Dear reader or fellow gluten-free lifestyler,
Do you know what I ate two nights ago for the first time in eight years? Something so delicious and delectable that I practically made myself ill because I couldn’t resist and I ate THREE of them! I’m talking about homemade gluten-free chocolate-filled Croissants. Yeap. Catch you breath. I said the magic word – CROISSANT and GLUTEN FREE in the same sentence.
Last December, I was emailed a recipe that I just wrote about for Crescent Rolls. I had been wondering for VERY long time how I could make croissants to eat with my morning latte filled with chocolate (or not) or fill with turkey and cheese or whatnot for lunches. Typical croissant recipes require yeast, milk, the gluten of flour to create the flaky layers, and resting/rising time that most gluten free recipes cannot duplicate. However, with super slight modifications from the recipe I posted for crescent rolls, I have been able to make croissants the last few nights that I have been enjoying for breakfast and lunch.
It is a welcome change of pace for my taste buds.
The beauty is that this same technique (the rolling, turning, frozen grated butter) that has made the most tender and flaky pastry can also be used for filo dough. In fact, I have a little part of my mind planning to make some more baklava this weekend – oh babee! I’ve made baklava before following Rebecca Reilly’s recipes (Delish, by the way. This is a cookbook to own if you like to bake and also have to bake gluten-free. However, I was truly missing the flaky and tender pieces of filo dough that you normally have in baklava. I was curious about whether this dough would work for that – but was only convinced after my can-eat-gluten-but-doesn’t husband gobbled up a couple mini-croissants and exclaimed “Wow, Katie, you could make the best filo dough and baklava with this stuff.” Done. That’s *so* next on this baker’s agenda.
In the meantime, if you have some time on your hands and plenty of butter on hand, please make some croissants! You won’t regret it, I promise. You can fill them with whatever your heart desire. And trust me, you will want more of these buttery, flaky, tender croissants. I wish I could tell you what they are like on Day Three, but the ones I’ve made have yet to make it past Day Two!
In fact, for the first time ever, I’m rather bummed that my colleagues aren’t wondering what I’m eating for lunch because it looks so “normal” to them. It surprised my last night when that thought crossed my mind. Then I realized, they are usually curious about what I’m eating because they haven’t often seen quinoa salads or eaten homemade risotto or rice balls with smoked salmon. For once, when I want them to jump up and down with me on the desks at lunch, they are painfully unaware of my triumphant, scrumptious lunch. Meh. It’s for the better. They would all just want a bite anyway. LOL
My lunch today includes a croissant filled with turkey/white cheddar and one filled with broccoli/white cheddar cheese. I’m in heaven, don’t ya know. In fact, breakfast? Yeap. A croissant dunked into my coffee. Man, I’m bad! I have definitely had my butter intake for the next – oh – month or so, lol. But that’s okay. I am enjoying exploring the kitchen again.
This recipe takes time to prepare (more like time to roll out repeatedly and refrigerate), but after reviewing many gluten recipes for croissants over the last several years, the time is actually less involved than for traditional croissants.
I’m not good at rolling them up to look perfect, and have decided to stick with the mass-rolling technique of keeping them straight. Or, in the case of the ones filled with cheesy goodness or chocolate, I actually rolled them up a bit more like an egg roll + crescent to keep the filling within the croissant and not all over the baking pan. You can even seal in the goodness by filling, rolling over one flap over the top of the filling and brushing the edge with some beaten egg and folding up a *bit* (like 1/4″). Once you’ve done that, you can roll it like a crescent/croissant.
I do hope you try this recipe, please tell me if do! I’d love for us to keep this one on the exploration front – it’s worth it! Here are the basic steps I followed. Keep in mind that the croissants will NOT puff up/rise (there’s no yeast here) nor will they be as large as the ones you see at the market.
First, prepare batch of the crescent dough with the modifications I used plus a few others. I have retyped the recipe here because I have added a bit more of a few ingredients like cream of tartar, xanthan gum, baking soda, sugar and an additional flour (sweet rice flour).
I have also uploaded pictures of the steps (rolling) for you if they will help as well. Although, let me just say this, photography + massive amounts of sweet rice flour….. well, they just don’t always mix. LOL
Here’s the overall step-by-step picture. You can find details that explain each image on Flickr too. Just click on the big picture and it will take you to the Flickr page where you can read more.
GF Croissants
Recipe makes 14 small-medium croissants.
