A rectangular viennoiserie of buttery laminated dough, the same as a croissant, wrapped around two batons of dark chocolate and baked until shatteringly flaky and golden. The chocolate softens into a warm seam through the airy layers. A French breakfast and bakery staple eaten nationwide.
A French viennoiserie known as chocolatine in the south-west; the laminated form developed in late-19th-century France from Austrian pastry introduced by August Zang.
It shatters into a snowfall of golden flakes at the first bite, the layers pulling apart in buttery wisps. In the centre the chocolate is warm and just-soft, melting against the airy dough. Rich but never heavy, it is the most decadent way to start a French morning.
Lamination traps thin sheets of butter between dough layers; in the oven the butter's water flashes to steam and lifts each layer apart, creating the flaky honeycomb. Keeping everything cold during folding stops the butter melting into the dough, which is essential for clean layers.
Variations
Pain aux raisins and pain aux amandes use the same dough with other fillings; the pastry is called chocolatine in south-west France and may carry one or two chocolate batons.
On the Palate
Where Pain au Chocolat sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
8 steps · 60 min active · 720 min waiting
- 115 min
Mix flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk and water into a dough and chill it.
- 215 min
Beat cold butter into a flat slab and enclose it in the rolled-out dough.
- 390 min
Roll and fold the dough in three, chilling between each of three turns.
- 48 min
Roll the laminated dough into a large rectangle and cut it into smaller rectangles.
- 56 min
Lay a baton of chocolate near one edge, roll once, add a second baton and roll up.
- 6120 min
Set the pastries seam-down on a tray and prove until puffy.
- 72 min
Brush with egg wash for a glossy finish.
- 818 min
Bake at 200C for about 18 minutes until deep golden and flaky.
