Easy Twice Baked Almond Croissants

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