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, (8 Tablespoons) slightly softened
1 stick of butter, frozen
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon GF cottage cheese
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon GF cream cheese
1 cup GF Flour Mix (rice-based or sorghum-based)
2 Tablespoons of sweet rice flour + 1 ½ cups sweet rice flour for rolling
1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ Tablespoons sugar
1 or 2 eggs, beaten (to seal the croissants closed and brush on the croissants before baking)
Directions:
- Cream together softened butter, cream cheese, and cottage cheese until whipped, creamy and semi-yellow in color (about 3-4 minutes)
- Add GF Flour mix, 2 Tablespoons sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, salt, cream of tartar, baking soda and sugar. Mix together until the dough comes together – mostly away from the sides and begins to form a ball or lump in the middle of the mixer (about 3-4 minutes).
- Shape into a disk and place into a Ziploc bag. Refrigerate at least two hours, overnight preferred.
- Grate the frozen butter (I used my food processor) and put it into a freezer-safe storage container/bag. Return grated butter to the freezer until you are ready to use. (By the way, it will store indefinitely like this.)
- Work in a cool place or consider refrigerating the dough after Step 9). Place parchment paper, sweet rice, grated frozen butter, and the rolling pin on a large surface that you can easily reach to roll the dough thinly.
- Remove dough from the fridge and divide into fourths. Return 3 of the 4 to the Ziploc bag and place in the refrigerator.
- Reshape this ¼ piece into a disk quickly. (Try to touch the dough as little as possible in order to keep it as cold/cool as possible.)
- Generously dust the top of the parchment paper. Place the dough disk into the center on a generous amount of sweet rice flour. Generous dust the top and side of the dough. Cover with another piece of floured parchment paper. Roll the dough as thinly as possible (about 1/8 of an inch or so). You should be able to see through the dough partially. I was able to roll the dough about 22” long and about 15” wide.
- Turn the dough lengthwise. Generously sprinkle the middle 1/3 of the dough with the grated, still-frozen butter. Fold up the bottom third of the pastry over the top of the middle third. Sprinkle the grated, still-frozen butter over the top of the part you just folded on top. Fold down the top third of the dough to cover the center/butter again.
- Turn the dough and fold in any edges that are thin or not part of the folded center. Generously dust the top, sides, and bottom (lift the dough gently to push flour underneath) of the dough. Repeat the rolling and butter sprinkling (Steps 8 and 9) one more time. You will sprinkle the butter on twice and roll out three times.
- After the second sprinkling of butter and folding, turn the dough again and roll the dough out for it’s final time, once again rolling it as thinly as possible. Work quickly at this point as the dough is beginning to warm up again.
- Lift off the top parchment paper and divide the dough in half with a pizza cutter. Leave the dough lying flat along the parchment paper.
- Divide each half into long triangles with the pizza cutter. You will end up with 4 large triangles for each ¼ of the dough. At this point you may fill your croissants with pieces of dark chocolate or turkey/cheese, etc by placing your filling on the wide end of the triangle.
- Roll the croissant up from the wide end carefully (as the layers are thin). Seal the end (to keep it together during baking) by brushing beaten egg onto top ½ inch before finishing the roll. Shape into a crescent moon shape or leave in a roll.
- Brush the completed croissants with beaten egg (this provides them with a golden brown or they will turn a dark brown while baking).
- Lay the complete croissants on parchment paper and refrigerate until you are ready to bake. Repeat steps 7 through 15 with the remaining dough. OR bake the first batch, see what you need to adjust and then bake the others. The dough will keep refrigerated for two days.
- Bake the croissants at 375F for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Enjoy!
-Kate
Gluten Free Gobsmacked 
They’re simply too beautiful for words. I am living vicariously through your baking gene.
Oh Ging, you can do it! You can do anything! You are GINGER! (Did ya see the movie “We Are Marshall”?) Love ya and hope you are feeling better! – Kate
Oh my gosh. It was hard work just reading it all, lol. I may try it once for fun, but I think I’ll stick with the crescents – way easier. But they do look divine. 🙂
Cassandra – It was more difficult to write up than to do, girlie. LOL You can do it! Just think, roll- sprinkle with butter – fold – reroll… and ya got it. 🙂 -Kate
I’ll have to try these sometime! They sound delicious to me!
You know I’m all about this recipe. I just made MORE ham and cheese “hot pockets” with this for lunch this week. This recipe is a keeper and best of all, since there is no egg, you can eat the raw dough!
YOU ROCK, Steve! I LOVE that you are thinking about eating the raw dough. You CRACK me up! LOL – Kate
Oh boy… wow… I have a lot of things on my list to make after this month… this will definitely be one of them!!! These look amazing kate!! You are such a wonderful experimenter!!!
=) As are you, Carrie! We – the GF community – make a great team! I cannot believe how much things have changed since I’ve been diagnosed – just 7 years ago. AMAZING! Thank goodness for the internet, forums, and bloggers – or I’d still be eating cellophaned wrapped dried out bread or cellophane-wrapped “muffins” that weighed at least 5 pounds per small biscuit/muffin. LOL 😛 – Kate
Kate, you are my HERO!! Thank you SO much for sharing the directions to make these – I cannot WAIT to have a reason to make some :). My excitement is hard to contain, and I cannot express emphatically enough my appreciation for this blog, and all your hard work, not to mention the photos. THANK YOU!!
