Croissant Troubleshooting Guide

Croissants are a tricky pastry to master, but one of the first steps to improving is understanding what went wrong. From lamination to proofing to dough mixing, here is a list of issues that are holding you back from making the perfect croissants. Keep practicing and you’ll get the perfect honeycomb crumb in no time!

This guide is organized from most common to lease common reasons for imperfect croissants, in my experience.

Table Of Contents

Some overall tips to help you troubleshoot
Lamination Problems
Proofing Problems
Dough Problems
Baking Problems
- Oven temperature is too high

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Some overall tips to help you troubleshoot

Take notes throughout the process, from mixing dough to laminating to proofing. Note any formula changes, the temperature of your environment, and the weather. Taking detailed notes will help you notice overall patterns and form hypotheses on how to improve future batches
Examine the crumb of each batch of croissants. For a clean crumb, make sure the croissant is fully cooled down before slicing to avoid smooshing the layers

Lamination Problems

For beginners, lamination problems are the number 1 most common issue that I see. If you’re just getting started and having trouble making croissants, it’s probably a lamination problem.

Butter melted into the dough

Signs that the butter melted into the dough

When you cut the dough during shaping, you cannot see clear layers of dough and butter
Dough feels greasy during rolling and shaping
Cross section of the croissant lacks a distinct honey comb and looks more like a brioche crumb

How to prevent the butter from melting into the dough

The key here is temperature control, making sure that the dough does not get too warm. Remember that even if the ambient temperature is cool, the friction of lamination will naturally increase the temperature of the dough.

Unbaked croissant with clear layers of butter and dough — After shaping, you can clearly see the layers of butter and dough. If you cannot see defined layers like this, the butter probably melted into the dough

Freeze the dough before locking in the butter. I aim for 4 – 7C
Keep your work environment and counters cold
- Avoid working in direct sunlight
- During the summer, I like to chill the countertop with ice packs before rolling
- If you have AC, turn it on. I like my environment to be 21C or colder
Work quickly and as soon as the dough starts to soften and feel floppy, place in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool down, then continue to roll
- When rolling, push in an outwards motion rather than a downwards motion. This will help you laminate faster and more efficiently
Between folds, chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

Croissant with poor lamination — Another example of poor lamination, where the crumb is dense without any definition

Butter cracked

Signs that the butter cracked

Croissants with cracked butter — The butter for these croissants has cracked, leading to chunky pieces rather than clean layers

When you cut the dough during shaping, the butter will be in cracked chunks rather than even layers

How to prevent the butter from cracking

Butter cracks when it is too cold, and / or not pliable enough.

Make sure the butter is not too cold during lock-in. I aim for 11 – 14C, but the ideal temperature will vary depending on the butter that you are using
Make sure the butter is pliable during lock-in. You should be able to bend it back and forth without it breaking
Make sure the dough is not too cold when you lock in the butter. Very cold dough will make the butter seize up, and then crack. I aim for 4 – 7C
Use a high fat (minimum 82%) butter. Butter that does not have enough fat will be brittle and harder to work with
Between folds, make sure the dough does not get too cold. The dough should be slightly pliable before you start rolling
- If you do freeze the dough, it’s okay to let it sit at room temperature to warm up a little bit before rolling. The butter will not melt, assuming your work environment is a reasonable temperature.

Proofing Problems

For a detailed guide to proofing croissants, I recommend my Ultimate Guide to Proofing Croissants. It has information on how to tell when your croissants are perfectly proofed, making a home proofer, and maintaining the ideal temperature and humidity.

Underproofed

Signs that your croissants are underproofed

Butter leaks and pools around the croissants during baking
Layers after baking look thick and dry
On the outside, the croissant still has a dome shape
Crumb collapsed in dense, uneven patches
Croissant feels heavy and dense relative to its size

Overproofed

Signs that your croissants are overproofed

The surface of the croissants looks wrinkled and deflated before going in the oven
Croissant uniformly flattens and collapses after baking, losing its dome shape
Crumb has a honeycomb pattern, but has collapsed

exterior of overproofed croissant — This is the exterior of an overproofed croissant. It is very flat.

