Almond Crossaints

 

If you visit a classic French Bakery, you'll likely see these behind a shiny glass: "Croissants aux Amandes" (aka Almond Croissants). I happen to have one such bakery near my work. All the time I pass by it, I drool when I lay my eyes on those croissants. What a treat it would be to have this with some hot latte!  These almond croissants were delicious and so easy to make.  I finally got a chance to make it over the weekend and we didn’t want to have lunch! It was very filling.

 

Here’s how I made it:

 

Almond Croissants

Ingredients

3 (one-day-old) medium/large croissants

3 Tbsp. sliced almonds

Powdered sugar for dusting

1 Tbsp. sugar

½ Cup water

¼ cup granulated sugar

½  cup almond flour

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla essence

 

 

How to :

For syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine ½  cup water, 1 Tbsp. sugar and bring to a simmer for a minute and stir until the sugar dissolves then remove from heat and let cool to room temp.

 

For almond filling:

Mix cream cheese, almond meal, vanilla essence and granulated sugar with the hand mixer till everything is incorporated nicely.

Mixture should be icing consistency.

 

How to assemble:

Preheat the oven to 350° F .

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Slice each croissant horizontally like you would for a sandwich.

Work with each croissant one by one: brush it with the syrup, coating both sides and the ends well.

The croissant should be quite moist, but not soaking wet.

Arrange the croissants on a baking dish, cut side up.

Spread about 2 Tbsp. of almond filling on the bottom half of each croissant.

Place the top halves on and spread about 1 Tbsp. of almond filling over the top.

Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the cream is golden.

Cool to room temperature or just warm on a wire rack.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

These are best served the same day they are made.

Enjoy!