Hey – it’s a community effort. =) I’m just wickely happy to have flaky croissants again too! 🙂
Thank you for your very kind compliments on the blog. It’s quite fun to share this way.
Happy eating!
-Kate
You are my newest “girl crush” Gobsmacked rocks my socks…just like these crossaints will. 🙂
YOU are a funny girl! It’s nice to have a croissant option, huh? I love these – and made them over a few days – every night a couple more. =) However, next round I will make some and see if I can freeze them before baking. I’m just a wee bit worried about wrapping them and the moisture content ruining the flakiness. Oh well. Just another excuse to experiment. 🙂 -Kate
I’m so excited to see this! And to think that it can be used as Filo dough too! Way too cool! I loved those spinach and feta triangles and was known for various appetizers like that. Now maybe I can come up with a gluten free version. Thanks!
OH! The spinach and feta spanokopita! Oh my, how I have missed those too! Dang, Karen – please come back when you’ve mastered that one or post it – I’m coming over for dinner!-Kate
just want to tell you how impressive i find your blog–you are technically fearless as a gf chef! wow! i’ve linked my blog to yours and can’t wait to try this dough!
Oh wow, what timing! Let me add a link to your recipe from my post on Austrian croissants.
As always you rule. Gobsmacked indeed. Damned impressive, woman!
-Sea
I am new to this. Your GF flour mix has xanthan gum. You recipe for crescent rolls also has xanthan gum. Is this in addition to the gum that is already in the GF flour mix?
Kate, you’re awesome. That’s really all I have to say =) I think I”m officially off the “eat less bread in 2008” bandwagon. Isn’t it amazing the things we learn to make gluten free that we would probably have never made if we could eat wheat.
Boy I can almost taste the flakey goodness – I am so going to try this! Thanks!
How awesome. I’ve been wondering about phyllo dough for baklava–not that I eat it often, but once a year or so I get the baklava call. I know when I made ruggelach, adding cream cheese (and some pumpkin!) to the dough make it much easier to roll out. I haven’t really used sweet rice flour, though (mostly because my co-op doesn’t have it and I’m too lazy to order it). Does it really make that much difference? Kudos to you!
Oh yea – sweet rice flour is great! Much finer and sweet-tasting than regular rice flour. I use it a lot for making Chinese dumplings in soup and for pastries, rolling out doughs, etc. It has a finer texture and doesn’t leave the rolled out dough with any grittiness on top like rice flour can do. Kara – I can usually find the rice flour at the local Asian market, the local grocery store, etc. Do you have any Asian markets nearby? I can usually find Mochiko at the local grocery store. I know that all of the ingredients are not always easy to find. However, if you can find it, it is worth trying out. =)
-Kate
Oh Blimey! So everything is possible!
These look really good. Never in my life, did I think I’d see GF croisants that looked like the regular ones!
🙂
Oh dear… I can’t wait to try this.
Could you tell us which particular flour mix *you* used? I’ve had some huge failures in GF baking lately and would like to remove any variables that could make these turn out terribly. 🙂
Hi Becca –
I sent an email to you as well. The flour mix I use the most is the one listed on this blog. It was originally credited to Wendy Wark (but she has said that she found it elsewhere and can’t remember where) so sometimes it is called “Wendy Wark’s blend”. You can find a list of basic ingredients as well as the quanities for double and triple batches. (I like to mix up a triple batch and then have flour on hand for many days/evenings of baking.) I’ve also had great success with Carol Fenster’s new blend (List on the bottom of the “My” GF FLour Mix Page here). Although I’ve used it only a couple times, I have liked the texture of the foods.
I tend to resist using bean or soy flours as those flavors are quite strong to me/my family. I also don’t use a lot of cornstarch, if possible, because the texture of the final product in my mouth seems really starchy and it covers my teeth. I have been adding protein and fiber by adding flaxseed meal, quinoa flour, etc to the baked goods as well.
I’m hoping everyone else will jump in with their two cents here too. We can all use some new ideas when it comes to flours and baking success!
-Kate
Umm…I am so wishing I could hang at your house for cappucino and chocolate croissants.
You rock.
And I am too lazy to yet attempt this. But if I am in that mood, I am running right over here and trying them!!
Ooo!
My daughter has been desperate for some croissants (or pain au chocolats, which we could use the same recipe for), and she is SO bored with breakfast … I am so going to try this, and just hope we can do something half as good as the ones in your picture look.
