So as I finished the end of my pastry series on my youtube channel (croissants, Pain au chocoalt and Kouign Amann) I realized I couldn’t be done without the elusive CRONUT! Again using the same dough, same recipe just made differently it’s a wonderful treat that everyone loves! AND today is national DONUT day so it’s just too perfect!
A cronut should be flaky and sweet, with a crunch to the outside that’s been fried and a soft flaky inside. Mmmm I roll my sides in sugar and top it with a donut glaze, but next time I’m going to pipe some filling inside as well, Mmmmm They are rich and tasty just like a dessert should be! AND they really aren’t any harder than the other pastries I’ve made OR even some donuts I’ve made over the years!
The Dough -in the video I mention rolling out and folding and rolling out and folding – turns 1 and 2 – without refrigerating between, I highly suggest you not cut corners and refrigerate after every turn – for the cronut you’ll actually stop after the 3rd turn (DON’T do a 4th)
The glorious cronut – You can use a deeper container of oil for better floating, but keep a thermometer in the oil to keep an eye on it, Make sure you let the oil come back up to the right temperature after each round or your’ll get oil soaked cronuts.
So what do you think? Will you be trying it? I’d love to hear suggestions for fillings and other glazes, I know the ORIGNAL cronut comes in a ton of flavor options! I’ve made them about 3 times now, I just wish the batch made more. I’m going to do a double batch next time, I’ll let you know how it goes!
Homemade Cronut Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 C whole milk warmed
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 3/4 C all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter softened and cut into small chunks
Butter block
- 1 1/2 C butter cold
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Topping
- granulated sugar
Glaze
- 1 1/2 C powdered Sugar
- 2-4 Tbsp whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Dough
- In your mixing bowl add milk, yeast and sugar together and let proof 5-10 mins until the yeast is dissolved.
- Add the flour, salt and 2 Tbsp softened butter to the warm milk mixture. Mix with a dough hook until it's combined, then mix 2-3 more mix until it's smooth (if you don't have a bosch you can knead by hand about 5 mins)
- Let the dough sit (covered) for 1 hour (or until doubled in size).
Butter Block
- With your hands, on the counter (or in your Bosch) mix the cold butter, flour, sugar and salt until it is without lumps. Work quickly to keep the butter cold.
- Place the butter on plastic wrap and shape it into a 9x7 in rectangle. Wrap and refrigerate the butter 30 mins
Dough part 2
- knock the dough down, knead lightly in the bowl and refrigerate for 30-45 mins.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a 15 x 8 inch rectangle.
- Take the rectangle of butter and place over 2/3 of the dough leaving a 1/2 inch border on 3 of the side and about 5 inches on the other. Fold over the excess 5 inches of dough then fold over the buttered side like you were folding a business letter. Seal the edges and rotate 1/4 turn.
- Roll out the dough/butter into a 18x8 rectangle, fold into thirds again (first turn) - wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 mins
- Repeat 2 more times (roll out, fold, refrigerate - 2nd and 3rd turns)
- roll out the dough to 1/2 an inch thick.
- Using a 3 inch cutter with a 1 inch center cut your cronuts (you can't re-roll this so cut out so cronut holes -for testing the oil - and throw away any extra dough)
- Put aside and let rise until they are double in size, about 2 hours
- Heat up 3 inches of oil to 350° F
- Start by testing the oil with the cronut holes, they aren't the best to eat but you can tell if you oil is hot enough by using them for testing. if they separate too much and fall apart the oil isn't hot enough, if they start to burn it's too hot, you want them to poof a little and turn golden brown
- When your oil is hot enough place the cronuts in, you want to put in enough that they are floating but not over crowded
- Cook 90 seconds to 2 mins on each side
- let them strain/cool on a cooling rack over paper towels
Glaze
- mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth
- Place the extra sugar in a deep plate
- When the cronuts have cooled slightly, but are still warm but not hot, and roll them the sugar on the sides, the dip the top into the glaze, let cool completely then enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
And in honor of National Donut Day the #celebratingfood2015 bloggers are at it again! check out these 17 amazing treats!
Homemade Cronuts – Ashlee Marie (here, scroll up)
Easy Chocolate Glazed Donuts – Summer Scraps
Baked Gluten Free Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts – Tried and Tasty
Easy Custard Bismarks – Real Mom Kitchen
Lightened Up Strawberry Lemonade Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches – Happy Food Healthy Life
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts – Creations by Kara
Easy 15-Minute Maple Bars – Butter with a side of bread
Chocolate Glazed Donuts – Jamie Cooks it up
Baked Powdered Sugar Donut Holes – Cupcake Diaries
Easy Jelly Filled Donuts – Like Mother Like Daughter
Basic fried donuts – Ashlee Marie
Apple Cider Donuts – Real Mom Kitchen
Chocolate Glazed Donuts – Butter with a slice of bread
Stuffed S’mores Donuts – Ashlee Marie
Apple Fritters – Jamie Cooks it up
Coconut and Lime Donuts – Happy Food Healthy Life
Stuffed Maple and Candied Bacon Donuts – Ashlee Marie
Yvonne @ Tried and Tasty
Holy cow, those look delicious!! I tried to watch the second video.. and for some reason I couldn’t get sound – I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m anxious to watch and hear you! I’ll try again later!
Ashlee
GAH! it’s working for me, I wonder if I broke something… Let me know if it still doesn’t work!
Kara
I have never tried a cronut before. They look amazing!!
Ashlee
SOOOOOO GOOD!!! seriously I’m a little obsessed!
Alli @ Cupcake Diaries
These look AMAZING!! I’m really regretting not being your next door neighbor right about now.
Ashlee
we need to just plan a play date and we all request recipes we’ve been dying to try from eachother!
Theresa L Greer
How long do these stay fresh and how should they be stored?
Ashlee
ummmm they never lasted long enough to see how long they lasted, BUT I’m a fresh donut fan, I don’t even like the day olds, so it’s a preference thing! usually baked goods are best stored in a brown bag at room temp.
Monique
Hey Ashlee,
Just wondering if you have any tips for rolling out the dough after adding the butter block? Both times that i have tried this recipe the butter has spilled out of the seams which is crazy messy, and it also burns the butter while it is frying. So how do you keep the butter in the pastry?
Thank you x
Ashlee
Make sure you keep it cold when working with it – refrigerate more often if you need to. and roll as evenly as possible – so don’t try to go too thin too fast. does watching the video help at all?
Monique
I ended up putting it in the freezer for 20 minutes instead of the fridge for 30minutes and that worked really well. I think my house was just too warm for it! I tried my best to follow the videos and recipe. But they turned out tasting great! I mixed up some cinnamon sugar and a raspberry icing to put on top everyone loved them!
Rosalinda
Thanks for the tip about oil temperature. I tried a different recipe just last week. I had no idea about the right oil temperature, so sure enough the cronuts layers were separating and were difficult to turn over. The layers did stick back together after taking the cronuts out of the oil. Shelf life: the recipe I used had 0 storage life. The texture changed the next day and they were stale the 3rd day even storing them in the refrigerator. I’ll try your recipe next time.
Anita
Love that you do the videos to show us on your recipes! Without the videos I’m going to definitely mess up. That was really a great idea because slot of people need these videos. I know I do.