Jacques Torres' Pain Au Chocolat
Photo Credit: Kenneth Yee, painter
First, today is quite a milestone for My Morning Chocolate – this is the 100th post! I’m sending out a big thanks to you for reading this blog at any point over the last nine months. One of the things we bloggers live for is our blog’s stats - you want to know that you’re talking to someone out there, after all – and the increasing views have been a great push to keep me going. So thank you!
I’ve been aware of my approaching 100th post for a while, and, thus, have had plenty of time to plan what to write for the big day. When I was in my mid-20s, I wanted to open a bakery. and I spent a lot of time researching how to do that. This led me a website where a commenter said a good bakery absolutely had to have a good pain au chocolat. This was just one person’s two cents, but the yeast was planted in my baking brain: I would make pain au chocolat someday.
So I finally made them, spending the whole day rolling, resting, refrigerating, filling, and rolling the dough. My pain au chocolat were on the small side, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt more proud of myself!
To make your own, print Jacques Torres’ pain au chocolat recipe, read it, and then follow along with this photo essay (of sorts) that will take you through the process.
Pain Au Chocolat
Yeast
Make the dough according to the recipe’s instructions. I couldn’t find fresh yeast – even the bread maker at my farmers market wasn’t sure where he bought it – so I substituted 6 3/4 tsp dry yeast. That’s a strip of three yeast packets, which is sold in most grocery stores. Your yeast will sit in cold water and, when it’s ready, will be bubbly like this:
The yeast will have little bubbles on the surface when it's ready.
Dough
After you mix your dough, it will look like this:
Pain au chocolat dough
First Roll
After your dough rests in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, it is ready for its first roll. You’ll notice that the recipe says you should roll the dough into an 8 by 15-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Although I did use a long meter stick, my dough was rounded, too short, and too long in some spots. I wouldn’t worry to much about it. You aren’t selling these to anyone. Once rolled, wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
The pain au chocolat dough after the first roll (complete with squiggly edges).
Spread the Butter
Pain au chocolat contains a ton of butter, of course. 1 cup plus 2 tbsp to be exact. But I never realized how much this really is until I hit this stage and spread the softened butter on the dough. I think my arteries closed a little just looking at all that butter. Spread it on 2/3 of your dough and you’ll see.
Spread the softened butter on 2/3 of the pain au chocolat dough.
Fold the Dough and Roll It Out Again
Now you will fold the dough like a letter, and then roll it out again into a 10 by 30-inch rectangle. The danger here is that your butter might start melting before you can finish rolling out the dough. When this happened to me, I put the dough back in the refrigerator for a while and then re-rolled it. Once rolled, fold each end of the dough to the center (but do not overlap them), then fold the dough in half and wrap it in plastic wrap to refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Tip for Rolling: Hold the dough firmly on one side, and use your other hand to roll the dough in the opposite direction. I found this helped me roll the dough faster.)
After spreading the butter, fold one end of the dough to the center.
Then fold the other side to the center like you're folding a letter.
Once the dough is rolled out again, fold the ends to the center one more time (but don't overlap them), then fold the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
One more rolling/resting stage
After the dough has refrigerated, it will go through one more rolling/refrigeration stage. Roll the dough into another 10 by 30-inch rectangle and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pain au chocolat dough one more time, fold again like a letter, and refrigerate.
Roll and Cut the Pain Au Chocolat
I know, this is a lot of rolling right? But this is the last one. Roll out your dough one more time. (The recipe says it should be a 10 by 36-inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.) Then cut the dough into 3 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch rectangles. Again, try to get as close as you can, but I wouldn’t worry if your measurements are slightly off.
First, I cut the pain au chocolat vertically...
then horizontally.
Add the Chocolate and Roll Them Up
We’ve made it to the chocolate stage! Adding the chocolate is a process, so follow along by looking at the middle square in the pictures below:
Spread 1/2 tbsp of chopped chocolate against the top fold of the pain au chocolate...
then roll the top third of the dough over the chocolate.
Spread another 1/2 tbsp of chocolate against the folded seam...
then fold the bottom third of the dough over the chocolate, and flip the rolled pain au chocolat over so the seam is facing down.