My daughter’s birthday is this weekend & we’re going to make these for the first time. I had mastered gluten croissants and never thought I’d have the chance to eat croissants again! This is awesome.
The technique here is a bit different and it seems like the dough is out of the fridge a lot longer. If it starts to get warm, do you wrap it up and return it to the fridge for a couple of hours?
I guess the difference is the turns are all done at once, when you add the butter, rather than putting in all the butter and then doing turns and rolling after it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours after each turn.
Thanks!
The dough stayed pretty cool in the kitchen. I was handling it physically as little as possible. I think it would be easy to refrigerate and cool down if you thought it was getting too warm.
I did contemplate a butter block for the croissants, but hte dough already has plenty of butter in it. I just needed to make the thinner layers and roll them out thinly.
Use plenty of sweet rice flour and you be great!
You daughter is lucky to have such a great mom – making GF Croissants for her birthday? My birthday is only a few short weeks away.. if you’re free… 🙂 -Kate
Too bad you don’t live in the neighborhood! I friend bought me personalized “Queen of Yum” baking sacks a few years back and I thought I’d never get to use them again. (I used to deliver hot croissants on Sunday mornings. She’s French & understood the beauty!)
I’m planning to make a ganache for the chocolate filling. I don’t like it when the chocolate solidfies in a pain au chocolat! Have you ever tried that?
OK…You win! The best GF anything I have had so far! We were all in heaven. Half were plain (with apricot jam, of course) and half were chocolate. I made a firm ganache for the center so that it wouldn’t harden after it was cool.
I was surprised how rich they are. Even though I wanted to eat more, I could just do two!
I will say that I am glad I had made gluten croissants many times before attempting this recipe. Your advice to use lots of sweet rice flour and parchment is perfect. I wouldn’t let my husband crank up the wood stove until I got them all rolled out so that the kitchen would be cool!
Thanks!
Awesome! I’m so glad this recipe works for you too. I love them – but it’s definitely NOT a daily bread recipe. However, the more I think about them, the more likely I am to make them again and again…. like this weekend! 🙂 -Kate
Juls
How much of the grated butter are you using per sprinkling? Four pieces at two sprinkles a piece… should be around one ounce per sprinkle, right?
This looks amazing. I don’t know when I’ll have an excuse for it, but I’m definitely trying these out soon!
WOOT! So pleased I found your blog – this looks scrumptious. I’m making them today – I don’t *care* what else I’m meant to be doing, THIS is now the most important thing on my list 😛
I bookmarked you, and plan to drool over your stuff in future, too. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I made these! Okay, I’m no pastry chef, but after the first batch, it does get easier and you become more adept. I did have to stick my rolled dough in the freezer every now and then as I have a small kitchen and when I turn on that oven, things warm up. I was inspired to make them because my nephew in TX is allergic to eggs and wheat. I mailed them to him 2 days after baking them. They still arrived yummy. I think he got to devour a couple, the rest of the family couldn’t keep their hands off ’em! They want more. It’s still cool here in the East Coast so I might have a couple of more opportunities. My hubby and I *sampled* a *few* of course. We had them plain with some jam. YUM! Thanks so much, Kate, for this super duper recipe with amazing instructions! Although we are not gluten intolerant, I am learning so much about alternative grains to wheat for my family’s own health. Today, for the very first time, we had quinoa with our dinner instead of rice, and boy, was it yummy. Way tastier than the brown rice we have everyday. Oh, and before I forget, I love the name of this blog. I think before I made the croissants, I must have said it a million times just because it has such a nice ring to it. GLUTEN FREE GOBSMACKED …My husband only looked at me a little funny. And my dog liked it, I think since his hearing is going and the pitch must have been just right. Love it!
I can’t wait to try these — I have been homesick for croissants for years! thank you!
I can’t wait to try these — I have been homesick for croissants for years! Thank you! Gluten free on Long Island, NY!
These look AMAZING! I am half Greek and have been looking all over for Phyllo dough. My husband asked me to day when I was going to make some spanikopita. I’m going to try this over the weekend.
I don’t suppose you’ve ever tried to make Ding Dongs? I have a friend who was just diagnosed with celiac and am trying to make them for her. I found rings and cake mix. That’s about as far as I have made it.
Your site ROCKS. 🙂
Kate, I have been wanting crescent rolls for nearly 4 years! As a Pampered Chef consultant, I have opened more cans of Pillsbury in the past 7 years than the normal (whatever that is!) person does in a lifetime. I have told people, “My food goal in life is to find a gluten free crescent roll recipe.” I can’t wait to try these! Taco ring is just calling my name!
