Chocolate Almond Croissants

Crispy and flaky almond croissants stuffed with chocolate almond frangipane and melty dark chocolate

📝 Ingredients

• 100 g granulated sugar
• 100 g water
• 115 g unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
• 100 g almond flour
• 60 g powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract* or vanilla extract (optional)
• 4 croissants (day-old or left out to dry overnight)
• 100 g dark chocolate (broken into pieces (or chocolate chips))
• sliced almonds (for topping)
• powdered sugar (for topping)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Simple Syrup ---
2. 2Dissolve sugar: In a small saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Heat the mixture on medium heat for a few minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. You won't need all of the simple syrup for these almond croissants so transfer about 1/3 of the syrup to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Transfer the remaining syrup to a clean container, let it cool, and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
3. 3--- Chocolate Frangipane ---
4. 4Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
5. 5Butter mixture: In a medium mixing bowl, add the softened butter. Use an electric hand mixer to beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the almond flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix until well combined (it will look too dry at first but just keep mixing until all the flour is saturated).
6. 6Beat in eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition. Beat in the almond or vanilla extract along with the last egg until the mixture is a soft paste consistency. Transfer the frangipane to a piping bag and snip the tip off. Set aside.
7. 7--- Croissants ---
8. 8Slice croissants: Cut each of the croissants in half lengthwise and place the bottom halves on your lined baking sheet.
9. 9Brush with simple syrup: Use a pastry brush to brush each croissant half on the cut side with simple syrup.
10. 10Filling: Pipe the frangipane on the bottom half of each croissant, reserving some extra to pipe on the top later. Place a few pieces of chocolate (or a handful of chocolate chips) in the middle of the frangipane.
11. 11Toppings: Press the corresponding top halves of the croissants on top of the filling. Pipe a line of frangipane on top of each croissant. Press a handful of sliced almonds on top of the frangipane.
12. 12Bake: Bake croissants for about 22-25 minutes or until they're golden brown and crispy. Let them cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before using a fine mesh sieve to dust them with powdered sugar. Enjoy warm or let them cool to room temperature.