Almond Croissants

Delicate and flaky Almond Croissants made from scratch and made in your own kitchen!  This recipe uses day-old homemade flaky croissants that are filled with a rich and creamy almond cream filling.  The result is delicious bakery-style croissants with an abundance of buttery almond flavor. 

this recipe

Almond Croissants Recipe

After the success of the original croissant recipe on the blog, I have updated this post with better photos, faq’s, and a little more detail on how to make your own French bakery-style pastries.  

These homemade almond croissants are pure pastry decadence.  And I love a flaky and buttery pastry – just check out the pinwheel danish pastries or the cherry puff pastry turnovers to see for yourself! 

And while I can talk all day about flaky pastry, this recipe is more about the almond cream filling.  And with that filling, these almond croissants are in a league of their own.

• Their Homemade! – There is nothing more rewarding than homemade bakery-style treats.
• Extra Flaky Pastry – We should know, since these almond croissants are made with day-old buttery and flaky croissants.
• Sweet Almond Cream Filling – Anytime you can fill a breakfast pastry with sweet almond cream, I’m in.  I loved it so much I use the leftover dough scraps from the original recipe to make almond cream monkey bread!

Filling For Almond Croissants

The filling of these almond croissants is similar to a frangipane filling.  The only difference is one ingredient:  a frangipane is typically made with cream or milk to make it more of custard filling.  Though, I see a lot of recipes that don’t use cream.

This almond filling for croissants features a smooth cream made from butter that is flavored with almond extract and given texture and more flavor with almond flour.  And if you have made any of my gluten free recipes, chances are you have almond flour since it is the base flour in all those recipes!  

Now, I have seen recipes that may use an almond paste to deliver the flavor.  However, we use almond extract.  Regardless, the almond flavor shines and once you make a batch of the almond cream, you can certainly use it for other treats.  Like a filling for a cherry galette, baked in an oatmeal tart, or as an additional filling flavor in gluten free almond coffee cake.  

Everything You Need To Make Your Own Almond Croissants

Ingredients

• Day-Old Croissants – The recipe for the original flaky pastry is in the recipe card.  However, you can use any store-bought croissant.
• Unsalted Butter – The butter is the base for the almond cream filling.
• Granulated Sugar – To sweeten the filling.  
• Almond Flour – The almond flour helps drive the almond flavor.  I prefer blanched almond flavor because it is ground finer and without the almond skins.
• All-Purpose Flour – A little AP to help smooth out the filling.
• Salt – Salt is an excellent flavor balancer and enhancer.
• Egg – The egg makes the filling creamy, plus it acts as a binder.
• Almond Extract – We can’t have an almond filling without almond flavor!
• Powdered Sugar – This is optional for dusting the baked croissants.
• Slivered Almonds – Another optional ingredient for decorating the croissants.

Baking Equipment

• Stand Mixer – You could also use a mixing bowl and hand held mixer.  Although the stand mixer just makes it easier!
• Baking Sheets with Parchment Paper

How to make almond croissants

First things first this recipe uses day-old croissants.  And I certainly hope you made your own batch using the popular recipe on the blog, because nothing beats homemade.  Of course, you can make the almond croissant using store-bought croissants.  Because this recipe is all about the filling!  

1. Split your day-old croissants
2. Cream the butter and sugar for the filling – Just as you would for cookies.
3. Add the dry ingredients – The mixture will come together just like cookie dough. 
4. Add the egg and almond extract – Note:  almond extract is potent, so I recommend sticking to the recipe for how much.  
5. Slather the croissant bottoms with almond cream – Yes, slather.  It is a technical baking term.  🙂
6. Slather the croissant top with more almond cream – Yes, more almond cream.
7. Sprinkle the tops with sliced almonds – The almond slices will slightly brown which makes them even more flavorful!
8. Bake – This won’t take too long.  You are baking long enough to slightly melt the almond cream and brown the croissant tops.
9. Cool – Trust me, right-out-of-the-oven croissants are not as good as barely warm ones.  And you want the almond cream to cool.
10. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar – This part is actually optional, but the lightly dusted croissant tops make for a pretty presentation.
11. Enjoy!  – And quickly – before others in the house eat them all!

Do you have to use day-old croissants for almond croissants

The answer is no.  Your next question is likely going to be, how?  It’s very easy and just an additional step when making the actual day-of homemade croissant: 

• Before shaping your classic croissant –  Add a generous line of almond cream at the wide end of the croissant triangle, then roll.  You could even take it a step further and spread on more almond cream all along the croissant triangle, then roll.  

I have made almond croissants both ways – day-of and day-old.  My preference is to use day-old croissants because I find the almond cream filling interfered with the proofing and baking of the day-of croissants.  Plus, I find the almond cream is more pronounced with day-old baked croissants.   

FAQ: making almond croissants from scratch

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