How to fix proofing issues

The seemingly simple solution for fixing under and overproofing is to proof for the “right” amount of time. If you don’t have a proofer, the amount of time will vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your environment. Here are signs that your croissants are well-proofed:

They jiggle when you shake the tray. It’s not just a little jiggle, it should be a full on wobble. And even if they jiggle, they might not be fully proofed, so check for other signs as well.
They have grown significantly in size. They should look BIG, POOFY, and SWOLLEN. If you are questioning how poofy they are, they probably need more time.
The layers have separated. Note that the degree of separation may vary depending on your formula and shaping. Also, if your croissants are dried out you, the layers will separate even if the croissants are not fully proofed
The shoulders of the croissants should start melding into each other. If you see distinct “steps,” your croissants probably need more time. The lines between each of the shoulders should look slightly blurred.
The tips of the croissants will start to droop. This is a sign that the gluten strength has reached its full potential, and is starting to weaken
If you lightly poke the croissant, it should feel spongy and soft with a slight firmness, like a marshmallow or jello. You will feel small air bubbles pop beneath your finger

Temperature too high during proofing

Signs that the temperature was too high while proofing croissants

Butter leaks and pools around the croissants during proofing
The crumb and layers have lost definition

How to prevent too high temperature during proofing

Monitor the temperature of your proofing environment
Keep the temperature around 26 – 27C (80F). Around 32C, the butter will start to melt

Dough Problems

In my experience, problems with your base dough tend to be more nuanced and require more trial and error than lamination or proofing problems. It will depend on a lot of factors – your environment, the type of flour you have available, the type of machinery you’re using to mix, etc.

Dough is too weak

Signs that your croissant dough is too weak

Croissant with too weak dough — The dough here had a too high hydration, and was very weak. The crumb lacks clear definition, and the croissant did not hold its domed shape

Dough tears during final proofing
Dough shrinks during sheeting, even if it is kept very cold
Before the croissants are fully proofed, they will start to collapse and flatten out
Crumb is both underproofed and flattened out at the same time
Crumb lacks definition, even if the lamination and proofing was done well

Dough tearing during proofing — The dough is tearing during final proofing, indicating that the gluten network is too weak

How to fix dough that is too weak

These factors interplay with each other, so you may need to change, one, multiple, or all of these factors. Changing one will also affect the others. For example, a higher protein flour typically also requires a relatively higher hydration.

Mix for longer, until full window pane
Use a stronger, higher protein flour
Decrease the hydration of the dough
Decrease the fat content of the dough

Dough has too much fat

Croissant with too much fat — The croissant has too much fat, and the dough is not strong enough to handle it. It is a very uniform, matte brown color and is flat and greasy.

Signs that your croissants have too much fat

This can be in the dough, or as a % of laminating butter

Croissant flattens out during proofing and baking
Croissant has a matte, evenly brown color
Croissant is greasy and crispy, as though it has been deep fried

How to fix dough that has too much fat

Decrease the amount of fat used in the dough
Decrease the amount of butter used in lamination
Increase the strength of the dough so it can support a higher fat content

Dough lacks extensibility

Croissant where dough is too strong — The dough is too strong, leading to large, uneven air bubbles even though the center hasn’t proofed fully

Signs that your croissant dough lacks extensibility

Dough feels very stiff and tight during sheeting, refuse to stretch out
Crumb has large air bubbles, even if the lamination and proofing was done well
- This is because the gluten is unable to expand during baking, so the honeycomb structure breaks and creates large air pockets

How to increase dough extensibility

Use a weaker, lower protein flour
Increase the hydration of the dough
Increases the fat content of the dough
Rest the dough for longer between folds

Baking Problems

Baking problems tend to be less common in my experience. I would first rule out issues with lamination, proofing, and dough mixing.

Oven temperature is too high

Croissant where the oven temperature was too high — The oven temperature was too high, so the outside of the croissant set too quickly. As a result, the inside is very dense while the outside has large bubbles

Signs that your oven temperature is too high, or your convection is too strong

Outside browns too quickly while the inside of the croissant is uncooked
The outer crumb is extremely open, but the inside is very dense
- this happens because the crust of the croissant sets too quickly, and the center of the croissant is unable to expand
- If you have poor lamination or proofing, the crumb can look similar. So please rule out lamination and proofing as issues first.