Croissants are pretty much the best thing to come out of France. Buttery, flaky, and light—they are the perfect complement to a cup of coffee and a good book in a café.
Pastry chefs train for years to get croissants just right, but we have a fabulous method for getting your flaky fix without all the hassle. Only three ingredients are needed to make the super simple Choc Bar Puffs, and an hour later you can be indulging in a pastry that oozes chocolate at its center. What could be better?!
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of defrosted puff pastry
- 8 chocolate slabs
- 1 egg
- Sea salt
- Cocoa powder, for dusting
- Flour, for dusting
Instructions:
- Dust your rolling pin with a little flour. Roll out one of the sheets of pastry, keeping it on the backing paper, and pop it onto a baking sheet. Have another baking sheet ready close by.
- Have the chocolate bars and place evenly in line on the pastry—5 across, 3 up—making sure to leave a good gap between the pieces of chocolate. Feel free to eat the extra piece!
- Take the second sheet of pastry and roll it out to ½ inch longer and wider than the other sheet. This has to go over the chocolate, so it needs a bit more give.
- Beat the egg and brush all the edges of the first sheet of pastry around the chocolate with most of it. Place the other piece of pastry on top. Using the side of your palm, press down gently around the cubes of chocolate to attach the top to the bottom. Once it is all sealed, pop it into the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C. Take the pastry off the sheet and cut out the little chocolate-filled cubes. Brush with the leftover egg. If you want a slightly more grown-up taste, you can sprinkle them with sea salt flakes.
- Divide them between the two sheets and pop them into the oven for 30 minutes, switching the sheets around halfway so they get an even bake and even golden-ness.
- Once they are out of the oven, dust them with a little cocoa powder. If you are planning to freeze some, don’t dust those with cocoa. Let them cool, then freeze in a freezer bag.
