Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissant Recipe): Light, flaky, chocolate-filled buttery croissants with chocolate drizzle. Impressive bakery-style pastries. Easily made with store bought croissant dough (in the tube) in the refrigerated case. (Use chocolate sticks from King Arthur Flour or chocolate chips.)
As I sit inside, cozy and warm, musing on this dreary late March Monday morning, the rain drops are pelting down hard outside. Drum, drum, drumming on the windows and rushing out the down spouts. It’s bone chilling cold out today, and I’m thankful it’s only rain, because it snowed all day on Saturday.
I’ve had this Pain au Chocolat on my mind to make for quite some time, and this morning just seems right. The overcast sky is dark and foreboding. And while the calendar says spring, shouldn’t there be a fifth season, between spring and winter? Because it’s not quite winter and it’s definitely not spring. In the Northeast we call this raw. A wet, raw day like today needs a bright spot. This Chocolate Croissant Recipe fits the bill.
Pain Au Chocolat is the French way of saying chocolate bread. So I’m not getting all fancy on you, pinky promise. I studied French in high school and college, but only a few key words and phrases still stick. (Let’s not mention that to my professors, s’il vous plaît.) I clearly remember ‘bonjour’ (hello). And ‘bon voyage’ (have a great trip). And ‘merci’ (thank you).
And then there are the crucial words like ‘pain’ (bread). And ‘chocolat’ (chocolate). Very important words indeed. In fact, just north of us in Concord, NH is a lovely pastry shop on Main Street, Bread and Chocolate! Such a magical place. You can only imagine the tantalizing aromas when you slip inside and view the vast array of scrumptious pastries behind the glass.
This Chocolate Croissant Recipe is one of the easier and more impressive recipes I’ve shared. I’m needing easy about now because we’re in the middle of moving across town to a new home. The boxes are everywhere, pictures are down off the walls and we’re sorting through the mountains in the attic and basement with ‘give’, ‘yard sale’ and ‘toss’ piles everywhere. We’re simplifying! And with spring on the horizon, it feels good.
And this recipe is simple too. Use store bought croissant dough (in the tubes, by the biscuit tubes) in the refrigerated case. Wrap the dough around a chocolate stick or two. (Chocolate chips work fine also). Brush lightly with a simple egg wash and bake! Drizzle with melted chocolate. This Chocolate Croissant Recipe makes a wonderful treat for dessert, tea or an indulgent breakfast with a steaming mug of coffee. Light and flaky chocolate-filled croissants: bake a scrumptious batch today!
Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissant Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 package refrigerated croissant dough
- 16 pain au chocolat sticks or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Pop open can of croissant dough.
- Unroll the dough and smooth it flat.
- Separate into triangles.
- Place 2 chocolate stick (or a line of chocolate chips) at the wide end of the triangle and roll up in the croissant dough, ending with the narrow end.
- Lightly brush with egg wash.
- Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 375° for 9 -12 minutes until just turning golden brown.
- Cool, then drizzle with melted chocolate.
You may also like: Brick Street Chocolate Cake
Kathy says
Hi Allie, These look amazing… I can’t wait to try them! (I didn’t know they sold pre-made croissant dough– Thanks!) Congratulations on finding your new home, and prayers during your transition!
Allie says
Thank you, thank you Kathy. FYI – the croissant dough is in the dairy case in a tube, next to the biscuits. Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers, so appreciate it. Looks like we’ll have a double closing on our house and the new one at the beginning of May. Here. We. Go. XOXO
Aunt Pinkie7 says
Looks so good!
