The Secret to Insanely Easy Pain Au Chocolat
I just love the flakey French pastry called pain au chocolat. What I don’t love is how long they take to make. These easy chocolate croissants feature rich chocolate inside buttery puff pastry and ready in about 20 minutes thanks to a simple short cut!
What shortcut you ask? Frozen puff pastry! There was a time when I would never have considered using frozen puff pastry, but not anymore! A good quality frozen puff pastry can produce an incredibly delicious pain au chocolat with barely any effort.
On one of our grocery shopping trips, I was tempted to buy some already made chocolate croissants from the bakery counter. That was until I saw the price. For the price of just two pastries I was able to buy a package of frozen puff pastry. I already had chocolate at home.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- perfect for beginner bakers – really is foolproof
- rich chocolate flavour – using good quality dark or milk chocolate
- ready in about 20 minutes – from start to finish
- kids will love them – so good warm from the oven
Ingredients You Will Need
Just a few simple ingredients
- frozen puff pastry, thawed
- flour – for dusting your work surface
- dark or milk chocolate bar – broken into squares
- egg beaten with a splash of milk
Pain Au Chocolat in 3 easy steps
Be sure to see the full printable recipe card below
Step One – The Pastry
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees (or temperature indicated on your puff pastry package)
- Roll out the puff pastry to measure about 12 x 6 inches
- cut each pastry sheet into 4 equal strips along the short side
Step Two – The chocolat
- break chocolate bar into squares and place 2 squares on the short edge of each strip of puff pastry dough and roll up dough just to cover
- add two more pieces of chocolate and continue to roll right to the end of the pastry
- place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet seem side down
- beat egg with a splash of milk and brush onto each pastry
STEp three: Brush and bake
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes, until puffy and golden. Keeping an eye on them while they bake
- allo to cool a bit and dust with powdered sugar
These are so yummy, nobody would guess you didn’t make that flakey pastry from scratch!
Tips For A Foolproof Result
This recipe is pretty much foolproof no matter what, but here are a couple of tips that I use each and every time I bake a batch:
- thaw pastry at room temperature for about 15 minutes
- dust work surface with a bit of flour before rolling
- use good quality chocolate – I use the Waterbridge Gold Belgian Chocolate bars from Walmart
- beating the egg with a bit of milk results in a nice golden brown crust
- allow to cool sufficiently before dusting with powdered sugar to avoid it melting on contact
Absolutely you can. If you enjoy making puff pastry dough simply follow the same directions with your homemade dough.
Yes you can. It is a little harder to keep them in place when rolling up, just be sure to use real chocolate chips for best flavour and texture.
Yes. Freeze them after baking and completely cooled. Carefully arrange in an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Remove from freezer when ready to serve and reheat in the oven for best crispiness.
Serving Ideas
Nothing elevates a weekend breakfast than freshly baked pastries. Baking up a batch of these easy Pain au chocolat and serving them with a hot cup of coffee or tea will transport you to a patio outside a cute little Patisserie in Paris!
Hosting a brunch, or a get together with the girls? Bake up a batch of these and impress them with your baking prowess! I won’t tell if you don’t!
More Puff Pastry Recipes
Easy Pain Au Chocolat Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Baking Sheet
- parchment paper or Silpat
- 1 sharp knife or pizza cutter
- 1 pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted
- 16 squares dark chocolate, each cut in half from a large chocolate bar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 ℉ (or temperature indicated on your frozen puff pastry box). Line large baking sheet with parchment or Silpat silicone liner.
- On a lightly floured surface roll each sheet of pastry to 12 by 6 inches. Cut into 4 equal strips along the short edge. (each strip will be 6 inches long by about 3 inches wide)
- Place 2 (halved) squares of chocolate along the short edge of each strip and roll dough over once. Add two more squares of chocolate and continue rolling to end. Place each pastry seam side down on prepared baking sheet.
- Beat egg with 1 teaspoon of milk. Brush each pastry with mixture. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Remove from oven, allow to cool and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
These look wonderful! I am wondering if you could give me information on what brand of puff pastry you use.
Thanks,
Julie
Hi Julie! Thank you for your comment! I am in Canada and use Tenderflake puff pastry. Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Maureen,
Pain au chocolat is my favourite pastry! I’m so excited to try your 3-step recipe. They look easier to make than I thought. Thank you!
Thanks Linda! They are so good with such little effort!
What temperature and how long did you bake? Also, you must have thawed out the pastry first?
Thank you!
Thanks for bringing it to my attention Kim! Yes, as mentioned, I do thaw the pastry overnight in the refrigerator. I have updated the post to include the oven temp and baking time! Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 12-15 minutes, until well puffed and nicely golden. Keep an eye on it while baking to avoid over baking. I do recommend following the temperature settings as per the package directions on the frozen puff pastry brand that you purchase in case they are different than mine 🙂