Almond croissants—can I just tell you that if I could dream of being at a corner french bakery with La Vie en Rose playing in the distance, while many of the locals were out n about, and I sat there sipping on a hot tea and a fresh – out of the oven almond croissants…I would believe I’d died and gone to heaven. But I’m not near or even close to a french bakery! The closest thing I’ve come to one was several years ago when my daughter and I visited Kansas City and we devoured some from a local bakery there. They were amazing! 
So call me crazy when I was craving them the other day and then I decided to do a little research, (cause if I can’t find something I want), you can bet I start thinking about making it. Don’t you? So imagine my surprise when I found several recipes for them but 90% were using day or week old – store bought croissants. Didn’t know that!
They involve slicing, filling ’em with almond cream, and dipping ’em in almond glaze, coating with almonds and baking. Not too complicated. Right? This is what they looked like before baking (above)…
This is them, out of the oven!
I used the recipe I liked the most based on reviews, end results and ease of recipe. The outcome? DELICIOUS—ness!!! I think I gained 15 pounds just looking at them come out of the oven!
almond croissants…closest thing to a french bakery
The recipe I settled on came from here, Jessica Gavin’s site. They are scrumptious! (You can also find it below.)
This was also my first time to use almond flour and oh, man! That’s all I’m saying on that. But, I honestly couldn’t stop licking the bowl, when I made the almond cream. YUM!!!
Note: This recipe isn’t too complex, just several steps and I would certainly make the cream and syrup the day before you plan to prepare and eat ’em. I used the small croissants cause I treated my office staff to the goodness! Oh, and parchment paper—is a must!
Ingredients
- CROISSANTS:
- 4 medium or 6 small croissants (day old)
- 2 1/4 c. sliced almonds
- 2 c. almond cream (recipe follows)
- Almond syrup (recipe follows)
- 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- ALMOND SYRUP:
- 1 c. + 2 T. sugar
- 1/4 c. + 1 T. water
- 2 T. almond flour
- 1/4 t. almond extract
- ALMOND CREAM:
- 1 c. + 1 1/2 T. almond flour
- 1 T. + 1 t. flour (all purpose)
- 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1 c. + 1 1/2 T. powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- SYRUP: Combine all ingredients except extract in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring til sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let steep for 1 hour. Strain into a small bowl, add the extract, blend well. Set aside.
- CREAM: Combine the flours and sift. Mix the butter in a stand mixer on medium low for several minutes, til peaks form. Mix in the powdered sugar and mix until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the flour mixture, pulsing to combine. Add the eggs on low speed until well mixed about 30 seconds. Transfer to a covered container & refrigerate or chill for about 2 hours or more.
- CROISSANTS: Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment. Spoon almond cream into a pastry bag. Slice each croissant in half (like for a sandwich). Place the sliced almonds in a flat dish (roomy enough to dip croissants in). Now, fun part #1: fill each croissant with the cream and close. Dunk in syrup and spread a little cream on outside and dip in almonds to coat. Continue with the rest until all are done. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Set on cooling rack and once cooled--sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Fun part #2----DEVOUR this yum! or you can save some in a covered container for up to 1 day.
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