Puff Pastry Croissants (vegan)
These puff pastry croissants are perfect for entertaining and an easy sweet treat using pre-made puff pastry! They are flaky and have a crunchy exterior, soft center and swirls of homemade raspberry jam. And I’ve included tips for how to make them vegan!
Why you’ll love this recipe
Easy and quick to make. These puff pastry croissants require minimal effort compared to homemade croissants! Traditional croissant dough is yeasted and laminated which takes too much time. While puff pastry croissants don’t have the same texture as traditional croissants, it’s a great hack!
Tasty. Using homemade raspberry jam gives you lots of fresh berry flavor!
Simple ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Store-bought puff pastry sheets. Many puff pastry brands are accidentally vegan as they contain vegetable shortening instead of butter. Please double-check the ingredients to make sure.
Fresh or frozen raspberries to make the jam. Alternatively, you can use store-bought jam, but homemade has a stronger raspberry flavor.
Cornstarch to thicken the jam.
Sugar adds sweetness to the jam. You can adjust the amount of sugar to taste, keeping in mind that the sweetness will be diluted by the pastry.
Making the raspberry jam
For these vegan croissants, you can either make your own jam (using 3-4 ingredients) or use store-bought jam that you thicken on the stovetop.
I don’t recommend using store-bought jam straight from the jar. Store-bought jam still has a lot of moisture/water from the fruit and this turns into steam in the oven which makes the middle of the croissants soggy rather than flaky. Just imagine eating steamed puff pastry – no thank you! Unreduced jam is also more likely to spill out of the croissants when you bake them.
While both options are delicious, the homemade raspberry jam has more berry flavor and you can adjust the sweetness to taste.
How to make puff pastry croissants
First, thaw your puff pastry at room temperature. This can take from 5-25 minutes, depending on how warm your home is. Please don’t thaw the pastry for too long as it needs to be cold for assembly. If your pastry gets too soft, place it in the refrigerator to firm up.
Spread a thin layer of the jam on your puff pastry sheets. For this recipe, more jam is not better! As mentioned before, jam ‘steams’ in the oven, and we don’t want too much moisture in these croissants.
Then use a sharp knife, pizza cutter or pastry cutting wheel to cut triangles from your pastry. The number of triangles you get will depend on the size of your pastry sheets. My croissants were 6cm (around 2.5 inches) wide and I got 7 mini croissants and extra mini ones from each pastry sheet.
Finally, starting from the long side of each triangle, roll it up into a croissant shape. If desired, you can bend your rolled croissants into a crescent shape (I didn’t bother).
Baking these croissants
Instead of an egg wash, I used a simple mixture of maple syrup and water or milk to brush my croissants. This makes them beautifully golden brown.
Puff pastry croissants need to be in a hot oven to puff up! If your oven is too cool, your puff pastry will be flatter.
Customizing this recipe
Yes! Puff pastry croissants work well with chocolate spreads, Biscoff spread, pieces of chocolate and chocolate chips. You don’t need to cook them beforehand as they have no water content.
I don’t recommend using a buttery cinnamon sugar filling. The butter steams the center of the croissants making them which destroys their flakiness.
I haven’t tested it, but you can use the filling of my almond croissant cookie bars. One batch of the frangipane layer should be enough for 2 sheets of puff pastry. Top each croissant with some frangipane and sliced almonds!
I don’t recommend this. I tested these croissants with two sheets of puff pastry and the jam filling, and they were much less flaky than my recipe below.
Yes, you can assemble the croissants and keep them in the fridge or freezer until needed. I recommend storing them in an airtight container or lightly covering them in plastic wrap (you can use the same plastic that came with the puff pastry)!
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Puff Pastry Croissants
Ingredients
Puff Pastry Croissants
- 2 x sheets frozen puff pastry
- 1 cup (125g) fresh or frozen raspberries, note 1 if using store-bought jam
- ⅔ cup (65g) granulated sugar, or to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons (10g) cornstarch / corn flour
- 1 tablespoon (15g) water
Pastry Wash
- 1 tablespoon (20g) maple syrup, or other liquid sweetener
- ½ tablespoon (8g) dairy-free milk, or water
Instructions
Make the raspberry jam:
- Add the raspberries, sugar, corn starch and water to a wide saucepan. Mix until combined, making sure there are no lumps of corn starch.
- Place the saucepan over high heat. When the mixture starts to boil, stir continuously for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. When the jam has slightly cooled down, transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge or freezer until cold.
Assemble and bake the puff pastry croissants:
- Preheat your oven to 220°C (430°F). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (note 2).
- Defrost the puff pastry sheets (make sure they’re still cold). If your puff pastry is quite thick, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin. Spread a thin layer of jam on each pastry sheet.
- Cut each sheet into around long triangles. I got 7-9 triangles from one sheet of pastry, but the amount you'll get will depend on the size of your puff pastry. Starting from the wide end of each triangle, roll each piece into a croissant shape. Arrange the rolled croissants on your lined baking sheets, with a little space between each.
- In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup and milk. Brush the mixture on the croissants.
- Bake the croissants for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
- The croissants are best enjoyed on the day of baking. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. To make the croissants crispy again, reheat them in your oven or airfryer.
Notes
- You can use store-bought jam but need to thicken it first otherwise your croissants won’t have flaky layers inside. In a wide saucepan, mix 1/2 cup (170g) of raspberry jam/preserves with 1 1/2 tablespoons (10g) of cornflour and a dash of water until well combined. Place over medium-high heat and once the mixture starts to bubble, cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool completely.
- This temperature is for a conventional oven (without a fan). If you have a fan oven, please bake the croissants at 200°C (390°F)
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