Typically, croissants are made using a laminated dough, where layers of butter are rolled and folded into the layers of dough. This is a complex technique that takes the better part of a day to do properly and doesn’t really belong in a book of “easy, everyday” recipes for children, but I couldn’t write a French cookbook and not include a recipe for croissants. This one borrows a technique from the great Julia Child, who borrowed it from Beatrice Ojakangas (author of The Great Scandinavian Baking Book) for inclusion in Baking with Julia. It produces a fluffy, rather than super- flaky, croissant. This is definitely one of the more advanced recipes in the book, not because it’s difficult, but because it requires a bit of planning and some precision in the rolling and folding. But if you set out to make this a weekend project and take each step slowly, you’ll be thrilled with the results. These do require a bit of planning but they are so worth the effort! A suggested timetable is as follows: Day 1: 60 minutes’ hands-on time, in stages, 60-minute rest in fridge. Refrigerate overnight. Day 2: 45 minutes’ hands-on time (rolling, measuring), 3 hours’ proofing time, 20 to 25 minutes’ bake time. Have you ever wondered why even though the word “croissant” means “crescent,” many croissants are straight, not crescent-shaped? In France, shaping a croissant straight as opposed to rounded is a way of showing that it is made with pure butter (as opposed to margarine or another fat). You’ll often see them sold as croissants au beurre (butter croissants) and croissants ordinaires (ordinary, i.e., NOT butter, croissants). Looking for the croissant’s chocolaty cousin the pain au chocolat? You’ll find it on page 63 in the After-School Snacks chapter, as it’s traditionally enjoyed in the afternoon.