I thought I’d share tonight’s dinner since we recently learned about lamination in the group. I made the King Arthur Flaky Puff Crust Pizza recipe: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/flaky-puff-crust-pizza-recipe. I highly recommend giving it a try if you enjoyed the croissant bread bakealong. This is my 2nd attempt. My guys gave it rave reviews, but it was a bit of a struggle to make it in a warm kitchen. Last time I made it was in the winter and it was much easier to work the dough. My dough warmed up too quickly today and I had to keep taking breaks to put it back in the refrigerator. I forgot to take pictures before I served the pizza but here are a few shots.

Well, here we are. Bake day. And it landed on the Fourth of July, so let’s make something beautiful today. 🇺🇸 Most of you have your dough or your butter blocks resting in the fridge right now, which means the hard part is behind you. Today’s the payoff. We shape, we proof, we bake. Here’s the game plan: 🥐 Pull your dough, roll it out long, cut your triangles, and shape ⏳ Proof until puffy and jiggly. This is the make-or-break step, so don’t rush it. French folks, you’re looking at a couple hours. Sourdough, yours runs longer, 3 to 5, so be patient with it. 🔥 Egg wash, then bake to a deep mahogany. Pale is underbaked. Let that color build. Now, two things about the heat. 🎇 First, the real one. This heat wave across the country is dangerous, not just uncomfortable. Drink your water, stay cool, and check on the older folks and neighbors around you. Your bread can wait. You come first. Take care of yourselves out there. 🇺🇸 Second, that same heat is sitting in your kitchen. Your final proof has to stay under 78F or the butter melts and weeps out before the croissants ever hit the oven. Find the coolest room in the house. If your kitchen’s running warm, the fridge is still your friend, use it to hold the proof steady. Keep a close eye today, because in this heat they can over-proof faster than you’d think. This thread is home base all day. 🎆 Post your progress right here. Your shaped croissants, your proof, your first tray out of the oven, your crumb shots when you cut in. And if you hit a snag, butter leaking, dough fighting you, proof looking off, drop it in the comments and I’ll walk you through it. I’m around all day. Let’s bake, everybody. 🇺🇸🥐 Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥🇺🇸

4th of July weekend edition Croissants tomorrow, and I won’t sugarcoat it. A big chunk of the country is sitting under a heat advisory right now, so this bake starts on hard mode before we even touch butter. Lamination is a cold-weather craft, and your kitchen is working against you. That’s fine. We plan around it. ❄️ Here’s the rule for tomorrow: Cold butter. Cold dough. Cold hands. Heat is the enemy of every layer you’re trying to build. A few things that will save your bake: 🧊 Clear a shelf in the fridge tonight Don’t wait until your dough is warming on the counter to go shuffling jars around. Make the space now so when it’s time to chill, you just slide it in and walk away. 🧈 Learn the bend test Your butter block should bend, not break. Pull it from the fridge a few minutes early and press it. If it cracks and shatters, it’s too cold and will tear right through your dough. If it’s greasy and soft, it’s too warm and will squeeze out the sides. You want it pliable and cool, like cold modeling clay. ⚠️ Watch for the warning signs If the butter starts to grease out, if it tears through the dough, if the layers smear instead of staying distinct, or if the dough goes slack and sticky, stop. That’s your dough telling you it’s too warm. Wrap it, chill everything 20 minutes, and come back. You are laminating, not fighting. 🥶 The fridge is your friend. The freezer is not. I know the instinct in this heat is to slam everything in the freezer to catch up fast. Don’t. The freezer chills the outside hard while the center stays soft, so you get uneven dough that behaves worse, not better. The refrigerator cools it evenly all the way through. Slower is the whole point. ⏱️ Plan your rests Build extra chill breaks into your day tomorrow. In this weather you’ll need more of them, and that’s not a failure. That’s smart baking. Keep your folds square, keep your rolling even, and don’t chase perfection on your first batch. We’re all learning this one together. 📸 Drop your questions below and I’ll answer through the morning.

For anyone looking to take any of the King Arthur on demand class they are currently offering them at 20% off. They are normally $40, now $32.

Nothing makes me more happy that then to share my kitchen with my grands. Mollie started sourdough baking with me when she was 9, with one year, now 10, she made this beautiful sandwich loaf. My heart is so full. Note: when it was time to add the salt, look’s at me and said, Nonnie, do we still dimple in the salt like Mr Henry. I wanted to hit the floor. 🤯