These strawberry croissants will transport you from your kitchen to your favorite bakery. Cream and strawberries sandwiched between buttery, flaky pastry, strawberry croissants are an impressive bake to make for a special occasion.
The light, fresh, and crisp flavors in these croissants are irresistible. Be prepared to have none left over whenever you serve these.
Strawberry croissants are light and fresh, so keep your pairings from overwhelming their delicate flavors and textures. If you want a jolt of caffeine in the morning, have it alongside a simple shot of espresso, a creamy latte, or a cafe au lait.
For a boozier start, a mimosa or bellini is the perfect pairing. The light fruitiness of fruit and champagne is perfect with the soft, sweet and airy croissants and fillings.
There are lots of croissant recipes out there—this one produces a pliable dough and only has a few folds (some have many more). But there is one crucial element to this recipe: You need to leave ample time to allow the dough to chill. Don’t rush this step—your dough will not come out with the crispy flaky layers we want.
Also, make sure that you seal your dough well when you shape it. When I forget to do that, they can come out a little wonky (they still taste great!). You also need to allow the croissants to fully cool before you fill them.
Strawberry croissants are best the day you make them, but the croissants unfilled can last for 2-3 days. This means you can make the croissants ahead of time and fill them right before you serve them.
This recipe is something you will want to plan ahead for, so if you are short on time, I have suggestions for how you can make this with premade dough (see below).
What You Need to Make Strawberry Croissants
This recipe requires eggs, instant yeast, salt, granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, strawberries, and heavy whipping cream.
If you want to make your whipped cream a little zippy, you can add a pinch of lemon zest to the whipped cream, but I prefer the basic version I make here. I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries in this recipe.
If you can’t find ripe strawberries, pitted fresh cherries, raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries would be great replacements.
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Table salt
- Unsalted butter
- Instant yeast
- Whole milk
- Heavy whipping cream
- Fresh strawberries
- Powdered sugar
Equipment:
Strawberry croissants require a stand mixer with a dough hook, a rolling pin, a grater, a ruler or tape measure, a baking sheet, two bowls, a cutting board, a paring knife, a pastry brush, and a whisk.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can also make the dough by hand or use a hand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Making these with a hand mixer or by hand will take a little more time when you are kneading the dough, but you will still get the same result.
How To Make Strawberry Croissants
Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Grate in the butter. Put in a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook and start on low speed. Slowly pour the milk into the dough with the mixer running. Increase the speed of the mixer and allow the machine to knead the dough for 5-6 minutes.
Allow a few extra minutes if using a hand mixer. If you are not using a stand mixer or hand mixer, knead by hand. When the dough is kneaded enough, it will be soft and will bounce back when you poke a finger or knuckle into it. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a ball. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a 9 x 15-inch rectangle. I recommend doing this on a baking sheet or large cutting board to make it easier to take in and out of the fridge. Put the shaped dough in the fridge, covered, for 4 hours, up to overnight.
Make the butter: 30 minutes before you plan to remove the dough from the fridge, make the butter. Beat the butter and flour in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment. Don’t beat for very long (like you would if you were creaming the butter), but make sure the flour and butter are combined.
Place the butter onto a piece of parchment paper and cover it with another sheet of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the butter into a 6 x 11-inch rectangle. Allow it to chill for 30 minutes. Don’t over-chill the butter, or it will be more difficult to laminate the butter with the dough.
Laminate the dough: Remove the butter and dough from the fridge. Place the butter in the center of the dough.
Fold the edges of the dough over the butter.
Then fold the dough ‘hamburger style’ into thirds. Seal the edges of the dough, and then roll out the dough into a 9×15-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again in thirds. Roll out the dough again into a 9x 15-inch rectangle, and fold again. Chill again for 30 minutes and repeat these folds two more times. Allow the dough to chill for 4 hours up to overnight.
Shape the dough: Roll out the dough into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice the dough in half lengthwise, then into 4ths, creating 8 rectangles. Cut each section in half diagonally. This should create 16 triangles.
Stretch each triangle a bit. Using your knife, create a 1-inch notch at the base of the triangle. Roll triangles up from their thickest base to their thinnest tip. Refrigerate for 60 minutes up to overnight.
Bake the croissants: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Remove the croissants from the oven. Whisk an egg and brush it onto the exterior of each croissant. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool.
Prepare the whipped cream: Place whipping cream and sugar in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. It is helpful to use a chilled bowl and whisk.
Prepare the strawberries: Wash and slice the strawberries.
Assemble: Slice the croissants in half, and fill them with whipped cream and strawberries. Serve immediately.
Recipe FAQs
I don’t have time to make croissant dough. What can I do?
Making your own croissants creates the fluffiest, tastiest pastries. But there is no doubt that they are time intensive! Enter packaged crescent rolls. You can find this premade option in most grocery stores, and it is a simpler alternative. You will want to roll out the dough according to its instructions and prepare it from the ‘shape the dough’ step above or step 16. Most prepackaged doughs will not require the chilling step prior to baking, but follow the instructions on your dough.
What can I make ahead?
You can make the croissants up to several days ahead, although they do taste best the day you make them. If you plan to eat them several days after you make them, do not fill them immediately. Wait until you plan to serve them. You can also freeze the croissants unbaked for several months.
What is lamination?
Lamination is the process of creating those flaky layers of butter and dough in your final bake. Every time you create the folds or turns in the dough, you create more thin layers of butter and dough. That’s what gives this kind of pastry its light buttery texture.
Strawberry Croissants
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 3 tablespoons + 1 ½ cups of unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 8 oz fresh strawberries
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Whisk together 3 ½ cups of flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 teaspoons instant yeast.
- Grate in 3 tablespoons of butter.
- Place mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and start on low speed.
- Slowly pour 1 ¼ cups of milk into the dough.
- Increase the speed of the mixer and allow to knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is soft.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, shape it into a ball and cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a 9 x 15-inch rectangle, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, up to overnight.
- Beat 1 ½ cups butter and 2 tablespoons flour in a stand mixer using a whisk attachment.
- Place the butter onto a piece of parchment paper and cover it with another sheet of parchment paper.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the butter into a 6 x 11 rectangle and chill for 30 minutes.
- Remove butter and dough from the fridge. Place the butter in the center of the dough and fold the dough over the edges. Fold the dough ‘hamburger style’ into thirds.
- Again, roll out the dough into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle. Fold the dough in thirds. Roll out the dough again into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle, and fold again into thirds.
- Chill for 30 minutes and repeat this process two more times.
- Chill the dough for 4 hours up to overnight.
- Roll out the dough into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle.
- Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice the dough in half lengthwise.
- Cut each half of the dough into fourths, and then cut each of these in half diagonally.
- Stretch each triangle a bit. Then create a 1-inch notch at the base of the triangle. Roll the triangles up.
- Refrigerate for 60 minutes up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Whisk an egg and brush it onto the exterior of each croissant.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool.
- Place 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.
- Wash and slice 8 oz of strawberries.
- Slice the cooled croissants in half, and fill them with whipped cream and strawberries.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Here are a few other recipes you might enjoy!
- Bacon Egg and Cheese Croissant
- Croissant Muffins (Cruffins)
- Strawberry Waffles
- Strawberry French Toast
- Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
- White Chocolate Raspberry Scones
- Brioche French Toast Casserole
Arielle is a food and drink photographer based in Washington, D.C. She was previously a social science researcher before she fell in love with photography.