Book 9, Question 70
Why Does Laminated Dough Make Croissants Flaky?
Laminated dough makes croissants flaky because it has many thin layers of butter and dough! Laminated means made of layers. In the oven, the layers puff apart into crispy leaves.
More fun facts
- Lamination means folding butter into dough again and again to make lots of thin layers.
- Croissant dough is made by layering butter into a soft yeast dough, then folding and chilling it.
- The fat sits between the layers of dough, and in the oven steam pushes the layers apart.
- Laminated dough is chilled again and again so the butter layers do not melt during folding.
- For croissants, the dough is rolled out to about 5 millimeters thick.
- Danish pastries, turnovers and sausage rolls also use laminated pastry.
Questions kids ask
What makes croissants flaky?
Steam from the butter pushes the thin layers of dough apart in the oven.