Trader Joe's Almond Croissants.

I know I've blogged about Trader's Joe's croissants before- the chocolate ones, to be exact- but these are good enough to have a second mention.

The last time we were at Trader Joe's, I picked up a box of their almond croissants. Since I'm not really a chocolate-lover, I knew these would be more up my alley.

The baking process is simple. Even easier than the chocolate version. Simply leave raw croissants out on a baking sheet for 6-7 hours (I left mine out completely overnight), then bake for 20 minutes. Once they're done, you can serve as-is or even dust lightly with powdered sugar. Since I like to go over the top with my "homemade" croissants, I went for the powdered sugar. And also served them with raspberry jam. Heh.

The outsides of the almond croissants were the same as the chocolate ones: light, buttery, crispy, and flaking apart with every bite. SO much better than buying a croissant from your local chain coffee shop.

The insides had an almond paste that was sweet and rich. Perfect with morning tea or coffee.

Try them this weekend!

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Chocolate Croissants.

Yesterday, Boyfriend and I were at Trader Joe's doing our annual "fancy shopping" run. Midway through the trip I caught him staring intensely and making "i love you" eyeballs at a box of chocolate croissants. I didn't pay much attention because I don't really like chocolate and the last thing we need is more junk food in the house.

And then two minutes later, I went back and sneakily threw them in the cart.

Last night, we decided to have them for breakfast this morning. Thank God I decided to read the instructions last night because they involve 9 hours of "sitting out" before you can even bake them.

So that's exactly what I did. I set them out. And all night long, my mouth watered in anticipation.

Here's the play-by-play with these French delights:

1. Place frozen pastries, seam side down 4-5 inches apart on either a lightly buttered or paper lined baking sheet.
(I forgot to take a before picture, which is unfortunate because you don't get to see the massive change in size that takes place. For now, just imagine the width of a large taquito.)

2. Allow uncovered croissants to sit at room temperature for 9 hours.

(Be amazed when you wake up to these mondo puffs.)

3. Preheat oven to 350.

4. If you want a shinier finish, beat one egg with a fork and use a pastry brush to lightly glaze the tops of the croissants.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until crisp and quite brown. Light golden croissants will not be thoroughly baked.

6. Cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate croissant and Earl Grey is a great way to start the day.

Note:
-I used parchment paper instead of "lightly butter"ing a baking sheet. As it turns out, these little guys have PLENTY of butter already incorporated into their dough and they actually don't need any more (which says a lot coming from me).
-I didn't read the last line of the instructions about "Light golden croissants will not be thoroughly baked" and we took them out at 20 minutes. They seemed on the "lighter" side, but they were totally cooked throughout. Because oven settings vary, the cooking time may differ. But for us, 20 minutes was perfect.

At $1 per croissant ($3.99 for 4), this purchase is a no brainer. They come out super flaky and crispy on the outside, and soft and bready on the inside. And making them at home means you get them fresh out of the oven and you do't even have to get human-looking to trek down to the local coffee shop.

Boner'ppetite!

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