Pain au Chocolat

Pain au Chocolat

A French breakfast classic made from the same buttery laminated dough as croissants, wrapped around two batons of dark chocolate and baked until deeply golden, shatteringly flaky, and just barely set inside.

Prep

90 min

Cook

18 min

Total

108 min

Serves

8 pains au chocolat

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (8½ oz / 1¾ cups) bread flour, high-protein (11–12%), or all-purpose with 1 tsp vital wheat gluten
• •30 g (2 Tbsp) caster sugar, fine granulated, or null
• •6 g (2¼ tsp) instant yeast, 1 standard packet
• •5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
• •120 ml (½ cup) cold whole milk, or part water
• •60 ml (¼ cup) cold water
• •1 large egg, cold, about 50 g
• •170 g (12 Tbsp / 1¼ cups) unsalted butter, European-style ≥82% fat (Plugra, Isigny), cold but pliable at 13–15°C / 55–59°F; standard supermarket butter will not laminate as well
• •160 g (5½ oz) dark chocolate batons, specially made 7–8 cm / 3 in batons of 52–64% cocoa; chopped from a bar works but yields less defined pockets
• •1 large egg yolk, for egg wash, beaten with 1 tsp milk and a pinch of salt

Steps

1. 1 Make the dough: whisk flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl. Add milk, water and egg and mix with a dough hook on low for 3 minutes, then medium for 4–5 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should reach 24–26°C / 75–79°F.
2. 2 Shape into a 15 x 20 cm / 6 x 8 in rectangle, wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight (up to 24 h).
3. 3 Prepare the butter block: pound the cold pliable butter between two sheets of parchment into a 14 x 19 cm / 5½ x 7½ in square, about 1 cm / ⅜ in thick. Refrigerate until firm but not rock-hard (15–20 minutes).
4. 4 Lock in the butter: roll the cold dough on a lightly floured surface to 20 x 26 cm / 8 x 10½ in. Place the butter square diagonally in the centre, fold the four dough corners over the butter and pinch the seams to seal completely.
5. 5 First turn: roll the package into a 15 x 40 cm / 6 x 16 in rectangle, fold in thirds like a letter (single book fold), wrap and refrigerate 45–60 minutes.
6. 6 Second turn: repeat the roll-and-fold. Wrap and refrigerate 45–60 minutes.
7. 7 Third turn: repeat once more. Wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight, before shaping.
8. 8 Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 26 x 36 cm / 10 x 14 in rectangle, about 3–4 mm / ⅛ in thick. Trim the edges cleanly with a sharp knife.
9. 9 Cut into 8 rectangles of 9 x 13 cm / 3½ x 5 in. Place 1 chocolate baton across the lower third and 1 across the upper third of each rectangle, leaving a 1 cm / ½ in border.
10. 10 Fold: fold the bottom edge up over the chocolate, place a baton below, fold the top edge down to enclose, then flip seam-side down onto a parchment-lined tray. Tuck the ends under and press gently to seal.
11. 11 Proof at 24–26°C / 75–79°F for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, until visibly puffy and jiggly when the tray is nudged. Do not over-proof or the layers will collapse.
12. 12 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F (convection 190°C / 375°F) with a rack in the upper third.
13. 13 Brush the pastries gently but thoroughly with egg wash, making sure no pools form on the parchment (they will glue the pastry to the paper).
14. 14 Bake 16–20 minutes, rotating the tray once at the halfway mark, until deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 96°C / 205°F in the centre. The chocolate inside should be molten but the crumb should read fully baked, not doughy.
15. 15 Cool on the tray 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Best eaten warm, within 2 hours of baking. To re-crisp, refresh 5 minutes at 175°C / 350°F.