Chef John's Croissants

1. Stage

Place warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle with yeast. Let yeast dissolve for 10 minutes. Add sugar and bread flour. Sprinkle with salt; add 6 tablespoons butter. Attach the bowl to the stand mixer. Mix dough with the dough hook just until butter is completely kneaded in and the dough forms a ball and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl, 3 or 4 minutes.

2. Stage

Transfer dough to a work surface and form into a semi-smooth ball. Place dough back in the mixer bowl; cover. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 2 hours.

3. Stage

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Push and press dough to deflate it, and form it into a rectangle. Fold into thirds by lifting one end over the middle third, and folding the other side onto the middle. Wrap in plastic wrap. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Refrigerate until chilled through, about 1 hour.

4. Stage

Cut 2 sticks butter in half lengthwise and place slightly apart from each other on a length of parchment paper long enough to fold over the butter. Fold the parchment paper over the butter. Press butter down. Roll out with a rolling pin to a square about 8x8 inches. Refrigerate until a little chilled and just barely flexible, 10 or 15 minutes.

5. Stage

Roll dough out into a rectangle slightly wider than the butter slab and just over twice as long. Place butter on one half of the dough leaving about a 1-inch margin from the edge of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the butter. Dust work surface and dough with flour as needed.

6. Stage

Press rolling pin down on dough to create ridges. Then roll out the ridges. Repeat this process. Keep pressing and rolling until dough is about the same size rectangle as you had before you folded it in half, dusting with just a bit of flour as necessary.

7. Stage

Starting from the short side, fold one-third of dough over middle third. Then fold the other end over to form a small rectangle. Flatten out just slightly with rolling pin. Transfer to the silicone-lined baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

8. Stage

Transfer dough back to work surface and repeat pressing and rolling technique until dough is the size of the previous larger rectangle. Fold into thirds again, starting from the short side. Press and roll slightly. Transfer back to lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate about 15 minutes.

9. Stage

Roll back out to a large rectangle. This time, fold dough in half. Then press and roll out into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle, using as little flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.

10. Stage

Cut dough in half lengthwise using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter. Dust one piece with flour and roll out to a rectangle about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick. Starting from one corner, cut the dough diagonally crosswise into 8 triangles using a pastry wheel. Starting with the bottom end of each triangle, roll each up toward the tip to form the croissant with the seam at the bottom. If necessary, use a bit of water to seal the tip to the rolled croissant.

11. Stage

Repeat with the other half of the dough.

12. Stage

Place shaped croissants on baking sheets lined with silicone mats. Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water to make the egg wash. Brush croissants with egg wash. Place in a warm area to allow them to rise, about 45 to 60 minutes.

13. Stage

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Brush croissants gently but thoroughly again with egg wash.

14. Stage

Bake in the preheated oven until beautifully browned, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before serving.