Chocolate Croissants: My First Puff Pastry Experience

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I have never played with puff pastry before .  .  . ever.  It has always just seemed so intimidating and overly gourmet to me to attempt working with it.  However, two of my cooking gurus, Nigella Lawson and Giada De Laurentiis have recipes for chocolate-filled croissants that I have been wanting to try.  They seemed simple enough:  purchase some high-quality frozen puff pastry and some high-quality dark chocolate and follow the two or three steps to complete the process.  How difficult could that be?

Well, it wasn't that easy.  The puff pastry nearly came to a full melt-down by the time I had it cut into little triangles.  And even more soft and wet while placing the chocolate on each and rolling them up (or at least that was what I was trying to do!)  But I felt determined to overcome my fear no matter what they turned out to be.
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Before making these, I was asking myself whether chocolate croissants are French or Italian?  I believe that they are French in origin, but I've seen them sold in Italian cafes and trattorias in the U.S. too.  Anyway, the reason why I ask is because this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs' theme is focused on Giada's recipes from 'outside of Italy'.  Giada presented these croissants during one of her television shows and stated that she made hundreds of these when she lived in Paris for culinary school.  So that must be the answer to my question . . . they're French!  These simple pastries seemed to fit nicely with both the group's weekly theme and my super busy schedule this past week.


A trained pastry chef or baker, I certainly am not!  So if you find these croissants somewhat on the less visually attractive side in the photos, I agree with you.  But just bite into them, and you won't care what they look like!  Yummy, melted chocolate is oozing inside the warm, buttery, flaky croissants which makes them a sweet piece of heaven.  I now understand why people go so crazy over these things!  I hope that you don't wait as long as I did to overcome a fear of puff pastry!  Maybe with a little more practice, I might have some pretty croissants someday too.
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Chocolate Croissants

1 (13-ounce) package frozen butter puff pastry
1 chocolate bar (milk or dark chocolate, depending on your taste preference)
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Unroll the sheet of pastry and then cut it into 6 squares.
Cut each square diagonally to give 2 small triangles.
Place the wider end of the triangle part facing you and the pointed edge away from you.
Break off small pieces of chocolate to place on the wide end nearest you.
Carefully roll from that chocolate loaded end towards the point of the triangle.
You should now have something resembling a straight croissant, seal it slightly with your fingertips and curl it around into a crescent.
Place the chocolate croissants on a lined baking tray.
Brush some beaten egg on the tops.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden and puffy.
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