3 Stuffed Croissant Cubes

Chances are that you've tried croissants before and loved them! Flaky, crispy, buttery, and delicious, croissants are up there on the list of best pastries of all time. We love the consistency and taste of croissants, so we decided to recreate their magic, but this time in the shape cubes! Stuffed to the brim with 3 different fillings, both sweet and savory, these stuffed croissant cubes are even more delicious than their crescent-shaped counterparts. Think outside the box and inside the cube with these delicious treats!

Yield: 3
Prep Time: 3 hours
Cooking Time: 80 minutes
Inactive Time: 8 hours
Difficulty Level: Moderate

You'll Need:

For the yeast dough:

  • 8⅓ cups flour 
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp dry yeast
  • ¾ stick butter, room temperature 
  • 1¼ cups milk, lukewarm
  • 3 eggs
  • 5¼ sticks butter + ¾ cup flour

For the chocolate croissant cube:

  • 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  • white chocolate shavings for the topping

For the caramel croissant cube:

  • 10 soft caramels
  •  powdered sugar for the topping

For the cheese croissant cube:

  • 4 oz cheddar cheese, sliced
  • chopped parsley for the topping

Extra:

  • 14 x 5-inch loaf pan
  • cardboard
  • aluminum foil
  • 1 gallon resealable plastic bag

Here's How:

1. For the yeast dough, pour the flour into a heap on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center of the flour and add in the salt, sugar, butter, and eggs. Dissolve the dry yeast in the lukewarm milk and pour the mixture into the the center of the well. Knead all of the ingredients together by hand until a smooth dough forms, making sure to continually stretch out the dough while you knead it, making it more elastic. Cover the dough and let it rise for 2 hours. The dough should more than double in volume during once it has risen. Knead the dough a second time after it has risen, then roll it out into a large square, transfer it to the refrigerator, and let it chill for 2 hours. For the layer of butter, thoroughly mix 5¼ sticks butter with ¾ cup flour and transfer the mixture to a large resealable plastic bag. Roll the butter mixture inside the resealable plastic bag out into a rectangle, transfer it to the refrigerator, and let it set. Dust your work surface, remove the yeast dough from the refrigerator, and roll it out out into a rectangle about twice the length as the layer of butter. Take the butter layer out of the plastic bag and position it so that it fits on ½ of the yeast dough. Fold the other half of the dough over it, then evenly roll out the dough into a rectangle. Fold ⅓ of the dough towards the center, then fold the other on top. Wrap the dough in aluminum foil, transfer it to the refrigerator, and let it chill for 45 minutes. Once it has chilled, roll the dough out against the folded edges and repeat the lamination process (folding, chilling, and rolling out the dough) 5 times. Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease the loaf pan. Cut out cardboard dividers that fit inside the loaf pan, wrap them in aluminum foil, and use them to divide the loaf pan into 3 equally sized sections.

2. Roll the croissant dough out into a rectangle and cut it into equal segments, each about the width of a finger.

3. Wrap each of the fillings, semi-sweet chocolate, soft caramels, and cheddar cheese, in the strips of dough, making 3 stuffed balls of dough. Place 1 ball of dough in each section of the loaf pan.

4. Flip the loaf pan over onto a baking tray and weigh it down with a heavy, oven-safe object. Transfer the baking tray to the oven and bake the croissant cubes at 400°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature in the oven to 350°F and bake the croissant cubes for 1 hour.

5. Remove the puff pastry cubes from the loaf pan, then garnish the chocolate croissant cube with white chocolate shavings, the caramel croissant cube with powdered sugar, and the cheese croissant cube with chopped parsley.

How amazing it is to watch these balls of dough magically transform into stuffed croissant cubes in the oven! They look delicious, but just wait until you cut into them – you'll want to gobble them all right up. 

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