Rising and Egg Wash
The filled and rolled pain au chocolat will then rest, covered in plastic wrap, for 1 1/2 to 3 hours, until “they appear light and full of air.” (I’m not sure mine rose as much as they should have, but I moved forward anyway.) After the rising stage, brush the pain au chocolat with egg wash (see the recipe). Hang in there, the buttery pain au chocolat are almost ready…
The pain au chocolat rest, covered in plastic wrap, for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. They should double in size.
The final step! Brush the pain au chocolat with egg wash.
Finally, Baking!
Now you can relax because your pastries are home-free. After hours of refrigerating, rolling, rising, filling, and resting, the pain au chocolat only take about 10 minutes to bake. They’re ready when they’re golden brown. After all this work, the good news is you should have pain au chocolat all week. This recipe makes 20 of them.
Enjoy, and once again, thank you for reading. Your support keeps My Morning Chocolate (and me) going!
I enjoy baking, but I can’t picture myself trying to do this.. looks yummy, though!
Just yesterday my daughter brought me some of these and I was trying to figure out whether it contained yeast. You just answered my question, and wow! So much butter! They’re delicious anyhow.
Please check out my blog and facebook photo album for my own mouth watering solar cooking recipes.
Congrats on your 100.
This looks awesome. I am going to try and make it at some point….. does not look too difficult, just labor intensive
you can enjoy with your breakfast,and Lunch,Dinner
Do you bake for fun or actually work in a bakery? These look AWESOME-I’m a sucker for chocolate pastries with a morning cup o’ joe!
wow… I wnna try tooo….
it’s look marvelllooouuuussssss……..
I am still new to ‘blogging’ so congrats on your 100th post! I just love painj au chocolat but I am a little put off by the recipe!! But I have noted Torres’ website and I will have a go!!
Look great, can’t wait to see how they turn out…
Those look yummy. I need chocolate.
This looks wicked yummy.
I really want to try baking these.
When I have time, I’m definitely going for it.
Aw, thanks to all of you for the nice compliments!
@Brianne: I just bake for fun and for this blog, which gives me a good excuse to try new recipes like this one.
@franchu: The pain au chocolat definitely aren’t as hard as I thought they would be after reading the recipe. They just take a lot of time. To be honest though, I wonder if mine should have been bigger than they were. But they tasted right so I’m happy with that!
@Leah: Looking forward to checking out your blog and recipes!
Hi Jen. These look absolutely delicious!!! I have just printed the recipe and will definitely give it a go. You photos are wonderful too. Thank you. I have just started a food blog (literally two days ago, lol)with a friend as we too are mad about good food. Will definitely be checking in to your regularly. Would love it if you checked mine out, experienced opinions appreciated. Congrats on 100. F
Hi again. Forgot to give you my blog site. http://www.feastingwithfriends.wordpress.com
beautiful! love pain au chocolat! congratulations on a great blog. i am looking forward to getting to my 50th post soon so i share the excitement with you. keep these food adventures going. http://www.foodielady.wordpress.com
I like cooking and cook everyday but I don’t know baking.
This encourages me to challenge it.
As hanneymonster says it could have been better if there were some photos how they turned out…
@Oscar: You should go for it; baking is fun! The picture of the final product is at the top of the post, but maybe I should have added one to the bottom too. Thanks for alerting me to that!
In France, all the little bakery stands on the street proudly advertise that their products are pur beurre—”pure butter”. I eventually concluded that that meant that no other oils or fats were substituted—margarine or other partially hydrogenated vegetable fats, for example—but when I first saw it, it sounded as if they were claiming that the pastries were all butter—no flour, yeast, or other ingredients necessary, except maybe as a garnish to the butter.
With the amount of butter involved here, both interpretations sound plausible. I guess that’s why French pastries are so good!
I tried this the other day! So good
Looks amazing… I can’t wait to try!
Interesting read. I’m on dial-up … still waiting for the final pics, but it was fun. I’m doing my 39th post today.
Guess food is more interesting than living life after eighty.
Thanks for getting this together for us. Good job!
‘Awesome!’ =D
Oh my! I am drooling… these look gorgeous! I think it’s really cool that you used photos to illustrate the entire process from start to finish. That really helped.
I admire your patience with all that rolling and refrigerating and waiting… I think I might have given up halfway through and gone straight to the ‘eat the chocolate’ bit.
Congratulations on making it to the WordPress Freshly Pressed page!
My favorite snack and thanks to you I now can make them myself at home, thanks!
