Blue Ribbon Group Best Sourdough Croissants (Cachitos)
1st Place, 2022 Minnesota State Fair
Are you seeking the best sourdough croissants recipe? How about one that features chocolate and almond flavors? And one that has a great story behind them? Look no further. This best sourdough croissants recipe won our “best sourdough bread contest” at the 2022 Minnesota State Fair.
They come from Guillermo Guardia, who tells us that in his home country of Peru, croissants are known as cachitos. Guillermo is a ceramics artist, art teacher and now, a blue ribbon winning sourdough baker.
By his own admission, Guillermo is not really into cooking but loved baking bread in a bread making machine. When it suddenly broke one day, with dough in it. He took it out and worked with the dough for the first time and loved the experience.
It was fascinating to see the dough change and rise. It was magical. Since then, baking has become a stimulating and rewarding activity.
At some point I was baking almost every weekend, especially Sundays. I even named my sourdough starter Dominga, a Spanish female name for Sunday.
Baking and ceramics are somehow similar. Both use raw materials/ingredients that are mixed together with water and shaped by hand into something that is transformed by heat into something new. Because of my art clay training, kneading and shaping the dough came naturally to me.
Guillermo started with sourdough baguettes, because they were his father’s favorite. Soon he was ready to tackle croissants. He noted, “I could use my clay skills with every key step, from laminating and rolling the dough to cutting and shaping it for the oven.”
His efforts paid off. The deciding judge on contest day said his croissants were “unbelievably good, beautiful, and perfect in every way.”
Congratulations Guillermo!
*Check back on this post as we hope to catch up with Guillermo in-person at some point and add some helpful technique photos. In the meantime, if you’re a fan of sourdough bread baking, give this recipe a try!
Best Sourdough Croissants
Chocolate Almond Peruvian Cachitos
Almond Paste/Coconut/Chocolate:
150 grams almond flour
150 grams powdered sugar
50 grams coconut flakes
50 grams water/honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100 grams chocolate chips
Dough:
475 grams bread flour
75 grams whole wheat flour
128 grams water
128 grams milk
80 grams sugar
138 grams sourdough starter (25%)
70 grams unsalted butter
22 grams salt
275 grams hand-rolled unsalted European style butter sheet (for lamination stage)
Almond Paste:
Mix almond flour, powdered sugar, and coconut flakes in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix water/honey, and vanilla extract. Pour liquids in the almond bowl. Mix until all ingredients form a paste. Wrap paste and refrigerate. Have the paste ready at least one day before shaping croissants.
Dough:
Day 1: Put flour in a mixer bowl. In a separate bowl, mix water, milk, sugar, and starter. Pour and mix in the flour bowl. Slowly add unsalted butter and lastly add salt. Mix until it is an even mixture and no flour is in the bottom of the bowl. Wrap it and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
Day 2 – Morning – Hand Lamination: Using a rolling pin, laminate dough with butter sheet, 2 book foldings. Butter sheet has been shaped (8” x 8”) and refrigerated at least one day before lamination. Put back laminated dough in the refrigerator for a few hours. Afternoon: Roll the laminated dough into approximately 30” long by 7” to 8” wide. Cut 12 triangles, the base of each triangle is 4”. Shape almond paste mixture into 3” long sticks, add some chocolate chips to each stick. Place each stick paste in the base of each triangle and roll to shape each croissant. Put shaped croissants in a baking tray. Proof overnight (12 to 14 hours at 75 to 78°F).
Day 3: Preheat oven to 400° F 1 hour. Egg wash croissants and bake 10 minutes then lower temperature to 375 degrees F and bake another 10 minutes. Let the croissants cool down before eating. Enjoy!
Makes 12 croissants.
