The first time I tried a pain au chocolat recipe at home, half my butter melted out onto the oven floor and our apartment smelled like a bakery fire drill for two days.
Jump to:
Alex was ten. He stood in the kitchen, looked at my sad flat pastries, and said they still tasted good. Sweet kid. They did not taste good.
So I kept going. I made these over and over in my small Manhattan kitchen until I figured out the two things that actually matter: cold butter and patience. That is it. No fancy equipment, no pastry school.
Now this is the thing my family asks for on slow Sunday mornings. Sarah waits by the oven door for the last five minutes, which is honestly her whole personality before breakfast.
This homemade pain au chocolat comes out crackly on the outside, soft and stretchy in the middle, with a warm chocolate center that gets a little messy. You will get about 14 of them, which sounds like a lot until you see how fast they disappear.
If you like slow weekend breakfasts as much as we do, my perfectly fluffy French toast is the recipe I make on the mornings when I want something warm on the table in twenty minutes instead.
Why You Will Like This Pain Au Chocolat Recipe
- Simple pantry ingredients. Flour, butter, sugar, salt, yeast, milk, chocolate. Nothing you need a special trip for.
- The fridge does the hard part. Most of the time here is resting time, not standing time.
- Real bakery layers. You get those thin flaky sheets that shatter when you bite in.
- Only 20 to 25 minutes in the oven. The smell alone is worth it.
- Makes 14 pastries. Enough for breakfast, lunchboxes, and one for you standing at the counter.
- Kids can help. Alex rolls, Sarah places the chocolate sticks. It keeps them off screens for a solid hour.
Ingredients For Homemade Pain Au Chocolat
Grab a kitchen scale if you have one. Weighing the flour and butter makes a real difference here.
For the dough:
- 500 g (4 cups) all purpose flour
- 10 g (1 ¾ tsp) fine salt
- 20 g (2 tsp) fresh baker's yeast
- 65 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 35 g (2 ½ tbsp) melted and cooled butter
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) cold water
- 100 ml (½ cup) cold whole milk
For the butter block:
- 250 to 300 g (1 to 1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter, cold
Filling and finishing:
- 28 chocolate sticks or chocolate chips
- 1 egg yolk plus a splash of milk, for brushing
A few notes from my kitchen. Fresh yeast gives the softest crumb, but you can swap in 7 g of instant dry yeast if that is what your store carries. Use a good European style butter for the block if you can, since higher fat butter rolls out without cracking. And please do not use salted butter for laminating. I did once. It was too much.
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Pain Au Chocolat Recipe
- Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 14 pastries 1x
Description
This pain au chocolat recipe comes out crackly on the outside, soft and stretchy in the middle, with a warm chocolate center that gets a little messy. Cold butter and patience are the only two things that matter here. Makes 14, which disappear faster than you think.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 500 g (4 cups) all purpose flour
- 10 g (1 ¾ tsp) fine salt
- 20 g (2 tsp) fresh baker's yeast
- 65 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 35 g (2 ½ tbsp) melted and cooled butter
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) cold water
- 100 ml (½ cup) cold whole milk
For the butter block:
- 250 to 300 g (1 to 1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter, cold
For filling and finishing:
- 28 chocolate sticks or chocolate chips
- 1 egg yolk plus a splash of milk, for brushing
Instructions
- Stir the fresh yeast into the cold water and milk right in your stand mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook.
- Add the flour, sugar, salt, and the melted cooled butter. Knead about 5 minutes until the dough looks smooth and pulls away from the sides.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 to 2 hours. This firms it up so the butter goes in cleanly later.
- Cut the cold butter into big chunks and pile them in the middle of a sheet of parchment paper.
- Fold the parchment edges over to make a square about 8 inches by 8 inches.
- Tap and press with a rolling pin until the butter fills that square in one even sheet.
- Chill the butter block, then pull it out about 30 minutes before you need it. It should bend like cold clay, not snap and not smear. Same softness as your dough.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle about 8 inches by 16 inches. Set the butter block in the center and fold the dough edges over so the butter is completely tucked in. Turn it 90 degrees so the opening faces you.
- Double turn: roll it out into a long rectangle about ⅛ inch thick. Fold the top quarter down, fold the bottom over the rest, then fold the whole thing in half like a wallet. Wrap and chill 1 hour.
- Single turn: take it out with the opening on your right. Roll it long again, fold the top third to the center, then fold the other side over it like a letter. Wrap and rest in the fridge 1 to 2 hours.
- If butter ever starts poking through, stop and chill it.
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured counter into a rectangle about 22 by 9.5 inches, roughly ⅙ inch thick.
- With a ruler and a pizza cutter, cut it into two long strips, each about 4.7 inches wide.
- Lay a chocolate stick along the bottom edge and roll the dough over to cover it. Add a second stick right at that edge and keep rolling to the end.
- Finish with the seam on the side, not underneath, so they do not unroll in the oven.
- Set the shaped pastries on a parchment lined sheet with plenty of space between them.
- Cover with a clean towel and let them rise 1.5 to 2 hours, until they look puffy and doubled.
- Whisk the egg yolk with a little milk and brush each one gently with a pastry brush.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until they are deep golden and puffed.
- Let them cool a few minutes. The chocolate inside is molten.
Notes
- Fresh yeast gives the softest crumb, but you can swap in 7 g of instant dry yeast.
- Use a good European style butter for the block. Higher fat butter rolls out without cracking. Do not use salted butter for laminating.
- Do not rise these in a warm spot. Over 78°F the butter melts out before it ever hits the oven. I proof mine on the counter with the window cracked.
- Store in a paper bag or a loosely covered container at room temperature for 2 days. Airtight plastic softens the crust, and the crust is the whole point.
