Croissant dough calculator
Croissants: the détrempe and 56% lamination butter, three letter folds, spread over a few days.
Total hydration counts the water inside the eggs, milk and butter.
Classic French croissants on the Weekend Bakery formula, which credits Hamelman: a milk-and-water détrempe and a lamination butter block at 56% of the flour weight, folded three times over a multi-day cold schedule.
How it works
The détrempe
Water 28% and milk 28%, sugar 11%, butter 8% in the dough itself, salt 2.4% and 2.2% instant yeast. Mix only until smooth — lamination will build all the structure; a strongly kneaded détrempe springs back at every roll.
Lamination
The roll-in butter is 56% of the flour weight, beaten into a cold, plastic square. Lock it in, then give three letter folds with ~30 minutes of fridge rest between each — that yields the classic 27 butter layers. Temperature is the craft: if the butter smears warm or shatters cold, the layers are gone.
Shaping, proofing, baking
Roll out, cut long triangles (~80 g each), and roll from base to tip. Proof gently at 24–26 °C — warm enough to rise, cool enough that the butter stays put — until visibly jiggly, then bake around 200 °C convection until deep bronze and audibly crisp.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- Weekend Bakery — classic French croissants — The chosen formula (credited to Hamelman): 28% water + 28% milk, 8% butter in the détrempe and 56% in lamination, three letter folds over a multi-day cold schedule.
- Pardon Your French — three-day classic French croissants — Lamination at 50% and a poolish variant — the other edge of the range, recorded.
FAQ
Why does the schedule span days?
Every stage wants cold rests: the détrempe overnight, the folds between chills, often the shaped croissants overnight too. Compressing it warms the butter and merges layers.
How much roll-in butter is standard?
The professional band is 50–56% of flour: Weekend Bakery at 56%, other respected French formulas at 50%. Below that you drift toward laminated brioche.
My croissants leaked butter in the oven?
Underproofed (layers rupture instead of rising) or proofed too warm (butter melted before the bake). The jiggle test and the 24–26 °C proofing ceiling are the two things to watch.
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