Chocolate Almond Croissants

Crispy and flaky almond croissants stuffed with chocolate almond frangipane and melty dark chocolate

Dissolve sugar: In a small saucepan, stir together sugar and water. Heat the mixture on medium heat for a few minutes until the sugar has completely dissolved. You won't need all of the simple syrup for these almond croissants so transfer about ⅓ of the syrup to a small bowl and set aside to cool. Transfer the remaining syrup to a clean container, let it cool, and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Butter mixture: In a medium mixing bowl, add the softened butter. Use an electric hand mixer to beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the almond flour, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix until well combined (it will look too dry at first but just keep mixing until all the flour is saturated).
Beat in eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between each addition. Beat in the almond or vanilla extract along with the last egg until the mixture is a soft paste consistency. Transfer the frangipane to a piping bag and snip the tip off. Set aside.

Slice croissants: Cut each of the croissants in half lengthwise and place the bottom halves on your lined baking sheet.
Brush with simple syrup: Use a pastry brush to brush each croissant half on the cut side with simple syrup.
Filling: Pipe the frangipane on the bottom half of each croissant, reserving some extra to pipe on the top later. Place a few pieces of chocolate (or a handful of chocolate chips) in the middle of the frangipane.
Toppings: Press the corresponding top halves of the croissants on top of the filling. Pipe a line of frangipane on top of each croissant. Press a handful of sliced almonds on top of the frangipane.
Bake: Bake croissants for about 22-25 minutes or until they're golden brown and crispy. Let them cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before using a fine mesh sieve to dust them with powdered sugar. Enjoy warm or let them cool to room temperature.

Simple syrup: This recipe makes more simple syrup than you'll need for these almond croissants. I figured since we're going through the trouble of making it, you might as well make more. There will be enough simple syrup to make 2-3 batches of these almond croissants or you can save it to add to coffee, drinks, or brush on cake layers to keep them moist. It will keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. You can also halve the recipe to make a smaller amount.
Almond extract: Almond extract gives these almond croissants a much stronger almond flavour that makes them taste more like the ones from bakeries. It's not too common for most people to have on hand so it's optional. You can substitute it with vanilla extract if you like.

Tried this recipe?Leave a rating & comment to let us know how it was and tag your Instagram posts with @teakandthyme!