Description

Croissant is a butter flaky bread, named for its distinctive crescent shape. It is also sometimes called a crescent or crescent roll Croissants are made of a leavened variant of puff pastry by layering yeast dough with butter and rolling and folding a few times in succession, then rolling. Making croissants by hand requires skill and patience; a batch of croissants can take several days to complete. However, the development of factory-made, frozen, pre-formed but unbaked dough has made them into a fast food which can be freshly baked by unskilled labor.

This innovation, along with the croissant's versatility and distinctive shape, has made it the best-known type of French pastry in much of the world. In France and Spain, croissants are generally sold without filling and eaten without added butter, but sometimes with almond filling.

How to select

Check the expiry date before buying the croissant dough or pre packed croissants. Always try to buy locally from a bakers shop than going for branded croissants, which have perhaps been baked months ago. If possible, go for croissants with organic ingredients.

Culinary Uses

· Croissant pastry can also be wrapped around any praline, almond paste or chocolate before it is baked (in the latter case, it becomes like pain au chocolat, which has a different, non-crescent, shape), or sliced to admit sweet or savoury fillings.
· The warm croissants may be filled with ham and cheese or feta cheese and spina
· Croissants are commonly served alongside coffee as a breakfast. These croissants are referred to as medialunas ("half moons") and are typically coated with a sweet glaze.

How to store

The croissant dough should be refrigerated and used within a week. The baked or ready croissants should be stored in air tight containers.

Health benefits

· Croissants provide a quick source of carbohydrate thus keeping hunger away.
· The rolls, made with whole wheat or oats are rich source of B complex vitamins and dietary fibre.
· Since these rolls are high in sugar and fat content, have them in limited amounts only. 1 plain 5 oz croissant with a pat butter contains 268 calories.