Cheese Croissant

Add 140 ml of warm whole milk, 140 ml of warm water and 500 g of all-purpose flour to a stand mixer bowl

Add 60 g of white sugar and 12 g of salt

Add 40 g of softened, unsalted butter and 11 g of fresh yeast

Mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed for 4m until the dough comes together and forms a ball

Mix the dough on medium-high speed for 6m until the dough becomes smooth and elastic

Place the dough on a clean work surface and shape it into an approximate square

Place the dough on a baking tray with parchment paper and cover it with cling film. Place it in the refrigerator for 12h to rise

Place 280 g of softened, unsalted butter on a sheet of parchment paper. Form a rectangle that is about 1 cm thick. Reserve in the refrigerator

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust it with all-purpose flour and place it on a floured surface. Remove the paper and dust the other side of the dough

Roll the dough into a 26 cm x 26 cm square

Dust the butter with all-purpose flour and roll it until the rectangle is 25 cm long

Place the butter in the center of the dough. Fold the dough to meet in the middle, without overlapping

Roll the dough, lightly pressing it with only forward and back movements to make a narrow rectangle

Fold one end of the dough in about 5 cm . Fold the ether end, slightly overlapping the first fold. Fold the dough in half and rotate it. Roll it with light pressure to press the folds together

Place the dough on a baking tray with parchment paper. Cover it with cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to relax it

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature. Lightly dust it with all-purpose flour and roll it back and forth. Apply light, even pressure until it is 1 cm thick

Fold the dough in thirds and roll it with light pressure to press the folds together

Place the dough on a baking tray with parchment paper. Cover it with cling film and refrigerate it for 30 minutes to relax it

Roll the dough, using light pressure, into a 1 cm thick 20 cm x 110 cm rectangle. The croissant dough is ready

Remove the edges of the croissant dough and cut it into 12 triangles

Coarsely grate 450 g of gouda cheese

Add smoked paprika and red chili powder to taste

Add ground black pepper to taste and mix to combine

Place a portion of the cheese mixture on each triangle. Save some of the cheese for finishing the croissant

Stretch the base of the triangle and roll it up. Pull the tip to finish rolling at the base of the croissant. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Beat 1 egg and combine with 1 tbsp of milk to make the egg wash. Brush each croissant with the egg wash

Sprinkle each croissant with poppy seed to taste

Proof the croissants draft-free for 2h at an ideal temperature of 25 °C. You should be able to tell if the croissants are ready by carefully shaking the baking sheet and seeing if they wiggle a bit

Preheat the oven to 240 °C

Bake the croissants at 200 °C for 11m until slightly golden

Turn up the heat to 220 °C and bake them for another 4m. This changes per oven, so make sure to bake for at least 15m in total until cooked through and golden brown. The cheese croissant is ready

Let it cool down a bit and dig in!