Buenos Dias,
I am in the process of following your recipe as we speak. For the chocolate I am using Green & Blacks “maya gold”. Dark and sensual with a hint of orange and spices.
All that will be left is to brew the perfect pot of coffee.
Thank you for posting!
Con regard,
Athena L. Borozon
Tucson, Arizona US
I love pain au chocolat (preferably in Paris) but I don’t think I’d ever dare try to bake it myself. Yours looks delish.
(And if not pain au chocolat, a great scone – or leftover pizza!)
Thanks for the recipe it sounds delicious!
Absolutely my favorite breakfast foods. I spent 3 years in Antibes, France, between Cannes and Nice, as captain of a large sailboat. Just out the port was a small patisserie that made great Pain au Chocolat. I’d get a couple, still warm, walk to the nearby Tabac to pick up the International Herald-Tribune and then next door to the Bar du Port for a double espresso. Then, to sit at a table on the side walk and devour the buns with the chocolate still melty inside while watching the passing scene is a memory I will carry with me always.
To everyone: thanks for reading and commenting, and happy baking!
@Richard: What a lovely memory. It makes me long to travel.
@Athena: I love orange and chocolate together so I’ll have to try that Mayan Gold bar. How did you pastries turn out?
@lifeaftereighty: Nah, life after eighty is just as interesting. Good luck with your 39th post!
@Chillingworth: If those pastries were all butter, I don’t think I could handle it! Just over one cup is enough for me. But you’re right, that’s what makes them so good.
I am so trying this. Love it.
Fantastic post. I’m a baker as well but I usually bake bread-time I made these treats-there’s hardly anything better than chocolate. Thanks for the pictures Too.
The pastries were wonderful. The recipe was great and easy to follow. I meant to thank you for the photos in my earlier comment.
Con regard,
Athena Borozon
Tucson AZ
@Athena: I’m so glad your pain au chocolat worked out well for you, and that the photos were helpful. Enjoy them!
OMG!!! I’m not a chocolate person, but this sounds delectable and definitely doable. Thanks for tantalizing my baking dendrites!
Yum! And now I need chocolate. Pain au chocolat.
I haven’t had this since when I was in Europe…thanks for posting!
this should have been entitiled – how to make letterstolife drool.
Wow! Thanks so much for posting this. I’m so gonna try this.
I’ve always loved Pain au Chocolat, but so far I can only buy it from nearby bakeries.
Thanks for the photos, it’s great to see the work in progress. You said you were amazed by the amount of butter. T hat’s the trick with croissants, pain au raisin and pain au chocolat (and puff pastry), one is supposed to weight the dough to calculate the butter (50%).
These look amazing! The recipe looks time consuming but well worth the effort. I might have to try them!!!
I’ve never had this before, but it looks amazing! I’m going to have to try the recipe sometime, and of course, probably screw it up. Thanks for posting it!
Great article. Very Imformative. Thanks.
Appetizing and very good worked out. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow! This makes me long for Paris…there is really nothing better then a warm hot Pain au Chocolate as u stroll down the avenue looking at all the fashion you cant afford, taking in the beautiful architecture, inhaling of second hand smoke, the sweet pungent smell of the Siene and the odd sort of hospitality only the French know how to show. ahhhhhh Paris!
@JBSTYLES.com: Now I’m longing for Paris too!
That is a heck of a lot of butter! Sad isn’t it that the best tasting things are always the worst for us! A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips
)
oishiiii sou desu nee..!
I love to bake too – this was a great choice for your 100th! Congrats! Isn’t it fun to find your blog on the front page? I’ve been there before and now love to cruise it and enlarge my world.
Wow…major decadence! Those look beautiful!
thanks for a treat….I always wondered how they were made as they are my favorite but not always found in bakeries……yumn yummmmmm! Great choice for your l00th!!!! CONGRATS! SA
Oh my goodness – your photo essay actually makes this operation look feasible! Upon reading a recipe with no pictures I had given up on ever attempting handmade puff pastry, and pain au chocolat is one of my favorites. I’m going to try this, but I will probably cheat the first time and use “pre-fab” puff pastry.
I’m always glad to hear from other people who share my view that chocolate is a great breakfast food.
@Shelley, @Sarah, @Tulum, @Alexander, @Art Erickson, @knoxblevins, @renata, @letterstolife, @rNest: Thanks for looking at the pictures and weighing in!
