There is nothing better on earth than when two great foods, croissants and chocolate, combine to form a chocolate croissant. You just can’t go wrong with the buttery crispness, the melted chocolate, or the flaky-thin layers. Unfortunately, it can be tedious to make your own chocolate croissants, but it’s time well spent on these homemade treats. If anything, using store-bought puff pastry dough is a terrific shortcut that saves you a ton of time and removes the fear aspect if you’re not really a baker; however, the preparation is what makes this an experience to remember.

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• two teaspoons salt
• one packet instant dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch thick slices
• one egg, beaten
• two bars sweetened chocolate bar

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, water, milk, sugar, salt, yeast, and butter.
2. Once the dough starts to clump, turn it out onto a clean counter and lightly knead the dough forming it into a ball.
3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
4. Slice the cold butter in thirds and place it onto a sheet of parchment paper.
5. Place another piece of parchment on top of the butter, and beat it with a rolling pin.
6. Keeping the parchment paper on the butter, use a rolling pin to roll the butter into a seven-inch square, ½-inch thick.
7. Transfer the butter layer to the refrigerator.
8. To roll out the dough, lightly flour the counter. Place the dough on the counter, and push the rolling pin once vertically into the dough and once horizontally to form four quadrants.
9. Roll out each corner and form a 10-inch square.
10. Place the butter layer on top of the dough and fold the sides of the dough over the butter, enclosing it completely.
11. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to seal the seams, making sure to lengthen the dough, rather than widening it.
12. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.
13. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it’s 8×24 inches.
14. Fold the top half down to the middle brushing off any excess flour. Then fold the bottom half over the top and turn the dough clockwise to the left completing the first turn.
15. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
16. Roll out the dough again two more times, completing three turns in total and refrigerating for one hour in between each turn.
17. After the final turn, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
18. To form the croissants, cut the dough in half. Place one-half in the refrigerator.
19. Flour the surface and roll out the dough into a long narrow strip, about 8×40 inches.
20. With a knife, trim the edges of the dough and cut the dough into four rectangles.
21. Place the chocolate on the edge of the dough and roll tightly enclosing it in the dough.
22. Place the croissants on a baking sheet, seam side down.
23. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
24. Brush the croissants with the beaten egg. Save the rest of the egg wash in the fridge for later.
25. Place the croissants in a warm place to rise for one to two hours.
26. Preheat oven to 400°F.
27. Once the croissants have been proofed, brush them with one more layer of egg wash.
28. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.