Hi,
I can wait to try them. I was wondering if you are able to freeze them. Would you have to cook them first and then reheat them. Or can you place in freezer after step 14 and bake a few a time? Regards Ben
I want to make apple dumplings by rolling the creissant dough around a fourth of an apple and pouring a sauce over then then baking. Will this sauce maybe make the dough fall apart in the cooking? This sounds as if it is a lot of work but they look delicious and would be worth the try if I can use it with what I am wanting to do.
My husband found your recipe, and I sooo look forward to trying it out! He wants me to use it for pizza crust – woah! I was wondering if you’ve tried using tapioca flour for this type of thing. I’ve used a package mix for “Chebe bread” and made these yummy, very chewy bread puff balls. They use only tapioca, but they’re kind of tough, not delicate and flaky – but they are puffy which is so unusual for non-gluten. I wonder if it can be used like 50-50 with rice or sorghum, or 25-75. . .Any experience?
Tapioca is DEFINITELY something that you must use in a blend. I would start with 2 parts flour and one part starch. However, for pizza crust, may I recommend these recipes instead:
http://tinyurl.com/6nbzdx
(See that crust as a pizza here: http://tinyurl.com/63utct)
http://tinyurl.com/6keqv6
There are MANY great pizza crust recipes out there – I hope you find the one you LOVE! 🙂
-Kate
Ooooh, I am so making these for myself as a Christmas present! I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself.
Your recipe looks great. I’d love to try it. My 5 year old daughter can’t do wheat/gluten, soy and dairy. What would you suggest to substitute for cottage cheese and cream chese? Thanks!
Hmm…. Van, I’m not sure. Croissants are basically labor-intensive butter layers through dough. That’s what gives them their flaky quality. I don’t know how I would alter this to adjust for the dairy in the recipe. Sorry!
Would you recommend salted or unsalted butter?
Oh.. good question! i use unsalted. 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I just made a batch (plain and chocolate) and they are delish!
The only problem I had was my dough was too dry and kept tearing (it was dry to begin with…may just be the flour combination I was using) so my croissants are not perfect looking. I think I may add a tablespoon or two of water to make it less dry or try a different flour mix.
You made my Christmas!
Hi, Kate. I also hope you will come back to Delphi Forums.
Hugs,
Cindy
Sweet Cindy – It’s great to see you here! The Delphi Forums are great – and very helpful – but I’m not sure there is much time left in life for the forums once the baby comes! LOL – Keep me posted and stop by here! -Kate
God bless you :’) I can’t wait to put on 10 pounds making – and NOM NOM NOM-ing – these!
I just have to make this pastry.
.
I miss
.
Sausage Rolls so much
.
Coffee Slices (two layers of flaky pastry,filled with dairy cream and topped with coffee icing)
.
Buttery Croissants.
.
Drool, Drool.
.
Best Regards,
David
Thank you so much for creating this recipe. I finally had time to make these and they were terrific.
Croissants were the one food that my daughter mourned when we all went gluten free 3 years ago.
She was so proud that “her” croissants came out perfectly.
I will be writing a post about my day with the twins making these but just wanted to say Thank You!
These look so unbelieveable AMAZING!! I can’t wait to try these! Croissants are the one thing that have been missing in my gluten free life. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
I have been waiting for days to make your croissant recipe. And what did I do? At midnight, when I got the inspiration to cook (in this blasted summer heat), I realized I had no corn OR potato starch for your flour mix. So I substituted tapioca for all three, in the measurements you gave. A preliminary assessment (in which I baked a bit of the dough after Step 5) tells me it is awesome nonetheless. Oh, and up to Step 5 = droolicious biscuits.
Cool!
Yes, the croissant recipe is a bit labor intensive…. as are gluten croissants. But oh-so-worth it!
I just made the dough this morning and I tried to rool it and it sticked on the parchement paper….
I am not sure what to do.
Lucie
Oh my gosh!!
My dau & her little family & I went GF this summer, & awile ago I was in coffeeshop with a gal friend, who was eating a croissant – sigh . . .
I made GF scones from Gina’s recipe for T with my Red Hat group (‘yes, I can do GF, but you’ll have to forgo the scone’ . . . hmm – will I??) & they were so good – now crossants!!
As you say, not an ‘every day bread’ recipe, but how heavenly to have the option!!
I’m using a lot of coconut oil these days, (made the scones with 3 T coconut oil, 3 T butter, & used coconut milk & 1/4 C Coconut flour) . . .
I will have to get some sweet rice flour! I’ve been to Bob’s Red Mill store – what a blessing they are!
