Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants
No need to run to the French bakery when you can stay home and make Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants using only 5 ingredients! These small batch croissants are flaky, golden brown pastries with gooey melted chocolate stuffed in the middle. Make them for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!
Sometimes inspiration for my recipes comes from personal experience.
At my previous job, we had one cubicle dedicated to what we called The Snack Shop. Someone would go to the local dollar store, buy a bunch of snacks, then resell it at the office.
It was cheaper with more options than the one vending machine we had, and the money went towards funding our office Christmas party.
Once in awhile, they would buy these individually wrapped chocolate stuffed croissants, which I would buy as my morning breakfast.
Ever since then, any time I’m near a French bakery, I immediately crave a chocolate stuffed croissant, more properly known as pain au chocolat which are actually cuboid shaped rather than crescent shaped.
Since buying a pastry every morning can be rather pricey, I opted to try making my own Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants.
Making traditional croissant dough takes hours of labor and love, so I opted for croissants using puff pastry to make the process a bit quicker and easier.
I mean, imagine having freshly baked, flakey warm puff pastry croissants with melted chocolate oozing out ready in 30 minutes using only 5 ingredients.
Bonus points if they’re already assembled in your freezer and ready to go straight into the oven.
Of course I’m no French pastry mastermind and will continue to support French bakeries, but making small batch croissants at home helps satisfy the craving just as well.
After cutting the puff pastry into triangles, you add chopped chocolate on top and roll them up into crescents.
Sprinkle your chocolate stuffed croissants with cinnamon sugar and off they go into the oven, puffing up and browning before they are ready for you to devour.
Ingredients For Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants
Here’s what you need to make your chocolate croissants using puff pastry:
- Puff pastry: Puff pastry can be found in the frozen section near frozen pie crust (not to be confused with phyllo dough).
- Chocolate: I find using chopped baking chocolate to work best, but you can also use chocolate chips.
- Cinnamon and sugar: Makes a nice sweet topping for the outside
- Egg: For the egg wash so your chocolate stuffed croissants are golden brown
How To Use Puff Pastry
The key to working with puff pastry is making sure it’s thawed enough so it doesn’t break when rolling but also cold enough that the dough doesn’t stick.
It’s best to follow the thawing instructions on the packaging then working quickly. If your dough does become too warm, stick it back in the fridge for 15 minutes.
How do you make croissants with puff pastry?
Making your chocolate croissants using puff pastry is very easy to do! Here’s how to make chocolate croissants:
- Cut puff pastry dough into 4 squares then cut each square diagonally into 8 triangles.
- Fill each triangle with chocolate.
- Roll dough from wide end to the point.
- Brush with egg then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.
- Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Puff pastry chocolate croissants are best served the day they’re made, but you can store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Can you freeze puff pastry chocolate croissants?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze your chocolate stuffed croissants! Whether you freeze them baked or unbaked, the method is the same:
- Place croissants in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until firm, about 30-60 minutes.
- Wrap each croissant in plastic wrap then place inside a freezer-proof plastic bag.
When ready to serve, thaw in the fridge overnight for optimal texture.
How To Reheat Frozen Croissants
- If already baked: Reheat in 400F oven for 5-10 minutes or until warm and crispy.
- If unbaked: Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
More Recipes Using Puff Pastry
Since you’ll have an extra sheet of puff pastry leftover, make one of these other recipes using puff pastry:
- Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple Turnovers
- Blueberry Turnovers
- Cherry Turnovers
- Strawberry Turnovers
- Puff Pastry Peach Turnovers
- Puff Pastry Danish
Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants
No need to run to the French bakery when you can stay home and make Puff Pastry Chocolate Croissants using only 5 ingredients! These small batch croissants are flaky, golden brown pastries with gooey melted chocolate stuffed in the middle. Make them for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed according to package directions (it should still be cold but pliable enough to roll)
- 1/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unfold the puff pastry. Cut the dough into 4 equal squares then cut each square diagonally, resulting in 8 triangles.
- Working with 1 triangle at a time, position it so the wide end is facing you and the point is away from you, like a 90 degree triangle. Add chocolate to the center.
- Roll the dough up from wide end to the point, pinching in the dough so the chocolate pieces don't ooze out. Transfer to the baking sheet and curl the ends towards the center to make a crescent shape. Repeat with the remaining triangles.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Brush each croissant with egg then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Croissants are best served the day they are made but can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Since you'll have one sheet puff pastry leftover, make my Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Turnovers, or Blueberry Turnovers.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchase.
I tried making croissant dough from scratch once, and it was a colossal failure. I found a different recipe that utilizes a stand mixer, so I might give that one a go in the near future. It’s nice that puff pastry is an easy substitute, though!
Oh good to know! I always use my stand mixer, so hopefully it’ll be easier. In the meantime, puff pastry is totally acceptable ;)
Dear Carla, These croissants look beautiful and what a wonderful treat for have with a cup of tea. I especially love that they are a small batch. Perfect! xoxo, Catherine
Hi Carla, I had a question regarding your Chocolate filled croissants. Would regular chocolate chips work the same? Also could this be made with regular crescent rolls, the refrigerated kind?
Thanks.
Chocolate chips will work, although they may not be as melty as using regular chocolate (like they’ll hold their shape but it will still be melty and gooey enough that you won’t care). Yes, you can use regular crescent rolls, but it won’t be as flaky as using puff pastry. I would recommend puff pastry over crescent dough, but if that’s what you have in your fridge, go for it! It’ll still be a tasty treat.
You know I share your love of pain au chocolat so I’m ALL about this recipe!
You mentioned having them already assembled in the freezer. Are there any special instructions for freezing them and then baking them? Should I thaw them before baking?
Don’t give them the egg wash yet. Freeze them individually on a tray or plate lined with plastic wrap or silicone mat to help with sticking. Once solid, transfer them to a freezer bag (that way they don’t stick together as one clump). As far as baking, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight then continue with the egg wash and cinnamon sugar before baking.