I cannot believe how easy it is to make croissants at home, thanks to a recipe on Baking a Moment. Instead of having to roll out sheets of 'butter block' to put between the dough, you just add thin slices of butter at the beginning. No kneading or chilling over night either, you can make them in one day. OK, they're not as perfect as professionally made ones but you can still achieve lamination of dough layers and a crisp, buttery croissant.

Makes 20
4 c flour
1/3 c sugar
4 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/4 tsp salt
285 g cold butter, thinly sliced
up to 300 ml milk
egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little water)

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Toss in the butter slices and coat with flour.

Add in the milk slowly and mix together until a stiff, scraggy dough forms. You may need more or less of the milk.

Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for an hour to rest.

On a floured surface, roll the dough into a long rectangle. Fold into thirds, turn 90 degrees and repeat 4 to 6 times until the dough is smooth and flat and you can see the streaks of butter in it.

Wrap and chill for another hour. Divide dough in half and roll out each piece into a rectangle approx. 25 cm x 55 cm and 3 mm thick. Cut the dough into rectangles about 12 cm wide, then cut each rectangle diagonally to make long triangles. Notch the wide end in the middle about 1 cm deep, then roll from the wide end to the tip to make a crescent shape, tucking the point under the croissant.

Place croissants on a lined baking tray, spaced apart. Cover and leave to rise for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 190C. Brush croissants with egg wash and bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.
Best eaten fresh from the oven but you can warm them up in the oven the next day, wrapped in foil.