Recipes Pastries, Pies & Tart Recipes French Pastries Pain au Chocolat Back to French Pastries Pain au Chocolat Total Time 1h 50m Prep Time 1h 30m Bake Time 20m Serves 12 Skill Level Intermediate 16 Reviews 4 star rating Share Enjoy making this classic French treat in the comfort of your own kitchen. Featuring classic pastry dough made with butter, flour, sugar, and milk this recipe is then baked with plain chocolate. Method Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water in a mixing bowl to form a firm dough. Knead for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in an electric mixer bowl using a dough hook. Remove the butter from the fridge and warm very slightly so that it can be flattened out into a rough rectangle about 1-2cm thick. Roll out the dough into a rectangle that is roughly a third larger than the size of the butter. Place the butter on top of the dough, making sure it only covers two-thirds of it. Fold the third of the dough that's not covered by the butter over the butter-covered dough. You will be left with a third of the butter-covered dough exposed. Fold that back onto the dough, layering the dough and the butter. Roll the butter and dough layers with a rolling pin to press them down. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Take the dough butter mix out of the fridge, place the short end towards you and roll out the dough into a rectangular shape, approximately 15mm thick. Repeat the folding process, cover with cling-film and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Repeat the folding and chilling process two more times so that you have rolled and folded 4 times. Wrap loosely in cling film and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Roll out the chilled dough to a large rectangle the thickness of a pound coin. Cut the dough into 12 x 12cm squares. Using a sharp knife, cut the chocolate into 12 lengths (don't worry if it shatters a little). Arrange a row of chocolate along one edge of each piece of dough and roll the dough over forming a sausage. Place the pain au chocolat on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to prove for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C, gas mark 7). Bake the pain au chocolat for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden. Serve warm. Let's Bake The easiest way to follow a recipe Breakfast & Brunch Coffee Shop Bakes Reviews 26 November 2020 2 star rating Terrible, timing all wrong, tastes of bread flour and is SO raw, do not recommend this recipe 13 November 2020 2 star rating The instructions on how to layer it were quite confusing and I found that the bread flour dominates the taste of the pastry 24 September 2020 4 star rating How hard is it?________________________________________________Hello,I would say it is not for a first time baker, but if you have some experience you should try,Hope you enjoy making themHappy Baking! 12 July 2020 4 star rating If you roll out the dough so it is roughly 3 times the size of the butter, how can the butter cover two thirds, surely it is only big enough to cover roughly one third.________________________________________________Hello,Thank you for your comments. We will have a look at the recipe wording and make amends.Happy Baking! 24 June 2020 1 star rating Use half French type 55 and half type 45 flour. All 'strong bread flour' is a huge mistake in terms of texture and taste. Terms like 'strong bread flour' 'all purpose flour', etc. are meaningless in serious baking. 11 June 2020 5 star rating Wowza! So simple and easy! 😋 07 June 2020 5 star rating Delicious easy to follow recipe 06 June 2020 5 star rating Have made these several times during lock down. Very popular with the family. Lovely recipe very clear instructions. 06 June 2020 5 star rating Have made these several times during lock down. Very popular with the family. Lovely recipe very clear instructions. 24 May 2020 5 star rating Making these for the second time during lock down after they were so well received by the family last time. Great recipe, very clear instructions. 22 May 2020 3 star rating It’s a good recipe but take way longer than the time stated. 19 May 2020 1 star rating show my review 19 May 2020 1 star rating terrible 30 April 2020 4 star rating So clear 15 April 2020 5 star rating Just made these in lock down, a HUGE hit with the family. Will make again and again and again. Brilliant recipe Eric 01 February 2020 5 star rating Quite clear Leave Your Thoughts Your Rating 5 stars4 stars3 stars2 stars1 star Email Your Review Ingredients Metric 500g Very strong white bread flour 1 tsp Salt 1 Easy bake yeast sachet ((7g)) 75g Unrefined golden caster sugar 270ml Water 350g Butter (unsalted) 250g Plain chocolate (70% cocoa)