Even baklava is possible gluten-free. To see how, check out
this video on youtube:
Wow! You just made my daughter’s WEEK, MONTH, (the rest of the) YEAR! We are a house full of celiacs (even the husband, who challenged it a couple of weeks ago and realized that his MD,ND wife wasn’t just being bossy) who thought we’d never savour a croissant again. Addie’s such a foodie and the thought of GF croissants and chicken and dumplings and baklava… THANK YOU! We’ll make them asap!
stephanie
I have just found your site today. I love all the recipes. Is there a way to print the recipe without all the comments. I am not very computer litterate and tried to paste it to word and it would not. When i tried to copy the lavash recipe it started to copy 26 pages. It is such a tedious chore to write all the recipes by hand. Thanks for any help you may provide and thanks for all the great sounding recipes. Jeanette
Hi Jeanette –
I’m glad you are finding some recipes that you like. I’m sorry, but as of this moment, I haven’t made a printable version of all of my recipes. Maybe that is something I can work on little by little as I have some time here and there. I will try to remember to do it from now on too. This is definitely something I should have been doing all along! (Ahhh..hindsight………LOL)
-Kate
I’m a huge kitchen person and in the last two years found out I have celiac as well as my baby daughter.
Thank you so much for this recipe but I even altered it farther, I left out the cottage cheese and put a full package of cream cheese in it. Talk about awesome! Next time though because I am a baker I’m going to do a double batch I think it will be alot easier to handle, rolling out and folding etc.
Just found this site by accident, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
These look absolutely mouthwatering and I can’t wait to try the recipe. Thanks!
Is it worth putting yeast into this recipe to make it puff? What will happen? Has anybody tried it?
Thanks so much for this recipe – I made chocolate croissants this morning for my gluten-free Valentine 🙂 I know there are always a lot of questions about what kinds of flours to use so I thought I’d share my blend for this recipe: I used 1/3 cup sorghum, 1/3 cup chestnut flour and 1/3 cup tapioca and arrowroot starch. My daughter is sensitive to dairy so I used vegan cream cheese for both the cream cheese and the cottage cheese portions (I did use regular unsalted butter, though I would like to try a dairy-free alternative next time). The dough was great to work with and the end result was fabulous. Definitely labor intensive, but well worth the smiles on my husband’s and daughter’s faces. Thank you!!!
These look amazing! I have been craving Croissants so much lately and finally had a chance to look online for a GF recipe. I am going to make them tonight! Thanks Kate!!
They are a bit of work – just like traditional gluten-filled croissants – but YUMMY and worth it IMHO, when we have the time!
~Kate
Noooooooo! Sniffle. You had me all worked up about finally, finally having a croissant again after 13 years. I even wistfully mentioned chocolate croissants this very morning at breakfast! I read the prelude, I salivated, I became impassioned about the possibilities ahead…. And then I read the ingredients. I can’t do cottage cheese and I find dairy-free cream cheese just nasty. Crap. Crap. Crap. Guess I better cruise your other recipes to see if I can find a consolation prize. 😦 Thanks for spreading GF goodness though. I’m sure you’re making many people happy (and fatter). :p
Oh Kerry! I’m so sorry! I hope you find some other recipes that you like!
Hi! I just tried this recipe out yesterday. I used diary free cream cheese for the cream cheese portion and the cottage cheese portion. The top of my croissants however, came out more like biscuits – I am wondering if I rolled too much of the sweet rice flour? Also I tried making this into a baklava and it tasted like baklava but the bottom layers were not flaky they stuck together and formed kind of like a half gel – kind of thing. Do you have any suggestions? I had used the Arrowhead Mills flour mix which had similar ingredients to your mix but might have had different proportions. Any suggestions/ advice?
The video for Baklava above might give you an answer to your question if you don’t have one yet! 🙂
SO excited to try this. My gluten-free friend and i just baked up Rebecca Reilly’s baklava yesterday and while delicious were lamenting the lack of phylo-like flakiness.
Well, I’m not sure why but mine did not resemble croissants in flavor or texture at all. I used the flour blend recipe on this site using sorghum and I didn’t have cottage cheese so I used extra cream cheese. Could that have done it? They didn’t rise at all and had no fluffiness, they were just like pie crust rolled into crescent shapes.
I would think that would be the issue. Cream cheese is much heavier than cottage cheese – more fat too. Sorry they didn’t work out for you, Jessie!
Thank you, maybe I will give it another go. It was a tasty and flaky pie crust though!
How fabulous! So making these this weekend!! Quick question though. Do you only end up using 1/4 of the original dough? Do you need an additional stick of frozen butter for each of the other 3/4 balls in the fridge? I just want to make sure I have enough before I make them.
You will use the rest of the butter when rolling out the dough. 🙂 (Or a lot of it, any way)
You are a pregnant lady’s angel! I’m 6 months pregnant and gluten-free and the only thing I want to eat is balls of dough… chocolate croissants have always been my downfall and I can’t wait to make these!
