 1cm thick. 

Remove baking paper and place the butter in the centre of your dough. Fold the four sides of the dough over the butter like a parcel making them overlap slightly

Roll out the dough into a long rectangle and brush off any excess flour. Take the far end of the dough and fold it towards you 3/4 of the way down. Then take the remaining 1/4 closest to you and fold on top, this should give you a square. 

Turn the square of dough 1/4 clockwise and roll out again and fold as you did before. Wrap in glad warp and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  

Repeat the above step two more times. 

Roll the dough into a large square around 75mm in height. With a sharp knife make long, narrow triangles from the top of the dough to the bottom. If you want to make larger croissants the base of the triangle should be around 13cm in length, for smaller make them around 10cm.

Fold the base of the triangle forward 1cm and press down on the edges. Using one hand stretch out the triangle from the tip of the dough and using the palm of your other hand gently roll the base of the dough forward towards the tip. Brush the tip with egg wash to help it stick. 

Turn oven to 200°C. Curve the edges of the croissants to produce a crescent shape and brush with egg wash. Let proof for 30 minutes.  

Cook for 10-15 minutes keeping a close eye on them. 

There are lots of great videos online on rolling croissants if you need extra assistance.