Melt in Your Mouth Sourdough Pretzel Croissants

These sourdough pretzel croissants, made with sourdough instead of yeast, are buttery, flaky, crispy, and light and melt-in-your-mouth.

The monthly challenge for the Sourdough Surprises Baking Group is croissants.  I made pretzel croissants with yeast earlier this year and enjoyed them a lot. For this bake, I decided to see how the pretzel croissants would perform using sourdough instead of yeast.

The timing of this challenge worked out well. My oldest son came into town this past weekend. He loves rolls so I wanted to make sure these were ready while he was here.

Relax when you make these Sourdough Pretzel Croissants

I started the process Friday morning before work and completed the croissants Sunday afternoon.

The last time I made the yeasted version of these croissants, I was a bit grumpy and rushed. This time, I was calm, relaxed, and totally in control of these croissants and they performed beautifully.

My son and his girlfriend enjoyed the rolls. They both said they tasted like pretzels.  This was before I even mentioned that they were in fact, pretzel croissants.

When you review the time required to make these croissants, three days may seem daunting, but it’s not. I was able to fit these croissants into my schedule even though I was gone for several hours on Saturday.  If I can do this, you can too!

Using the sourdough starter made the dough fairly stiff, but that worked out well.  It didn’t tear during the whole process and didn’t negatively affect the final result. I think the sourdough enhanced the rolls. These croissants are buttery, flaky, light, and crispy and just right in my opinion.

Suggested timing for making these Sourdough Pretzel Croissants

I started the process Friday morning before work and finished baking the rolls Sunday afternoon. Feel free to adjust the following schedule to suit your needs.

• Morning 1st day: Feed sourdough starter.
• Evening 1st day: Prepare the dough and place in the refrigerator until the next afternoon (18 hours).
• Morning 2nd day: Make the butter block and place in the refrigerator for several hours until ready to roll out dough.
• Afternoon 2nd day: Prepare the baked baking soda. Complete 3 turns and place the dough in the refrigerator overnight.*
• Afternoon 3rd day: Roll out, shape, and bake croissants.

Other options (edited Dec 2022)

1. On Day 2, complete 3 turns, place dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, and then continue to the shaping and baking phase instead of placing dough in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Or, if it fits better with your schedule, on Day 2, complete 3 turns, place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, continue to shaping the rolls, and then place the shaped rolls in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day (Day 3), dip the croissants in the baked baking soda and bake.

I utilized the second option during the Holidays.  I transported the shaped rolls to my destination, and then dipped them in the baked baking soda (which I had prepared the evening before) and baked them.  We had warm and flaky croissants for dinner and most of the prep work was done ahead of time.