Gaila says
Allie! I am drooling all over your beautiful pain au chocolat pictures!!! looking so good!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
Well I certainly hope it warms up there, Allie! It seems like y’all have the spring showers part down though… so hopefully you are halfway to actual spring? 😉 Anyways, as soon as I saw these Pain au Chocolat I thought, ‘BOY!!!’ He looooooves chocolate Croissants, so obviously these need to go on my weekend baking list IMMEDIATELY! We have A LOT going on here at the moment (well, it’s been going on for months now), so I’m dying to get in the kitchen and just soul bake. You can bet this will be the first thing I make when I get the chance. Cheers to you, my dear… and warm weather your way! XOXO
Susie Mandel says
Slurp…this sounds amazing. Merci, mon amie!! 🙂
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says
These are one of my favorite coffee shop treats – your version looks SO simple and delicious!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
Haha! The only words I remember from HS French are food-related. If I’m ever hungry in Paris they’ll come in handy. I can’t believe you had snow over the weekend. . .so miserable! But these gorgeous little pains au chocolat are definitely the thing to chase those winter-into-spring blues away. They look great, Allie!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
These fit the bill any day of the week! They look so decadent! I love all that melty chocolate! 🙂
Shashi at Savory Spin says
Allie – I studied French in high school AND in college too! But, remember less of it than you do – though I gotta say, I LOVE the importance you placed on remembering certain words! 🙂
The last time I had a Pain au Chocalat was in NYC last summer – gosh – I never though to use store bought dough and chocolate! Think we might have to ditch our weekend waffles to give this a go! This is seriously perfect for when it’s cold and dreary outside AND for when it’s sunny and warm too – eh?! If you are still coming down to Charleston next week – then you get to enjoy some of these warmer temps yourself for just a bit. Hope you have a wonderful week and packing is going well! XOXO
Tammy says
Oh I loved reading your post, Allie ^_^ I can definitely see myself snuggled up on the couch with a cup of tea and one of these croissants on a rainy day. That to me sounds like a perfect day 🙂
Tracy says
Allie these look so good I can almost taste them! ? While I was reading this piece I also thought of the bakery, Bread and Chocolate. Remember when we went? I love that place! Now we can make our own bread and chocolate thanks to you! And eat them in your new home!!! Hooray!’
Allie says
Yes Tracy – I certainly do remember our trip to Bread and Chocolate. It’s a lovely place and such good memories there with you. Still got my fingers crossed on the new house. XO
Balvinder says
These look really fun to make and even more fun to eat with store bought croissant dough.
Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
I first had these ‘PAIN AU CHOCOLAT’ in Paris. The hotel where we stayed served them every day for breakfast and I just loved the chocolate goodness. But I’ve never made them myself. Love how beautifully you have pulled out this delicate recipe with so much authentic touch. Your pictures are making me drool — I wish I could grab a few through my computer screen. Thank you so much for this wonderful share dear Allie — can’t wait to try them. 🙂
Eva says
Allie ne soit pas modeste, ton français est très bien, t’arrive à lire mes commentaires et même parfois tu me écris en français! Tes pains au chocolat sont parfaits!! Tu sais? A Bordeaux, on dit “chocolatine” et dans le reste de la France “pain au chocolat”! xoxo
Dottie Baker says
I checked all my grocery stores and all I can find in the dairy case by the biscuit tubes are crescent dough tubes, which are much more bready as they are meant to be rolls. Where are you finding your ready-made croissant dough? These are my favorite coffee-break go-withs, but our closest French cafe is too far!
Allie says
Hi Dottie – I’m sorry – I guess I needed to be clearer in my instructions, and I’ll go into the post and do that. I’m actually using the crescent dough tubes that you are talking about to make these chocolate croissants. These croissants are def. not as good as from a French cafe, but fresh from the oven — they really are very delicious and a good substitute for the real deal. Have a wonderful and day!
Sheryl says
Molly requested these for her birthday dessert today! They were so easy and so delicious! We will definitely be making these again–hopefully soon! ?
Allie says
I’m so glad to hear that was her request!!! And so much easier than baking a cake. Hope she had a great birthday. I have another easy dessert I’m going to post here. I just made it for Charlie’s birthday. Ice cream cake made from alternate layers of ice cream and ice cream sandwiches. So easy. It took me about ten minutes tops to put together the night before. The layers are pretty too. I will never buy an ice cream cake again!
CakenGifts.in Delhi says
marvellous cake!!!! It is very amazing, Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. Last sunday we made this cake, My whole family became very happy after taking it. Thanks alot!!!!!!!
http://puressay.com/blog/page/10 says
I guess that those croissants are one of the most likeable thing at all. We all like them a lot and I think that it would be great to be able to cook them as well.