My butter was too cold and my croissants came out like hockey pucks

Last Saturday I had to choose between using butter straight from the fridge or letting it sit out for an hour. I went with the fridge butter because I was in a hurry and thought I could just work it in faster. Big mistake, the dough tore in three places and the layers barely puffed up in the oven. My wife said they looked like flattened biscuits with a fancy name. Has anyone else tried the fridge butter shortcut and regretted it?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaretm231mo agoMost Upvoted

Ugh, I did the exact same thing last month and ended up with sad, dense little rocks instead of croissants! My kitchen smelled great but the texture was just completely wrong.

zaram9727d ago

Wait, you really tried the room temp butter thing and it worked better? I used to be convinced cold butter was the only way because that's what all the pros say. But I gave it a shot last weekend after reading a similar tip, and my croissants actually puffed up right for the first time. Still not perfect, but way better than those hockey pucks I was getting before.

the_tessa1mo ago

Read somewhere that cold butter creates steam pockets that just... explode instead of lifting the dough gradually? Like the butter needs to soften and melt slow to get those layers. I tried the fridge thing once too and my croissants came out looking like sad little slippers. Now I just set my butter out the night before, wrapped in plastic, on the counter.