A new version of the cronut by Kouzounas Kitchen

September 24, 2013 7 Comments

I really did my research on these new cronuts. I love the idea of them and I thank the creator and owner of cronuts. Cronuts were founded by Chef Chef Dominique Ansel. This chef is creative and amazing!! Click on this link for more info on Chef Ansel and about cronuts. http://dominiqueansel.com/cronut-101/

Okay now for the fun part!! As I was creating my very own cronuts, I came up with something different. We all know cronuts as a sweet and flavorful pastry, right?? While driving down to San Francisco yesterday with two friends of mine, as I was sitting in the car and talking to my friends about cronuts, my friend Leilani gave me a great idea! She said, can you make a cronut in the oven? I thought, sure, what a great idea. Except, cronuts are all about frying them in oil, and getting all the crunchy layers. After a fun day in San Francisco, celebrating my friend’s birthday, I thought about that cronut idea all night. I said to myself, why not make a spanakopita cronut?? (Savory cronuts would taste great too.) Not only did I make a spanakopita cronut in the oven, but I made a baklava chocolate filled cronut as well.

Kouzounas Kitchen Baked Cronuts Recipe–

(Many of the cronut recipes call for pillsbury dough, but I love to make my own laminated dough. You can use pillsbury dough, but if you have the time, try the recipe for the laminated dough below.)

Ingredients:

laminated dough

3/4 cups of milk, warmed
1 tablespoon of active dry yeast
1 tsp of honey
1/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp of vanilla- if making sweet cronuts
3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, divided
1 tsp salt
1 cup of butter, at room temp

Directions-

Stir together the milk and yeast in a small bowl. Add in 1 teaspoon of honey.
In a mixer, stir in the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
Add in 0ne cup of flour and salt. Gradually add in another 2 1/4 cups of flour. Knead the dough for about 4 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for about 30 minutes.
While dough is being chilled, beat butter and the remaining 1/4 cup of flour in mixer. Mix to combine.
After the dough is chilled, turn it out on a flat surface and roll it out into a rectangle about 13 * 18 inches thick.
Spread the butter evenly over the dough.
Similar to the method of folding croissant dough, fold the dough into a letter, into thirds. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
Repeat this process 3 more times above.
When you reach the last fold, chill the dough for about one hour or leave overnight.
Roll out the dough and cut them into 1 inch thick rings, or circles.
prepare the oil, in a deep fryer or saucepan. Cook dough in batches, and then drain on a paper towel.
Decorate the cronuts with chocolate , pastry cream, or anything that sounds delicious to you. They are great with nutella filling and powdered sugar on the outside.

*Now this is the part I come in at. Above are the typical cronuts ^ These cronuts that I am about to explain are the new ones I made.

I folded my cronuts into croissant like shapes. Then I baked them off. You can try frying or baking, but if you want a less fattening cronut, I suggest baking.

Follow the above steps until step 11, then start from these steps below.

After you shaped the dough, cut each dough into 1 inch thick slices, and you can either shape them into circles, or squares. After you have done that, prepare your filling.
I have used spanakopita filling, which is very simple. All you need is, spinach, feta cheese, garlic, onion, dill, basil, and seasoning. I will post the link here for spanakopita filling. http://kouzounaskitchen.com/2013/06/04/you-have-all-been-waiting-for-this/
After you have prepared the filling, take one piece of the dough, and place a heaping teaspoon of the spanakopita filling in the center of the dough. Add another circle piece of the dough over the first, and fold over, and seal with your fingers. Make sure to seal around the rim of the dough. (You can add a little egg wash around the rim, to seal as well.)
Next, repeat the process until you have filled up a baking sheet. Make sure to grease the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or 200 Celsius. Egg wash the top of these pastries, and then place in the oven. Cook until golden brown on top.
Here you have some yummy pastries. You can do a chocolate, walnut, and cinnamon mixture, which really goes great with these.

Don’t be afraid to get creative with these cronuts, and you can make them sweet or savory. 🙂

Kali Orexi and hope you enjoy!

– Cheers