TThese delicious homemade cheddar cheese croissants are the ultimate savoury, buttery experience – and honestly? Not that difficult to make.
Today I’m going to show you, step-by-step, how homemade butter croissants, loaded with cheese, are made. Are you ready?
What are croissants?
Croissants as we know them today are a French crescent shaped pastry. They are made with laminated dough, much like puff pastry or Danish pastry. I recently heard that croissants originated in Austria, which totally shocked me! However, on further sleuthing, it would seem that this is only partially true. Croissants are a French pastry inspired by an Austrian pastry called “Kipferl,” a sweeter, crescent shaped roll with brioche-like dough. (source)
How to make these savoury cheese croissants
Cheese croissants are made much like butter croissants, just with shredded cheese layered into the dough with the butter. Here are the basic steps for how to make cheese croissants.
Prepare the butter
A thin sheet of cold butter is essential for making perfect croissants. You can prepare this by pressing softened butter out between two sheets of parchment paper. You can do this with a rolling pin, and then return it to the fridge until it is firm.
Make the dough
Making the dough is a fairly straightforward process, although it will take some time. This recipe recommends you make a sponge first (a mixture of flour, water, and yeast). This is to allow the yeast to permeate more quickly and develop some extra flavour (much like a sourdough starter).
Grate the cheese
Get your favourite cheese ready to make those cheesy golden layers!
Roll the dough
In this step you will roll the dough, cheese, and butter together, folding and rolling about 4x. This will create those beautiful layers.
Cut the dough into long triangles
You can make croissants out of any triangle shape. However, the key for beauty is to make them from a long isosceles triangle. This is the perfect shape for more of the layers to be exposed on the final crescent roll.
Shape into crescent rolls
The shape of a croissant is achieved by rolling pastry triangles, wide end to the tip. Finally, the ends are curved in slightly to finish the look.
Allow the dough to rise at room temperature
The proofing process can be completed after about 1 hour. However, depending on the temperature of your home, it could take longer. Perfectly proofed croissants should be doubled in size.
Bake at a high temperature
Baking croissants (much like pastry), at a high temperature forces the layers apart. This gives you that beautiful, crispy golden brown exterior.
The best cheese to use for cheese croissants
When it comes to baking anything with cheese, I like to use a good quality sharp or white cheddar cheese. Here are a couple of notes of different kinds of cheese in baking:
- Mozzarella
While delicious, this type of cheese (or another soft, mild cheese like it) can get lost in the layers. Consequently, the mellow flavour won’t show very strong once it’s baked. - Cheddar
My personal favourite! For best results, use a nice old orange or white cheddar (or a mixture of the two!) for baking. Orange cheddar gives the best “Cheesy” look to baked goods. - Marbled Cheddar
Used in this post! (Because sometimes, despite your preferences, you use what you have on hand, am I right?) Marble is preferable to mozzarella cheese, but it is definitely more on the mild side. - Asiago (or Parmesan)
These cheese are delicious, however, also very strong smelling. Bake with these cheeses on a day when you can have your windows open. You can read more about my adventures in baking with these cheeses here:
Asiago Black Pepper Bagels and Parmesan Sage Bagels
Tips for making great croissants
- Read the recipe thoroughly
Going over the recipe beforehand will give you the space to process what you will be doing. When you do this ahead of time, it makes each new step feel somewhat familiar. This makes the whole thing less daunting when you actually get to doing it! Read the recipe until you feel like you have a good handle on what you’ll be doing. - Plan your time
Since all croissants (cheese croissants following the same method) take time, it is important to plan your time well. I recommend working ahead wherever you can. Ie, flattening and chilling the butter ahead of time, to make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. - Keep the dough cold
This is an essential part of making flaky croissants by hand. If the butter begins to soften or melt, your dough will be a mess! The layers will also tear, and the whole process will be 1000x more frustrating. Keeping the dough cold will alleviate a lot of stress and make the process more fun. - Use a chilled marble rolling pin
This, in my opinion, is the key to making perfect croissants at home. Rather than pausing every couple of rolls to refrigerate your dough (again), there is a solution! A chilled marble rolling pin will flatten and cool your dough as you work with it. This makes the process of making laminated dough much faster, easier, and more fun! - Bake the croissants fresh
Croissants, like pastry, are best baked fresh on the day you want to serve them. If you don’t have time to bake them fresh, read on! Below I share my easy tips on how to freeze and thaw croissants.
Ways to serve cheese croissants
Cheese croissants are so delicious served any number of ways; yet in my opinion, these are some of the best!
- Nothing beats fresh warm croissants, right out of the oven!
