The Almond Croissants you crave from your favorite bakery - but made in your own kitchen! Day old pastries get a new life with these Easy Almond Croissants!
You aren't supposed to write personal stories on food blogs anymore. Oh well 🙃 My Easy Almond Croissants are very personal for me. My husband bought them for me after one of our first dates. He still searches for them wherever we are. I crave that almond flavor so much, I've added almond flavoring in my French Apple Cake and my Pear Frangipane Galette recipes.
I learned the "art" of making almond croissants while working as a professional baker. We made dozens of croissants every morning and sometimes we wouldn't sell them all. The leftover plain croissants were filled and baked a second time and then they would always sell out. Let me teach you the joys of twice-baked almond croissants straight from your own oven...
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Ingredients
Croissants - The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any croissants you can find. Whether they come from a fancy French bakery, or the grocery store, your almond croissants are going to be amazing.
You need to start this with slightly stale croissants. I like to lay my croissants on a wire rack set into a large sheet pan and leave them on the counter overnight. If you forget to do that (who me?), you can place them in a 200°F oven for 20 minutes.
Frangipane - The filling you'll make for your almond croissants is frangipane. Otherwise known as almond cream, frangipane is not the same thing as marzipan or almond paste. It is not regularly sold in American grocery stores and is even difficult to find online. Good thing it's so easy to make!
See recipe card for full ingredient quantities.
Substitutions
We did have the occasional special order for vegan almond croissants at one of the bakeries where I worked. We made it work and we made it delicious!
- Croissants - We started with vegan croissants, which are made with vegan butter (check your local vegan bakery or organic market).
- Frangipane - Make the frangipane with vegan butter and replace the egg with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of your choice of liquid (almond milk, apple juice, water, etc.)
Variations
Replacing the frangipane filling with something else would make this a not-almond croissant, but hey, some recipes are guidelines, not mandates. Twice baked croissants can come in many other flavors, like these:
- Chocolate hazelnut - Brush the inside of your cut croissants with a vanilla or orange simple syrup. Replace the frangipane filling with ½ cup of nutella that has been mixed into 3 ounces of melted chocolate. Fill and bake as directed. Dust finished croissants simply with powdered sugar.
- Pumpkin - Add ½ cup pumpkin puree, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ⅛ teaspoon allspice, and ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg to frangipane. Fill the croissants as written in the recipe and bake as directed. Dust finished croissants simply with powdered sugar.
- Apple - Dice one apple in ¼ inch pieces. Saute apples with one tablespoon butter and season with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg until soft, about 7 minutes. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and add to apples. Simmer until syrupy. Cool and add on top of frangipane filling when assembling croissants. Bake as directed. Dust finished croissants simply with powdered sugar.
Instructions
Assembling your Easy Almond Croissants takes only minutes. If you make the simple syrup and the frangipane the day before, you can go from assembly to devouring in just over 30 minutes. That means almond croissants any day of the week!
1. To make almond simple syrup, simmer water, sugar, and almond extract in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Cool to room temperature.
2. To make frangipane, mix together butter, sugar, almond flour, and salt until well incorporated.
3. Add egg and almond extract and mix on low until combined.
4. Mix one high until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Slice croissants in half and brush the cut sides with the almond simple syrup.
6. Spread the bottom half of each croissant with about 2 tablespoons of frangipane.
7. Replace the tops of the croissants and spread with another tablespoon of frangipane. Place slice almonds in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Press croissants into the almonds and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.
8. Bake at 375F for 16-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and exposed portions of frangipane are puffy and browning on the edges. Dust with powdered sugar and devour.
Expert tips
- Simple syrup can be made up to a month ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Frangipane will keep up to a week in an airtight container in your fridge. Allow it to come to room temperature before trying to spread it on your croissants.
- To make spreading the frangipane even easier, transfer it to a piping bag, or zip top bag, snip a corner, and squeeze onto your croissants, then spread.
Recipe FAQ's
They are so great to make ahead for busy mornings or Holiday breakfasts! Assemble your croissants ahead and freeze them on a sheet pan until hard. Individually wrap in plastic wrap and store together in a zip top bag. Place frozen almond croissants in the fridge the night before, or leave on the counter for 30 minutes, then bake as directed.
These almond croissants are best eaten on the day they are made, but they can be stored in an airtight container or plastic bag for a day or two.
Heat leftover croissants on a sheet pan in a 350°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
Yes! Leftovers can be individually wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to two months. To reheat, thaw frozen croissants overnight in the refrigerator, or for about an hour on the counter. Reheat on a sheet pan in a 350°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
Recipes from the bakery counter
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Easy Almond Croissants (Shortcut Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
Almond simple syrup
- ¼ cup (60 g) water
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Frangipane
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter softened to room temp
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (84 g) almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg
Everything else
- 6 day old croissants allowed to dry on the counter overnight
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, water, and almond extract in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Place toasted almonds shallow bowl or pie pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat butter, sugar, almond flour, and salt until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add almond extract and egg and beat until creamy. Place in refrigerator while you prepare the croissants. If making ahead, refrigerate and use within one week. If refrigerating, bring to room temp before assembling the croissants.
- Slice croissants in half horizontally. Brush cut sides with almond syrup. Spread cut side of bottom pieces with about 2 tbs of frangipane. Replace the top half and spread with another 1-2 tbs of cream. Press croissant, top down, in the plate of almonds, adhering nuts to the cream. Place finished croissants on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 375° for 16-20 minutes, or until croissants are golden brown and almonds are toasted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Nutrition
The nutritional and caloric information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It does not assert or suggest that readers should or should not count calories, and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s or doctor’s counseling.
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