@Brenda K: You should totally try making these! Let us know how it goes if you work with the puff pastry.
@Beth, @Fusun: Thanks for the food blog suggestions! I’m looking forward to reading them after the weekend.
@Kris: Congrats on getting on the front page too! I agree, it’s a very exciting event when that happens!
And there I had just posted a blog about dieting…
But your “pain au chocolat” look right like in Paris (or any other boulangerie in France) and I bet they taste just as delicious as they are there.
How much I miss those little things form France…
**sigh**
Ahhhhhh…delish.
The instructions are clear and simple- but still looks like a daunting task! I may be inspired to try though…:o)
Fine
It’s 9:10am and I know what I want for breakfast: your pain au chocolat. Thanks for the inspiration. I look forward to making this someday. Great work.
Congrats on your 100th post, and a doozy it is!! Thank you. The pain au chocolat looks scrumptious!
Congrads on the 100th posting!! I too am a word press person and found your Morning chocolate on the main page of word press..(.of course I can’t remember my web site – but it is under my name).
This pictorial reminds me of something I would make for New Year’s eve… a pastry filled with Walnuts and honey and chocolate. twisted up Philo dough(sp)…little purses of DIVNE joy…. thanks for reminding me ..I need to make those again!!!.. and I will try this….hey this post remindeds me of the Movie Julie & Julia?? yes??
Good luck Bev
Gorgeous photographs!
thanks for the well informed detailed recipe that was amazing, and I can not wait to try making them myself.
@stopthesmell, @elisabeth, @darthbergen, @rashid, @kris, @Ninette, @heather: Thanks so much for stopping by, reading, and commenting! It’s been fun reading your thoughts.
@Beverly: Those purses sound delicious. I love walnuts, honey, and pastry. Maybe I’ll give those a try sometime soon
OMG these look amazing! I hope you enjoyed every last incredible morsel. While I would love to try this someday … I don’t think it will be anytime soon … BUT I think I will really appreciate it more the next time I get one at the bakery!!
Great post, thanks!!
looks so yummy! am a big fan of pain au choc, and not to mention you have a great saliva drooling picture of those!
I’m tempted to try this recipe…although i don’t know if my attention span would keep me from finishing the pan au chocolat. I’d probably be distracted by those yummy morsels and eat them before I set them on the rolled dough.
Yummm!
These look fantastic, I might have to try these at the weekend. This is the first time I have looked at your blog but you can bet your boots I will be back. I love cooking and have recently set up my own food blog which runs along side my veg gardening blog. Take a look:
http://natalieskitchen.wordpress.com
http://igrewthisearlier.co.uk
Congratulations on your 100th post. x
[...] Chocolate, and thank you for taking the time to stop by this weekend and comment! ”How to Make Pain au Chocolat (A Photo Essay)” ended up on the WordPress.com homepage (thank you, WordPress!) and new people sure do come [...]
[...] this morning with coffee. I recently stumbled on a blog aptly titled My Morning Chocolate. This post gives a rundown on how to make Pain au Chocolat. I might have found a new [...]
Congrats on 100th post! I will keep your blog in mind and try the recipe I am thinking I might do something where I try blog recipes and talk about my results! Yum yum yum I love Pain au chocolat!
@Andrea: That’s a great idea! Let us know if you try the pain au chocolat recipe. I’d love to hear how it worked out.
I am going to try this when I return home for the Summer. Next week is the end of my semester…..I am going to try adapting it a little for lower sugar, because my mother is daibetic.
I shall let you know how it turns out!
[...] How to Make Pain Au Chocolat (A Photo Essay) [...]
whenever i make mine, my croissant comes out hard, not crispy like in the bakery store, why?
@Maria: Thanks for visiting! Do you mean that the croissants are heavy? Or maybe tough? I can do some research for you, but I just want to make sure I understand the texture.
[...] so you should follow the recipe. And when I’m making a more complicated dessert like pain au chocolat or a cookie that needs to be rolled out like sugar cookies, I do follow the recipe. (Note: [...]
I have made Pain Au Chocolat twice in the last 5 days and I have to say that it was quite easy once you have done some research. I had my first chocolate croissant when I visited Venice Beach, CA about 12 years ago and then had my second one this year when I visited New Orleans, LA at Croissant D’or Patisserie. So, I was on a quest to make this delicious pastry that I love so much.