- Freeze baked pastries in a zip top bag up to 2 months, or freeze them shaped and unbaked, then thaw overnight in the fridge and rise in the morning.
- To reheat, pop them in a 325°F oven for 5 minutes. Never the microwave.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pastry
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 290mg
- Fat: 24g
- Saturated Fat: 15g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 61mg
How To Make Pain Au Chocolat Step By Step
Read this whole part once before you start. It looks long, but each step is short.
Mixing The Dough
Stir the fresh yeast into the cold water and milk right in your stand mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook.
Add the flour, sugar, salt, and the melted cooled butter. Knead about 5 minutes until the dough looks smooth and pulls away from the sides.
Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours. This firms it up so the butter goes in cleanly later.
Making The Butter Block
Cut your cold butter into big chunks and pile them in the middle of a sheet of parchment paper.
Fold the parchment edges over to make a square about 8 inches by 8 inches.
Now tap and press with a rolling pin until the butter fills that square in one even sheet. It feels a little silly. It works.
Chill the butter block, then pull it out about 30 minutes before you need it. Here is the part I got wrong for months: the butter should bend like cold clay, not snap and not smear. Same softness as your dough.
Laminating The Dough
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 8 inches by 16 inches. Set the butter block in the center and fold the dough edges over so the butter is completely tucked in. Turn the whole thing 90 degrees so the opening faces you.
Double turn: roll it out into a long rectangle about ⅛ inch thick. Fold the top quarter down, fold the bottom over the rest, then fold the whole thing in half like a wallet. Wrap and chill 1 hour.
Single turn: take it out with the opening on your right. Roll it long again, fold the top third to the center, then fold the other side over it like a letter. Wrap and rest in the fridge 1 to 2 hours.
If butter ever starts poking through, stop and chill it. Rushing this is how you end up with my first batch.
Shaping The Pain Au Chocolat
Roll the dough on a lightly floured counter into a rectangle about 22 by 9.5 inches, roughly ⅙ inch thick.
With a ruler and a pizza cutter, cut it into two long strips, each about 4.7 inches wide.
Lay a chocolate stick along the bottom edge and roll the dough over to cover it. Add a second stick right at that edge and keep rolling to the end.
Finish with the seam on the side, not underneath. Mine used to unroll in the oven until I learned that one.
Baking Them Off
Set the shaped pastries on a parchment lined sheet with plenty of space between them.
Cover with a clean towel and let them rise 1.5 to 2 hours, until they look puffy and doubled.
Whisk the egg yolk with a little milk and brush each one gently with a pastry brush.
Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until they are deep golden and puffed.
Let them cool a few minutes. The chocolate inside is molten and Sarah has learned this the hard way twice.
Storage And Reheating
Keep them in a paper bag or a loosely covered container at room temperature for 2 days. Airtight plastic softens the crust, and the crust is the whole point.
For longer, freeze the baked pastries in a zip top bag for up to 2 months. You can also freeze them shaped and unbaked, then thaw overnight in the fridge and rise in the morning.
To reheat, pop them in a 325°F oven for 5 minutes. Never the microwave. It turns them chewy and sad.
Day two ones actually taste a little more buttery to me, if that helps you feel better about leftovers.
Variations To Try With This Pain Au Chocolat Recipe
Want to change things up once you have the dough down?
- Slide a spoonful of almond paste next to the chocolate for a bakery style version.
- Swap the dark chocolate for milk chocolate. Alex votes for this one every time.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds and a little sugar over the egg wash before baking.
- Roll a few with cinnamon sugar instead of chocolate for whoever in your house does not like chocolate. We have one of those.
- Make the dough on Saturday, shape Sunday morning. It splits the work in half.
One pitfall to skip: do not rise these in a warm spot. If the room is over 78°F the butter melts out before it ever hits the oven. I proof mine on the counter with the window cracked.
Pain Au Chocolat Recipe FAQ
How Do You Keep The Butter From Leaking Out Of Pain Au Chocolat?
Temperature is everything. Chill the dough between every turn, and keep your butter at the same firmness as the dough so it stays in even sheets. If your kitchen runs warm, work in short bursts and put everything back in the fridge for 20 minutes whenever the dough feels sticky.
Can You Make Pain Au Chocolat Dough Ahead Of Time?
Yes, and I almost always do. After the final turn, wrap the dough tightly and keep it in the fridge overnight, up to 24 hours. You can also freeze the laminated dough for a month. Thaw it in the fridge, then roll, shape, and rise as usual.
What Type Of Chocolate Is Best For Pain Au Chocolat?
Chocolate batons made for baking hold their shape best, but a good bar of dark chocolate at 55 to 70 percent works fine cut into sticks. Chips will do in a pinch. I skip anything with a soft filling, because it runs out during baking and burns on the pan.
How Do You Store Homemade Pain Au Chocolat?
Room temperature in a paper bag for 2 days, or the freezer for up to 2 months. Warm them in the oven, not the microwave. That quick 5 minute reheat brings the crackly outside right back.
Recipes You May Like
- Homemade cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting if you liked working with yeast dough and want something soft and sticky next.
- Fluffy brioche donuts for the same buttery pastry feeling without turning on the oven.
- Gooey overnight French toast casserole when you want a slow weekend breakfast you can put together the night before.
Conclusion
So here is the short version of this pain au chocolat recipe: make a simple dough, chill it, fold cold butter into it a few times, roll, fill, rise, bake.
The steps are easy. The waiting is the skill.
I love this one because it turned into a real family morning for us. Donald makes the coffee, Sarah counts the chocolate sticks, and Alex eats two before anyone sits down.
Give it a try this weekend and tell me how yours turn out. Save this to Pinterest so you have it ready when the mood strikes.
Happy baking!
