Delicious, flaky, layers of butter and pastry in loaf form. If you love croissants you'll love our croissant bread! Not only is it quicker to make than traditional croissants, it's easier, too! This post contains an affiliate link.
You might also like our lemon raspberry turnovers, homemade croissants or old fashioned cherry turnovers!
Watch our step by step video!
Croissant Bread
I'm not sure that I've ever been more proud of a loaf of bread. It took a couple of tries to get it right, but my kids agreed that our bread is the real deal. The crackle that it makes when you remove it from the pan, from the flaky outer layer, is perfection!
Golden brown, buttery, and full of yummy flaky layers—everything you’d expect from a croissant. What I love about croissant bread is that it doesn’t take all day to make, but yields a loaf with the same great taste. If you’ve made croissants you know what I’m talking about. It’s a 12 hour process to make the puff pastry and are moving the croissant dough in and out of the refrigerator for a good portion of your day.
I used the SAME recipe that we use for our homemade croissants and altered it to create a loaf instead! It uses half the amount of butter, and because you don’t chill it all day it will have less layers than a traditional croissant, but the flavor is there. Trust me. You can mix your dough by hand or using a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Both ways work. I'm a fan of mixing by hand with my Danish dough whisk.
Ingredients
(Scroll down for printable recipe and step by step images.)
- water
- yeast (instant yeast or dry active)
- all purpose flour (or bread flour)
- sugar
- salt
- milk
- melted butter
- butter (slightly soft), sliced
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Note: I always use salted butter (you can use unsalted butter) and always proof my yeast, no matter what kind I use.
Croissant bread would make delicious French toast or sandwiches, but we like it on its own. One loaf makes 8-12 slices of bread.
Croissant Loaf Bread Recipe
(You can print the recipe without the photos)
Croissant Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. warm water
- 1 Tbsp. yeast
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tbsp. melted butter
- 1 c. milk
- 2 ½ - 3 cups flour
Butter Layers
- ½ c. butter (1 stick) softened slightly
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit 5 minutes.
- Combine sugar, salt, and 1 cup of flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir.
- Add milk, melted butter, and water/yeast mixture. Stir.Add remaining flour and stir until sticky dough forms.
- Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of flour and knead dough 2-3 minutes until a soft dough forms.
- Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rest 40 minutes.
- Roll dough using a rolling pin into a 9-inch x 15-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.Cut a stick of butter into 12 slices (butter should be slightly soft). Place half of the slices in the center of the dough. Flatten butter, slightly, using a butter knife.
- Fold the bottom of the dough over the butter.
- Place the remaining slices of butter on top of the folded dough. Flatten butter, slightly, using a butter knife.
- Fold the top section of dough over to cover the second layer of butter.
- Turn dough so that the fold is on the side. Roll out to a 9"x15" rectangle.
- Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter.
- Rotate dough so that the fold is on the side again. Repeat the step above, rolling the dough out then folding into thirds, like a letter.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Roll dough out into a 9"x 15" rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter.
- Rotate dough so that the fold is on the side. Roll out again and fold into thirds.
- Rotate once more so that the fold is on the side. Roll dough into a 9"x15" rectangle then ROLL the dough up tightly (like you would if you were making cinnamon rolls).
- Pinch the seam to seal (it may not stay, but do the best that you can) and place the loaf (seam-side-down) into a greased 9"x5" bread loaf pan.
- Loosely cover and let rise 40-60 minutes. DO NOT let rise in a warm location like you normally would when making bread. We don't want the butter in the dough to melt. Room temperature is fine. I place mine inside the microwave to keep it free from drafts. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Brush loaf with an egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbsp. water) and bake for 20 minutes.Cover loaf loosely with foil (tent it) and cook an additional 15 minutes.
- Let bread cool in pan 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Bread is easier to slice when warm (not hot), but I won't judge if you dive right in.
D says
Can you do this recipe in a bread machine?
Brandy says
You could probably make the dough in the bread machine, but I’d bake it in an actual oven for best results.
Gwen says
I have made this recipe multiple times now and it invariably turns out perfectly! It's hubby's favorite. Light, fluffy, golden brown crust..... It makes a yummy PBJ☺️ You will become friends with your rolling pin and be able to eyeball the 9x15 dimension with time. It's worth the effort..... Do it😁
Brandy says
Gwen, I’m so glad to hear this!
Reagan says
What type of flour did you use. I assumed all-purpose when trying it out.
Brandy says
Yes, I used all purpose flour!
Monica says
Hi! This was delicious. Quick question though how can I make it more sweeter? Can I use more sugar? I used unsalted tillamook butter. What brand butter do you use? Sams club makes a croissant toast bread that is very similar to this. The only difference theres is sweeter/buttery.
Brandy says
Hi Monica! You can add a bit more sugar if you'd like. I use salted butter for all of my baking, and just the generic Walmart brand. 🙂
Monica Mckenzie says
Hi! This was delicious. Quick question though how can I make it more sweeter? Can I use more sugar? I used unsalted tillamook butter. What brand butter do you use? Sams club makes a croissant toast bread that is very similar to this. The only difference theres is sweeter/buttery.
Kaylee says
I haven’t been able to get the layers and airy quality that your bread seems to have. Any tips?
Maurice says
Hi, could you adapt the recipe to the metric system? Reader from Italy here 😃Thanks!
Dave C. says
Hi Brandy. I’ve never made croissant bread but I’m excited to try it. I only have unsalted butter and after doing some research there seems to be about 1/4 tsp in a stick of butter. Since this recipe called for 1 tsp of salt can I simply used 1-1/4tsps of salt?
Brandy says
Hi Dave! I don’t see why not! 🙂
Teresa Osborne says
Can you make the stove in a bread machine?
Brandy says
Hi Teresa, I haven't tried making the dough in a bread machine, but I'd imagine it'd be fine to run it on a dough cycle.
Maxwell George says
Hi, I have tried this crossaint like bread it came out well, thanks