Pain au Chocolat is a lovely french pastry which translates into “chocolate bread” and often graces breakfast plates in France. While you may not find chocolate appealing at breakfast, it also makes a lovely sweet treat as a snack or as part of your afternoon tea. It is typically served without decoration, but I have found that a chocolate drizzle helps identify the contents of dish for the uninitiated.
Making croissant dough can be a challenge for beginners, so try the easy version by using frozen puff pastry. This really is a sometimes food, but portion control helps.
Decadent Pain au Chocolat
Pain au Chocolat is a lovely french pastry which translates into "chocolate bread" and often graces breakfast plates in France. This easy version uses frozen puff pastry.
Servings 16 pastries
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 large quality imported chocolate bars: bittersweet or dark chocolate
- sugar and additional chocolate, melted (optional).
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with silicon sheet or parchment paper.
- Place the pastry on parchment paper or lightly floured cutting board. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough in half, rotate 90 degrees and half again, repeating until you have 16 squares. If you prefer you can make 8 squares for larger pastries.
- Mix the egg and vanilla, adding a little water to thin.
- Lightly brush the squares with the egg wash.
- Place a square at the edge of a square and roll up, placing the seam side down. If you are using a thin chocolate bar you may want to stack 2 squares.
- Place the roll on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the remaining glaze.
- Sprinkle with sugar (optional).
- Bake the rolls until golden brown which should take 15 minutes.
- Serve warm, or cool and drizzle with melted chocolate if you like.
Notes
*A lesser quality chocolate will melt and drip out of the pastry.