@Jennifer: I’m impressed that you made pain au chocolat twice in such a short span of time. Sounds like you have the method down. I thought it was challenging to roll the dough out to the required lengths before the butter melted. Do you think you’ll make them regularly?
Great photos of the process! Wish I had found your blog post before I made mine (I stumbled across the same recipe on another site first). I found it works really well to soften the butter just enough so it’s still slightly cool (I stuck mine in the microwave for about 7 seconds on power 2) and then roll it out between two sheets of wax paper. I peeled one sheet off, then flipped it over onto the dough. This way the butter isn’t nearly as soft. Resulted in a really flaky croissant. Either way, can’t beat chocolate and bread for breakfast.
@happyandsimple: Thanks for the butter tip! I’ve been thinking I should try making pain au chocolat again because it’s been a while. I’m going to try the wax paper idea. And yes, I love any dish that lets me have chocolate in the morning!
Hello,
fantastic blog, love the idea of the step by step photos. Just wondering if its possible to do most of this recipe the evening before and instead of the 3 hour resting period rest them overnight so the can be cooked fresh for breakfast in the morning? Don’t really fancy getting up a 3 in the morning so we can have them for breakfast Lol!!!!
@Carla: Thanks so much for visiting. Having the pain au chocolat fresh in the morning is a great idea. My instinct is that the dough could rest overnight, as long as its loosely covered with plastic wrap as suggested in the recipe. But since I haven’t tried it, I can’t say for sure whether it would work. If you try it, let us know how it works!
I’m about to try my hand at my first pain au chocolat. I haven’t been able to get the idea out of my head since I first saw them in the King Arthur Flour catalog. I debated awhile because the KAF recipe is much shorter and doesn’t involve all the separate folding and rolling stages. I would usually assume that the “genuine” French recipe by Torres would be superior to a quicker version, but then again, KAF has quite a pedigree itself and many of their recipes are quite complicated and always turn out to be the best-tasting baked goods I’ve ever produced. If they felt the 8-hour prep time made for a better pastry, they’d have no qualms printing the more complicated recipe. But… I mean… it’s Jacques Torres! French pastry chef extrodinaire! I think it’s obvious that the only solution here is to make both recipes and compare them to see which one is better. My prediction is that Torres and the folding will prove better, but that it won’t be better ENOUGH to warrant the fact that it takes 8 hours and an insane amount of effort. But I’ve been wrong before!
@Jenni: An experiment – nice! I definitely got caught up in Jacques Torres’ name when I made these. But it would be great if the King Arthur Flour recipe is as good or close to it. Good luck. I’d love to hear how it goes!
hi jen,
just wondering if you got my message. very good pictures. love the idea of making pan au chocolats. have to try it!
Scarlett x
@Scarlett: Thanks for visiting! Are you wondering if the chocolate will melt too much in the bread? It’s been a while since I made the pain au chocolat, but I think the chocolate held it’s texture. Chocolate chips work well in the banana bread that I make, but I imagine the chocolate texture changes depending on your bread recipe. Maybe you could try it and see what happens?
Dear Jen,
I was just wondering if when you put the chocolate inside the dough if once it was cooked if the chocolate was still okay as at school i am making bread and was going to put chocolate inside the bread for a chocolately taste. I was just wondering if it still worked.
Thanks,
Scarlett
Okay thank you very much Jen x
Scarlett xx
Good luck, Scarlett! By the way, what kind of bread are you making?
Jen,
Normal bread. 100 % white flour, 2 tbspoons of sugar and yeast, 1 1/2 spoonfuls of salt and some chocolate. I am trying to make a bread type of pan au chocolat. Thank you for your helpfulness.
Scarlett xx
@Scarlett: Sounds delicious! I hope it goes well.
Great post! The pictures help. Can’t wait to try it myself!!!
[...] Photo-guide: how to fold them (another useful link for how to make puff pastry and pains au chocolat can be found here: [...]
“you should have pain au chocolat all week”??? how about at least until letterman?
@Jim: Agreed, it is tough to keep pain au chocolat around. Until Letterman works too!
next time you make these do not dissolve your yeast in COLD water…you should dissolve it in 115-125 degree water because you use dry yeast rather than fresh yeast and then your pain au chocolat would be amazing…
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