CopycatSpices
Starbucks Chocolate Croissant
Flaky, buttery layers of laminated pastry wrapped around bars of dark chocolate. This homemade version of the Starbucks chocolate croissant (pain au chocolat) is shatteringly crispy on the outside and soft within.
bakery · starbucks · dessert · baking
🕑Prep45 min
🍳Cook18 min
⏱Total1h 3m
🍽Serves8
⭐DifficultyHard
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3/4 cup cold whole milk
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted European-style butter
- 8 dark chocolate batons or 4 ounces dark chocolate, cut into 16 pieces
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash)
Instructions
- 1.Make the dough. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add cold milk and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out, knead briefly for 2 minutes until smooth, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- 2.Prepare the butter block. Pound cold butter between two sheets of parchment into a 6x6-inch square. Keep it cold — if the butter gets soft, the layers won't form. Refrigerate until firm but still pliable.
- 3.Laminate the dough. Roll the dough into a 12x7-inch rectangle. Place the butter block in the center, fold the dough over it like an envelope. Roll out to a long rectangle and perform 3 letter folds (each time rolling out and folding in thirds), chilling for 30 minutes between each fold.
- 4.Shape the croissants. Roll the final dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 8 rectangles (about 4x5 inches each). Place 2 chocolate pieces along the bottom edge of each rectangle and roll up tightly. Place seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- 5.Proof and bake. Cover loosely and let proof at room temperature for 1 hour until puffy. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 400°F for 16-18 minutes until deeply golden brown and flaky.
Starbucks Chocolate Croissant
Prep time: 45 minutes (plus 3+ hours chilling and proofing)
Cook time: 18 minutes
Servings: 8 croissants
The Starbucks chocolate croissant — technically a pain au chocolat — is one of their bestselling pastries. It’s layers of flaky, buttery pastry wrapped around two strips of dark chocolate that melt into a gooey center during baking. When you bite through the shattering exterior and hit that warm chocolate, it’s a near-perfect pastry experience.
This is an ambitious recipe. Laminated dough (the process of folding butter into dough to create layers) takes time and patience. But the result is light-years ahead of anything you’ll find in a Starbucks display case, because yours will be baked fresh, not reheated from frozen.
Why Make It at Home?
A chocolate croissant at Starbucks costs $3.95 and was likely baked from frozen that morning. This recipe makes 8 for about $6.00 in ingredients, and they’re genuinely fresh — warm from your oven with layers that shatter when you bite into them.
Tips & Variations
- Keep everything cold. Cold butter creates steam during baking, which is what separates the dough into flaky layers. If the butter gets soft at any point, stop and refrigerate for 20 minutes before continuing.
- European-style butter has higher fat content. It makes a noticeably flakier, richer croissant. Brands like Plugra or Kerrygold work well.
- Don’t rush the folds. Each fold triples the number of layers. Three proper folds gives you 27 layers of butter and dough. Rushing creates uneven layers and tough spots.
- Use quality chocolate. Since there are only two main ingredients — butter and chocolate — both matter. Use a good eating chocolate (70% cacao), not baking chips.
