These vegan croissants are buttery, flaky and so delicious! This is an easy to follow recipe made with only 5 ingredients for the perfect pastry to enjoy any time of day!
Whether you’re a novice baker or a seasoned pro, we all love the taste of a buttery, flaky vegan croissant, but not the work it entails making them. That’s the reason why we decided to create this homemade vegan croissant recipe!
Usually croissants are made by laminating or folding a butter layer through the dough, which is a lot of effort and takes a long time. Our vegan croissants eliminates that step completely by adding the butter to the dry ingredients – which makes it super easy.
You only need 5 pantry ingredients you likely already have on hand, and 5 hours to make your new favorite treat.
Whether enjoyed at breakfast, brunch, or any time in between, they’re sure to be a hit with everyone at the table. Serve fresh out of the oven, as is, or with any topping your heart desires.
And if you love easy, delicious vegan baking recipes, try our vegan buttermilk biscuits, vegan scones, vegan dinner rolls or vegan lemon bars.
Ingredients needed for the vegan croissants
Ingredient notes
Here are a few notes before baking this vegan croissants recipe:
- Vegan butter – Should be a hard style of vegan butter and should be cold from the fridge.
- Instant yeast – We recommend instant yeast rather than active dry yeast for this recipe. It helps speed up the process while also preventing your butter from melting during the proofing stages.
- Soy milk – Should also be cold from the fridge. It can likely be replaced with a different non-dairy milk, though we have only tested this with soy milk.
How to make Vegan Croissants
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and mix together to combine.
- Add the cold sliced butter and mix in with a spatula until the vegan butter slices are coated. Be careful not to break up the butter slices.
- Add the cold soy milk and stir together until a shaggy dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to your clean counter surface and use your hands to form the dough into a ball (the dough may look dry, but it will hydrate as it chills). Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Once the dough has chilled, place it on a flour-dusted surface and flatten it into an approximate rectangular shape with your hands. Then roll the dough with a rolling pin into a ½ inch thick rectangle shape.
- Fold the dough by folding the bottom up into the center and then fold the top down over the first fold.
- Then turn it a quarter turn so that it’s vertical. With a rolling pin flatten it into a rectangle.
- Now repeat the folding process. Fold the dough by folding the bottom up into the center and then fold the top down over the first fold. Then turn it a quarter turn so that it’s vertical. With a rolling pin flatten it into a rectangle.
- Repeat the folding process two more times. (Four times in total) until the dough has large streaks of vegan butter through it but is smooth and flat. This is what makes the croissants so flaky! (If at any point the dough starts to feel warm and not workable and sticks to the counter, chill it in the refrigerator for 10 – 15 minutes).
- Fold the dough one last time (fifth time), but don’t roll it out. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Once it has chilled, remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on a flour-dusted surface and divide it in half. Roll one portion out at a time in a long rectangle shape (Approximately 8 x 15 inches). Cover the second portion with plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge until you finish with the first one.
- With a pizza cutter (or a sharp knife), cut the dough into three even rectangles. Then cut diagonally across each rectangle to form long, skinny triangles (about 5 inches long on the wide end of the triangle).
- Now form your croissants. Place a triangle in front of you with the wide end facing you. Notch the wide end in the middle with a ½ inch cut, then roll from the notch outward (wide end) to the pointed end, tucking the point under the croissant.
- Place your rolled croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 6 per baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to proof at room temperature for 1 and ½ hours or until doubled in size.
- Then repeat this process with the second half of dough.
- After the croissants have proofed, place the covered trays back in the fridge for 30 minutes. It’s best to bake the croissants cold from the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and brush the croissants with soy milk before baking.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown and flaky. Bake one tray at a time and leave the remaining tray in the fridge until the first tray is done baking.
- Cool completely before enjoying your homemade croissants.
Vegan Croissants Success Tips
Cold ingredients are essential. Make sure to keep your vegan butter and soy milk as cold as possible. Keep both in the fridge until you need them. This helps the croissants to be flaky once baked.
Folding the dough (a.k.a laminating) creates the layers in the croissants that make them pull apart tender and flaky.
If the dough sticks to your counter, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for a few minutes so the butter firms up again and you can easily roll out the dough. Remember to also flour the surface you’re rolling it out on.
The vegan croissants are delicate after proofing. When they are ready to bake, be sure to brush the tops carefully with soy milk. The top layers are delicate and can break easily if brushed too hard.