We started a GF diet this summer when we found out that both of our daughters (8 & 10) were gluten intolerant. Now that Halloween has rolled around again, the girls were lamenting the fact that we can’t make our Mummy Pizza this year. Every time they’ve thought “We’ll never…”, I’ve made it my mission to find a way and that led me to your site. Thanks so much for this recipe!! I’m going to surprise the girls with a trial run when they get home from school today. Mummy Pizza, btw, is made by aligning the cresent roll dough triangles in 2 columns that overlap in the middle on the short sides of the triangles (think braided bread). Then you fill the middle with pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings (not too much, though), wrap the ends of the triangles in like a braid, add olive slices for eyes, and bake for the time and temp called for in the cresent roll recipe. Difficult to explain correctly, but VERY easy! We’ve also filled them with pie filling (apple was especially good!) and chocolate.
Could I place this recipe on my site home-made-recipes.net? Thanks!
Thank You! Thank You! Your recipes are amazing.
My daughter is so looking forward to participating in our Christmas morning tradition of crispy bacon, brie and hamemade cheese ball on Croissants. Since diagnosed with Celiac she has felt somewhat sorry for herself as we gorged ourselves.
I tried your recipe, much more successful than my last attempt.
I was pleasantly pleased with the fact that I was able to roll out the dough succesfully and shape into crescents
Mine were somewhat flaky but dense/heavy. I wonder if I used to much butter?
Perhaps I might try brushing melted butter on???
Regardless I will try this recipe again as I have a good feeling about it.
I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that I found this website! Croissants are the thing that will make me stray and just accept feeling horrid afters. While I am not a great cook, I am an adventurous one and I look forward to trying to make these!
I do find it fun to make something, cookies especially, with wheat/gluten-free flours and then have people say, I thought you couldn’t eat these anymore. The croissants will be my next experiment! Thank you!
Ok I have to start a gluten free diet witch I dont have a problem with that being a chef I think I can do this. However; I need some help here I cant drink any thing that has milk products in it so has any one tried using soy milk or rice milk in any of the recipes that you have used and did they turn out great. If some one could let me know that would be great thank you.
Yes. Although milk substitutions in many recipes are a piece of cake – this recipe calls for a lot of butter. I don’t think you should start with this recipe.
There are many others that would be an easier place to start.
My 19 y o daughter made these turkey and cheddar, plain, and chocolate croissants. They were amazing and well worth the effort! Thank you!
So glad you liked them too! The turkey and cheddar combo sounds right up my alley too. 😀
Do you have gluten free phyllo dough recipe?
Not yet, sorry! 😉
So good! I made some with smoked gouda and they were so amazing, and not as hard as they sounded!
these are delish! I made some testers with the first 1/4 of dough, and they turned out a bit dry, so the next batch I added more butter. You need WAY more than one stick for the whole recipe. But it is good, especially for gluten free.
You’re a life saver!!! I’ve had cravings for Croissants for *years*, and today I was lamenting to my hubby how I’ve missed them. Then I saw you had a recipe for them. Thank you *soooo* much!!! I’m going to try to make these, soon! Happy dance!!! 🙂
Wow thank you so much for this 😀 I’m 16 and was just told that I have a sever gluten intolerance and I couldn’t help but think of how much I was going to miss having my croissants on sunday mornings, but now I can still have them! This brings me a little hope for my gluten-free future.
Kate….I am so making these this week. Em is off to Disney for a band field trip tomorrow so J and I may have some fun! Thanks for being such a great friend and cook! xoxoxo
Congratulations on the gluten free croissants! I’m dying to try this recipe but I can’t tolerate cow’s milk. I have a source of goat’s milk butter but don’t know what I could use to substitute for the cream cheese and cottage cheese. Any suggestions?
I don’t know whether or not you can buy it where you are, but you can buy Sheeses 100% vegan and supposed to taste just like normal cheese (I found it for a friend who is allergic to all dairy). They do have a cream sheese but I don’t know about the cottage cheese. Website is http://www.buteisland.com/index.htm
Hope this helps!
Thank You! (multiple times!). There is nothing I love more than croissants! Our traditional Christmas breakfast has always been mini croissants with ham & cheese served with champagne and orange juice but since I was diagnosed with Coeliacs I refused to serve them (why should everyone else get to enjoy them when I can’t?). Now they can have their gluten full ones while I have Gluten Free ones! Welcome back our traditional start to Christmas Day!!!
I made these a few weeks back, and they were awesome. I used Bette Hagman’s Perfect Pastry mix as the flour mix, since I had it on hand. I used Ricotta instead of Cottage Cheese, and did three turns of rolling and butter instead of just two. And proceeded to coat my entire kitchen with flour. 😀 Not counting the initial mix before chilling, it took me about 3 hours from pulling out the rolling pin through cleanup to delish. All in all, not half bad! I experimented with just using flour on my rolling pin (it’s a nice marble one), but that didn’t work. I definitely like working with the parchment paper over the saran wrap I usually use when rolling pie crust – it holds up a lot better, though you still have to peel-and-flip a lot to release the adherence to the paper and allow it to roll thinner.
