Easy Vegan Almond Croissant Recipe

This is a shortcut almond croissant: shop-bought puff pastry rolled around a simple almond filling and baked at 180°C for 15 minutes. It is not laminated croissant dough, so it will not have the honeycomb crumb of a bakery croissant. What you get is a flaky, rich pastry with a soft almond centre, on the table in under half an hour.

If you want the real thing, you need to laminate your own dough and prove it, which is a two-day job. This version trades that structure for speed, and it is honest about the swap. The almond filling does most of the work, and a dusting of caster sugar at the end finishes it off.

Ingredients

• Powdered form of almonds 100g
• Powdered sugar 4 tbsp.
• water ¼ cup (60ml)
• Sunflower oil 1 tbsp.
• Lemon juice 1 tbsp.
• Almond extract 1 tsp
• Vanilla extract 1 tsp
• 1 sheet of puff pastry

For brushing:

• 1 tsp soy milk
• 1 tsp agave syrup

Instructions

• Start your recipe by preheating the oven to 360 F or 180 degrees Celsius.
• Take a standing mixture, add in all the ingredients and whisk in to form a creamy texture.
• Next, take a puff pastry sheet and cut it into the shape of a triangle.
• Now thoroughly coat each triangle-shaped dough with the almond filling and roll them to form croissants.
• Then brush the almond croissant with soy milk and agave syrup.
• Transfer the baking dish to the oven. The croissants will be golden and puffed in about 15 minutes.
• When they have cooled, sprinkle some caster sugar over the croissants and serve.

Tips

• Sieve the powdered sugar and almond flour to make a smooth almond paste.
• Accurately measure all the ingredients to end up with evenly baked, golden pastry.
• Keep the pastry cold right up until it goes in the oven. Warm puff pastry leaks butter or fat and bakes flat rather than flaky.
• The selection of a baking tray plays a vital role in making your recipe perfect. You must go for a flat tray with a thin base. A tray with a thick base will retain too much heat, which can burn your croissants.
• Always place baking paper on the tray before putting croissants. In this way, your croissants will not stick to the tray.
• While arranging croissants on a baking tray, keep them some distance apart.
• These are at their best within a couple of hours of baking. Puff pastry softens quickly, so there is no point storing them for long.
• Dust with icing sugar only once the croissants have cooled. On hot pastry the sugar just melts into the surface.
• You can also use chocolate, nuts, whipped cream, or any other topping of your choice.

FAQs

Is puff pastry vegan?

Often, but not always. Many supermarket puff pastries are made with vegetable oil or margarine and are vegan by default, while all-butter puff pastry is not. Some brands also use milk solids or whey in the dough. Formulations differ between countries and between ranges from the same brand, so read the ingredients list on the packet rather than assuming.

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Can Almond paste be stored?

Yes. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week, or freeze it for up to three months. Homemade almond paste has no preservatives, so it will not last the way a commercial tube does.

How to fix dense almond paste made for a croissant?

The almond paste must have a firm and smooth texture. If it becomes hard, you can heat it in the microwave for around 2 to 3 seconds, and it will become soft again.

How to store leftover vegan almond croissants?

Eat them the day they are baked if you can. Puff pastry goes soft quickly and you lose the flakiness that makes the pastry worth eating. If you do need to keep them, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Do not refrigerate them, as the fridge dries pastry out and stales it faster.

How to warm up croissants?

If you plan to eat croissants the next morning, take out the croissant from the container and heat them in the oven for about 3 minutes at 365°F (185°C).

Can I freeze croissants?

Yes, if you want to freeze croissants to eat them later, wrap them in plastic paper and place them in the zip lock bag with all air out.

How to defrost Vegan Almond croissants?

Thaw them at room temperature for an hour or two. Once thawed, re-bake your vegan almond croissants for 4 minutes at 365°F (185°C) to bring the crispness back.

Are almond paste and marzipan the same?

No, there is a slight difference in the texture of both. The texture of marzipan is fine as compared to the almond paste. Almond paste is less sweet than marzipan. In this recipe, I have sprinkled some extra sugar over the top of almond croissants, which will balance the sweetness. If you want to use marzipan, just be careful, or otherwise, your croissants will become extra sweet.

How to use frozen puff pastry?

Frozen puff pastry cannot be used straight from the freezer, because it cracks along the folds and the shapes fall apart. Thaw it in the refrigerator instead, then work with it while it is still cold and firm. If it warms up and turns floppy, put it back in the fridge for ten minutes before you roll it.

How much time is required to thaw the puff pastry?

The best advice is to thaw your puff pastry slowly in a cool area, most probably your refrigerator. It usually takes 6 to 8 hours to thaw the pastry dough in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Here are some roughly calculated nutrition facts about vegan almond croissant. The figures depend heavily on which puff pastry you use, since palm and coconut based pastries push the saturated fat up.

• Almond Croissant (1 serving) contains 349 calories
• Total carbs 37.4g
• Fibre 2.5g
• Sugar 12g
• Fat 18g
• Saturated fat 12g
• Protein 8.5g

Conclusion

That is the quick version of a vegan almond croissant, and for a weekend morning it does the job. If you have made any changes worth knowing about, particularly to the filling, let me know in the comments.

If you have any questions about the method, feel free to ask.

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