Q&A for How to Make Croissants

Make sure that your butter is solid! You want to start the process by cutting small pieces of butter and putting them together to become a rectangle of square-shaped butter blocks. Once you have it made, stick the butter block in the fridge and chill it until it's not too hard, but not too soft. Ideally, your finger should easily be able to make an imprint on the butter.

Put in the middle if you have three racks. If only two, move your top rack to the middle and put there.

If the butter is bursting and tearing out of the dough, then that means it's not soft enough to be rolled,

You can make them flaky by using margarine, or other butter substitutes. Also, try not to over-knead the dough when putting the croissant together, as this will "collapse" the layers and make them less puffy.

Ordinary plain wheat flour, and caster sugar (the white one that is usually referred to just as "sugar").

Yes, croissants must be baked.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200ºC, that will be fine. But be careful––if the tops start burning before the croissants are fully baked, cover the croissants with tin foil.

Yes, very easily, but don't make the recipe all at once, as it will be impossible to handle. Split the dough and butter in two and work in batches. Of course, you don't need to do this if you have a professional dough laminator.

425ºF and be sure to preheat your oven for 15 minutes. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Use a baking/cookie sheet (with no sides on it). Be sure to use parchment/baking paper instead of cooking spray. Parchment/baking paper can be found at most grocery stores.

It is possible to warm already baked croissants in the microwave but they won't bake from scratch in the microwave - they need to be oven baked to achieve the crisp and fluffy texture they are renowned for.