They were awesome, though not quite as flaky as I had hoped. I did most of them plain, without filling, but chunked up some dark chocolate into a few, and found 3 or 4 raspberries in the garden and popped those in one. I think that was my favorite one, too!
OMG! You are my Christmas angel!!! ♥ My 20-year old daughter cannot eat gluten. We found this out almost a year ago. Every Christmas morning in the past, before opening our gifts, we would bake those Pillsbury Cresent rolls filled with chocolate (it’s the only time we eat them). This year we were saddened by the thought that we would have to discontinue this tradition. I mean, there’s no way me and the rest of the family are going to be eating those in front on my gluten-intolerant daughter.
I honestly almost cried tears of joy when I found your recipe today and am heading out right now to get the ingredients to make these for Christmas (with a practice run, of course). I was so excited after viewing your pictures and reading the glowing responses that I called my husband at work to tell him about it. Well, he wasn’t as excited about it as I was, let’s just say that. lol
Could I ask you, or anyone else here who might help me with this question, do you need a stand alone mixer to mix the dough, or can it be done with a hand held mixer or by hand?
Thank you again and Merry Christmas!
I’m salivating at the thought of eating croissants again. Unfortunately, I’m also dairy free, so butter and the cheeses are out of the question. I tolerated goat substitutes for awhile, but those have become problematic, too. Any suggestions for substitutions? I’m soy free, as well.
@Terrierboy, Here’s a solution I recently posted about that may eradicate all of these issues, and enable you to tolerate regular croissants again: http://glutenfreesoyfree.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/possible-solution-gluten-intolerance/
Definitely worth a read! If you have any questions, just ask in the comments section. Jason will answer it for you! 🙂
Hey saw your problem and couldn’t keep from replying. I also can’t have milk or goats milk or wheat and there are tons of substitutes for that if you know where to look…if you have a Trader Jo’s, Natures Pantry, or sometimes Safeway(trader Jo’s is better because of the larger selection)around where you live than there should be some great substitutes. Just look for the vegan labels and you should be fine. Hope this helped! Good Luck! 🙂
btw if your look for butter, smart balance light is milk free and I’m willing to bet that there’s a Tofutti cream cheese and a sour cream somewhere out there.
er…cottage cheese.
Yum!!! This dough is AMAZING!! Thank you so much! I used these for gluten free Beef Wellington, and even my teen daughter loved it!
I’m coming over….. beef wellington sound good! 😀
~Glad it was a success for you too!
Thank you so much for this recipe! it looks amazing! ever since I went gluten free I cannot stand watching people eat croissants. I love them so much. I will definitely try this!
Oh my! I’m waaaaaay down the list in leaving a comment for these wonderful delights! But I made them this weekend with very little trouble! I didn’t mind the turning and folding except when I rolled too thin and didn’t flour enough and the stuff stuck to the paper! Sorted that by sticking it in the fridge for a few minutes. We had them for dinner – but not before I took pictures of the beauties, lol! I put ham and cheddar inside the best ones, which were quite the success. The first set I rolled too thin and my oven was too hot but we ate the little crispies anyway! I turned down the oven for the next set by about fifteen degrees but left them the full 18 minutes and this was better. I’ll adjust until it’s perfect next time. I’ve never made croissants before and although mine looked flaky they tasted more like crescent rolls – so I will use them for that too. So perfect for rolling just about any lunch meat in! Wish I could show my pics here – my gf daughter (age ten) gobbled them up and wanted one (cold!) in her lunch for tomorrow! Thanks so much! Next time I will have the experience and they will ALL be perfect!
Hello I was wondering if I could get your flour blend so I can try making these? Thanks Im so excited to try these they look so yummy!
Is there away to make them rice and wheat free?
I’ve baked with wheat flour for years; converted to gluten-free with a minimum of fuss, thanks to great blogs like this. Bakers, please be patient with yourself on these. Managing this dough is challenging. My first quarter of rolling netted only two croissants that were worth trying to bake, but by the fourth quarter, I was getting the hang of it. They are in the oven now…..
I just made these for the first time. I have never before made croissants and found the instructions here to be very helpful and thorough. For the GF flour mix, I used Bob’s Red Mill all purpose mix; which is sorghum, garbanzo, and potato based. They taste delicious and are crispy, flaky on the outside. The inner part of a few ended up kind of mushy; which is probably from the dough warming up during the process. I would definitely recommend putting the dough back in the fridge after step 9 (as suggested above). Thanks for the great recipe!