Enjoy the process! If this is your first time making vegan croissants, forming them may seem daunting to you. The first few may come out a bit wonky, but the more you make, the more you’ll get the hang of it!
Storing and freezing
Storing. The vegan croissants are best the day of baking but you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They warm up nicely in the microwave, but if you want them crisp you can place them in your air fryer for two minutes at 350°F.
Freezing. The baked vegan croissants can be frozen in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the shaped croissants after they rest for 1 and ½ hours at room temperature. (Before placing in the refrigerator.) Cover them tightly and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw completely in the refrigerator, then bake as directed.
Can this vegan croissants recipe be made gluten-free?
This recipe can not be made gluten free. We’ve only tested it with all purpose flour. However, if you are feeling bold enough to experiment with different types of flours, feel free to let us know what you came up with!
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
We recommend using only a hard-style vegan butter for this recipe. Coconut oil is very different to vegan butter. It can soften quickly at room temperature and harden quickly in the fridge. This will make it nearly impossible to fold and laminate the dough to create the layers of the pastry.
More vegan breakfast recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Easy Vegan Croissants
These vegan croissants are buttery, flaky and so delicious! This is an easy to follow recipe made with only 5 ingredients for the perfect pastry to enjoy any time of day!
Print Pin RateServings: 12
Calories: 355kcal
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Instructions
To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and mix together to combine.
Add the cold sliced butter and mix in with a spatula until the vegan butter slices are coated. Be careful not to break up the butter slices.
Add the cold soy milk and stir together until a shaggy dough forms.
Transfer the dough to your clean counter surface and use your hands to form the dough into a ball (the dough may look dry, but it will hydrate as it chills). Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
Once the dough has chilled, place it on a flour-dusted surface and flatten it into an approximate rectangular shape with your hands. Then roll the dough with a rolling pin into a ½ inch thick rectangle shape.
Fold the dough by folding the bottom up into the center and then fold the top down over the first fold. Then turn it a quarter turn so that it’s vertical. With a rolling pin flatten it into a rectangle.
Now repeat the folding process. Fold the dough by folding the bottom up into the center and then fold the top down over the first fold. Then turn it a quarter turn so that it’s vertical. With a rolling pin flatten it into a rectangle.
Repeat two more times (four times in total), until the dough has large streaks of vegan butter through it but is smooth and flat. (If at any point the dough starts to feel warm and not workable and sticks to the counter, chill it in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes).
Fold the dough one last time (fifth time), but don’t roll it out. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Once it has chilled, remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on a flour-dusted surface and divide it in half. Roll one portion out at a time in a long rectangle shape (Approximately 8 x 15 inches). Cover the second portion with plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge until you finish with the first one.
With a pizza cutter (or a sharp knife), cut the dough into three even rectangles. Then cut diagonally across each rectangle to form long, skinny triangles (about 5 inches long on the wide end of the triangle).
Now form your croissants. Place a triangle in front of you with the wide end facing you. Notch the wide end in the middle with a ½ inch cut, then roll from the notch outward (wide end) to the pointed end, tucking the point under the croissant.
Place your rolled croissants on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 6 per baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to proof at room temperature for 1 and ½ hours or until doubled in size. Then repeat this process with the second half of dough.
After the croissants have proofed, place the covered trays back in the fridge for 30 minutes. It’s best to bake the croissants cold from the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and brush the croissants with soy milk before baking.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown and flaky. Bake one tray at a time and leave the remaining tray in the fridge until the first tray is done baking.
Cool completely before enjoying your homemade croissants.
Notes
-
- When you mix the dough at first, it will be dry (see process photo’s above). It will hydrate as it chills.
- Vegan butter – Should be a hard style of vegan butter and should be cold from the fridge.
- Instant yeast – We recommend instant yeast rather than active dry yeast for this recipe. It helps speed up the process while also preventing your butter from melting during the proofing stages.
- Soy milk – Should also be cold from the fridge. It can likely be replaced with a different non-dairy milk, though we have only tested this with soy milk.
- Storing. The vegan croissants are best the day of baking but you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They warm up nicely in the microwave, but if you want them crisp you can place them in your air fryer for two minutes at 350°F.
- Freezing. The baked vegan croissants can be frozen in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the shaped croissants after they rest for 1 and ½ hours at room temperature. (Before placing in the refrigerator.) Cover them tightly and freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw completely in the refrigerator, then bake as directed.
- See the blog post for more tips on this recipe!
Nutrition
Serving: 1croissant | Calories: 355kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 96mg | Sugar: 5g
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