- All on their own for a simple savoury breakfast, with a tea or coffee
- For breakfast or brunch rolls
- As sandwich bread, with cold cuts and cheese
- With chicken salad or tuna
- Cut up and baked into crispy buttery croutons
- Sliced, with the croissant pieces baked in layers with egg and milk and your favourite omelette toppings for a savoury bread pudding
- Sliced in half and baked with a thick slice of your favourite cheese on top. (You can do this in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.)
How to store croissants
I want to take a minute here to show you how to store croissants to keep them fresh and make them last!
1 – How long will croissants keep?
As I mentioned before, croissants are best served on the day they are made. Leftover croissants should be kept in a sealed freezer-safe bag or container for 1-2 days. You can, however, freeze them for longer storage for several weeks and revive them to taste fresh! (Read on to find out how!)
2 – How to freeze croissants
Freeze your croissants in single layer in a sealed bag or airtight container. However, make sure to take care that they don’t get smashed in the freezer.
3 – How to reheat (or thaw) leftover croissants
You can thaw your frozen croissants by setting them (frozen) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Next, warm them in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 375 degrees F. Similarly, you can warm day old croissants in the oven (same temperature) for 3-5 minutes.
You will need:
- Large mixing bowl or stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Glass measuring pitcher
- Silicone spatula
- Plastic wrap or a tea towel, to cover the dough
- Miniature sieve (optional)
- Marble rolling pin
- Cheese grater
- Parchment paper
- Sharp knife
- Pastry brush
- Baking sheets with sides
Scroll down for step-by-step pictures!
Homemade Cheddar Cheese Croissants
These delicious cheesy, homemade croissants are baked with buttery layers and lots of love. Perfect for breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tsp. dry active yeast
- 1/3 cup lukewarm milk
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I used marbled cheddar for these pictures)
- 1 cup cold butter unsalted*
- 1 egg
- Cold water
Instructions
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Let the butter rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Place between two sheets of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, pound, roll, and shape the butter into an 8″ square. Wrap in wax paper and chill until cold.
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In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1 cup flour with 1 cup lukewarm water and 1 tsp dry active yeast. Stir until the lumps are dissolved, cover with a tea towel, and let rise for 1 hour to make a sponge.
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Add the rest of the flour, salt, and milk to the risen sponge mixture. Stir to combine, and then knead by hand or with an electric mixer until strong, about 10 minutes. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
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Roll the dough into a 9″x18″ rectangle, and place the chilled square of butter on one end of it. Sprinkle with about 1/2 of the cheese, and fold the dough over the butter and cheese to encase it, pinching the edges to seal. Pound/roll piece out to be a 9″x18″ rectangle again.
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Fold the lower half of the dough up 1/3 of the way, and then the top half over that, like an envelope. Rotate 90 degrees to the right (so that the folded edge of the dough is to your left), and roll the dough out again into a rectangle (same size again). Sprinkle with 1/2 of the remaining cheese, fold up 1/3 of the dough, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Fold the top part of the dough down to encase the cheese like an envelope.
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If the dough is getting warm or difficult to work with at this point, cover, and let it chill for at least 20 minutes or until cold.
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Repeat the rolling process again; roll into a rectangle, fold into an envelope, rotate, roll, and fold again (for a total of 4 folds with the butter inside). Wrap the folded piece of dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
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Remove the cold dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 9″x18″ rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 long triangles, with the base of each one being about 3-4 inches in width.
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To shape the croissants, cut a little slit into the base of the triangle, roll the edges out towards the sides, and roll up, wide end to short end. Make sure the tip of the triangle is tucked underneath, and curve the edges around to form a half moon shape (or just leave them in a straight, rolled croissant if you prefer).
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Cover the shaped croissants with a tea towel and allow to rise for 1-3 hours, or until doubled. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
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Beat 1 egg with about 1 tsp. cold water and brush on top of the risen croissants.
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Place the pan of croissants into the oven, reduce the temperature to 375 degrees, and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.
Recipe Notes
*The butter must be unsalted for best results. 1 cup of butter is exactly 1/2 of a 1-lb brick.
Step-by-Step
1-3: Make the Dough
For pictures on how to flatten the butter and make the dough, check out my post for Butter Croissants Here.
4-7: Roll the Dough
8-9: Cut into triangles & Roll in crescent shapes
10: Proof the croissants
11-12: Bake the cheese croissants until golden brown
If you liked this recipe, you may also like:
- Step-By-Step Butter Croissants
- Cranberry Apple Butter Croissant Danishes
- Chocolate Croissants
- Simple Puff Pastry
That’s all for today folks! I hope you enjoyed the fuzzy socks and baby booster chair in the background. Points to you if you notice something else unique about these photos! Let me know what you see in the comments!
Feel free to tag me in your pictures on Instagram @naomicakesofficial. I love to see that my recipes are being enjoyed!
Bye for now,
Naomi
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