These twice baked almond croissants make the perfect treat with creamy frangipane, sliced almonds, and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.
I’m not exactly sure when my love affair with croissants started. It could have been love at first bite at a boulangerie during our honeymoon in Paris. After coming back home, we searched for the best croissants in every city that we traveled to. Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego had some of the best croissants I’ve ever had in my life. Before my classic croissant guide goes live (which takes a while to write), I want to share a recipe for my homemade twice baked almond croissants, inspired by Nouveau Bakery in Seattle.
After testing many batches of croissant dough, I had a few croissants sitting in a fridge for a week. To give them a second life, I brushed them with a simple syrup, slathered a generous amount of almond frangipane recipe from the Lune baking book, then topped them with more almond cream and sliced almonds before a second bake. They were transformed into the perfect breakfast pastries with a wonderful crunch and a lightly sweetened layer of almond cream bursting with orange flavor.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: use a quality butter. Make sure it’s softened so you can whip it easily. I take mine out of the fridge an hour before making the frangipane.
- Almonds: you will need two types of almonds for this recipe. Use almond meal for the frangipane cream and sliced almonds for the topping to add crunch. You can make your own almond meal by grinding up the sliced almonds in a food processor.
- Granulated sugar: is used to make both the simple syrup and almond frangipane.
- Egg: to help bind the ingredients together for the frangipane.
- Orange zest: the recipe calls for fresh orange zest but feel free to substitute with lemon zest if you want a lemon flavored frangipane.
How to Make the Frangipane
I used the almond frangipane cream from the Lune baking cook. You just need 5 ingredients and it takes a few minutes to whip up. The secret ingredient in this frangipane is the orange zest which gives it a burst of flavor.
How Many Days Old Croissant
For this recipe, use stale croissants from one to seven days old. I used homemade croissants but store bought ones work just as well. Get quality ones from your favorite brands. Split the croissant in half without cutting through.
Brush the croissant halves with simple syrup. Use about a tablespoon, or more if your croissant is very dry.
Pipe the frangipane cream over the soaked bottom croissant half. You can use an offset spatula to spread the frangipane but I found it easier to pipe it. I used two tablespoons for the middle but feel free to use more if you love frangipane.
Pipe one tablespoon of frangipane cream on top so the almonds will stick.
Sprinkle sliced almonds over the top.
How Long to Bake Croissants
Preheat your oven and bake them at 350 for 20-22 minutes until the almonds are golden.
Let them cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
When ready to eat, dust the almond croissants with confectioners' sugar but this is completely optional.
How to Store Croissants
Store the twice baked almond croissants in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day or 3 days in the fridge. To rewarm, bake the croissants at 350 degrees F for 5-8 minutes, until warm and crisp.
For more baking ideas, you might like these recipes:
- Salted caramel pumpkin eclairs
- Bostocks brioche with frangipane
- Sweet tahini buns
- Orange blossom fig friands
Twice Baked Almond Croissants
Ingredients
- 6 stale plain croissants (1-7 days old)
- 6 tablespoons simple syrup
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons frangipane
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- confectioners' sugar for dusting
Frangipane Cream
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh orange zest
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup almond meal (almond flour)
Simple Syrup
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
- To make the frangipane, combine butter, sugar, and orange zest in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and whisk until it's fully incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Decrease the mixer to low speed and beat in the almond meal. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Transfer the frangipane into a piping bag fitted with a flat piping tip. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- To make a simple syrup, place water and sugar a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and whisk occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Croissants Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cut the croissants horizontally without cutting through.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the cut sides of the croissant halves liberally with the simple syrup.
- Pipe the bottom half of the croissant with 2 tablespoons of frangipane, creating even piping all the way to the edges.
- Pipe the top with 1 tablespoon of frangipane. Top with 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds.
- Place croissants on lined baking sheet and bake for 20-22 minutes until the almonds are toasted and the frangipane becomes golden brown.
- Remove them from heat. Let them cool for 10 minutes before dusting them with confectioners' sugar and serving.
Wan
That orange zest really makes a difference! Going to make my frangipane with orange zest from now on.
Olivia
I used some leftover croissants from Costco and your recipe turned out great! No croissants wasted.
Nancy
OMG I love this recipe. It is just like out of a French bakery! The only thing I did different was added 1 teaspoon of brandy and used honey instead of the simple sugar. I also omitted the Almond flour. Thank you for your recipe'. Delicious and so easy !
Missy
We loved it! We used lemon. That was such a boost to the flavor profile. We had mini croissants left over from something that were about 5 days old when I found this recipe. They worked just great. We were pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
sgadmin
Missy I'm so happy to hear they turned out great! I haven't tried lemon before. Definitely adding that to the list.
Rémy Desormeaux
Bon croissant
sgadmin
Merci!
Atihcnoc
Hi, why twice baked? We just bake the recipe once. Thank you
sgadmin
hi! It's meant to be a continuation of the original croissant recipe hence twice baked.