Amazing Low Carb/Low Fat Croissants

I challenged myself to create a puff pastry dough that is low carb and low fat but could work in any way I wanted it to. That was a tall order but one I was determined to accomplish, and I did. It's work but well worth it; and one result of that effort is this amazing croissant recipe. Sweet and buttery, these croissants look, feel and taste like their high carb, high fat counterparts.

Once you master the base dough the sky's the limit. You can have them plain, with jam, glaze them or fill them with chocolate or marzipan (both variations I'll have for you later). These have become a family favorite to make sandwiches with for breakfast and for lunch. And don’t get me started talking about a croissant with my morning cup of coffee!

An average croissant has 24.5 net carbs, but these only have 4.5 net carbs and less than half the fat and calories, but have the same taste, layers and buttery texture. Yum!

Number of Servings: 24

Ingredients:

1½ cup evaporated milk, + ½ cup water or

2 cups milk or almond milk

2 tbsp sugar (do not substitute with

sweetener, this is to feed the yeast)

¼ cup vital wheat gluten

4 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups Carbquick (if you don’t mind the extra 3 carbs, do 1c Carbquick and 1c AP flour; nutritional info below)

2 cups Carbalose flour

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1½ sticks salted European-style butter, very cold

2 to 4 squirts sweetener (to taste)

1 egg

1 Tbsp water

Directions:

1) Melt 3 tbsp butter in microwave, stir in milk (temperature should be lower than 90º). Whisk in yeast; put milk mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add Carbquick and Carbalose flours, wheat gluten, sugar, sweetener and salt. Using dough hook, knead on low speed until cohesive dough forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead for 1 minute. Dough should be sticky, if it's not, add water 1 tbsp at a time until no longer dry. Remove bowl from mixer and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature 30 minutes.

2) If doing by hand, stir mixture until combined, dough will be sticky. Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead for about 10 minutes until dough is no longer sticky. Either technique, your dough should be moist and soft. Transfer dough to parchment paper–lined baking sheet and shape into a 10x7" rectangle about 1" thick. Wrap tightly with plastic and put in freezer for 30 min.

3) Cut your butter into pieces length wise, about ½” thick and lay them on a large piece of plastic wrap in a square about 7x7 inches. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the pieces into a uniform slab. Uncover and cut edges as needed, placing scraps back onto the top. Cut, roll, and measure until you get an even 8" square. Wrap up it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until you're ready to roll out the dough.

4) Remove dough from the freezer and roll into a 17x8" rectangle with the long side parallel to the edge of counter. Unwrap the butter and place it in the center of the dough. Fold sides of the dough over butter so they meet in center; press the seam together with fingertips. With rolling pin, press firmly on each open end of packet. Roll out lengthwise into 24x8" rectangle. Starting at bottom of dough, fold into thirds like business letter into an 8" square. Turn dough 90º counterclockwise. Roll out lengthwise again into 24x8" rectangle and fold into thirds. Place dough on sheet, wrap tightly with plastic, and put back into the freezer for 30 min.

5) Pull dough out of freezer and onto your counter so that the top flap opens on the right. Roll out dough lengthwise into 24x8" rectangle and fold into thirds; repeat. Place dough on sheet, wrap tightly with plastic and put back in freezer for 30 to 40 min.

(At this point you have puff pastry and can roll it out to ¼” thick and use it for other recipes.)

8) Remove dough from freezer and roll it into an 18x16" rectangle with the long side of the rectangle parallel to edge of counter. Fold your dough in half length wise. Using a ruler or your dough scraper, mark your dough at 3-inch intervals along the bottom edge (you should have 6 marks). Move ruler to the top edge of the dough, measure in 1½" from left, then use this mark to measure out 3" intervals (you should have 6 marks).

9) Starting at lower left corner, use sharp pizza cutter, dough scraper or a knife, cut dough from mark to mark. You will have 12 triangles and 6 diamonds. (turn your scraps into fun designs if you like). Unfold diamonds and cut in half into 12 triangles (making 24 equal-size triangles in total).

10) Position one triangle on counter. (put 12 triangles on sheet and return to the freezer. Keep the remaining triangles covered with plastic.) Roll from center to pointed tip to stretch and flatten and from center down and to right, then center down to left to stretch and flatten bottom triangle. Cut a ¾” slit in the center of the bottom of each triangle. Make sue it’s point is facing away from you. Roll up both sides of slit toward point. Gently grasp point with one hand and stretch again. Resume rolling, tucking point underneath, place on parchment lined or greased sheet pans; 12 each. Repeat with remaining triangles.

11) Next step is to proof the croissants; you can do this in one of 2 ways: (1) let the rolled croissants proof slowly (loosely wrapped in plastic in pan) in the refrigerator overnight, 12-18 hours, or (2) lightly wrap with plastic and let stand at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 2½ to 3 hours.

13) If your croissants proofed in the fridge, remove them and let them come to room temperature on the counter, about 2 hours. When dough is proofed, the croissants will be puffy, but not fully doubled in size.

14) After your croissants have doubled in size, adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 425 º. In small bowl, whisk together egg, water, and pinch salt. Brush croissants with egg wash, be sure to cover entire surface. Place croissants in oven and reduce temperature to 375º. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then switch and rotate baking sheets. Continue to bake until golden brown, about 8 to 12 minutes longer. Keep an eye on them because the butter can burn on the bottom. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack and cool about 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

*Note: these can be made ahead and frozen. After baking and cooling, place croissants on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Wrap with plastic and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. Transfer to zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Rewarm in toaster oven or oven until re-crisped on the outside.

Serving Size: 24 medium size croissants

Nutritional Info: Servings Per Recipe: 24

Amount Per Serving: (1 croissant)

Calories: 150

Total Fat: 8.7 g

Sodium: 206.8 mg

Potassium: 39.7 mg

Total Carbs: 11.4 g

Dietary Fiber: 6.0 g

Total Net Carbs: 5.4

Sugars: 1.8 g

Protein: 12.6 g

Nutritional Info: Servings Per Recipe: 24 (version with AP flour)

Amount Per Serving: (1 croissant)

Calories: 155.4

Total Fat: 7.9 g

Sodium: 206.8 mg

Potassium: 46.4 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 13.1 g

Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g

Total Net Carbs: 8.7

Sugars: 1.8 g

Protein: 12.4 g