Buttery, bold and beautiful. Take your regular croissants up a notch by dressing them up with almond cream and icing sugar! Make them with day-old croissants, because it’s the best way to use up any leftovers.

Most people enjoy having this for breakfast, but I definitely feel like they’re more of a dessert and a treat!

Croissants aux Amandes

makes 8 Almond Croissants

Very Simple Syrup

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp water

1. In a bowl, microwave the ingredients for 30 seconds
2. Stir well, and let cool

Almond Cream

• 1 cup almond (or almond meal)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 2 eggs
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 tsp almond extract (optional)

1. In food processor, combine the almond, sugar and salt. Pulse until fine crumbs
2. Add the butter and lemon zest, and pulse to blend completely
3. Transfer into a mixing bowl, and add the egg one at a time, using a hand mixer to whip until combined.
4. Finally, add the almond extract and whip on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes until the mixture becomes thick and fluffy.

Topping and Assembly

• 8 croissants (sliced in halves)
• Sliced almonds
• Icing sugar for dusting

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C
2. To assemble your almond croissants, brush the simple syrup on both cut sides of your croissants.
3. Generously spread the almond cream on the bottom cut half of the croissant. Note that if you find that you have a lot of leftover cream, you’re probably not spreading enough almond cream in your croissants!
4. Cover with its respective top half, and spread more almond cream on top of the top half of the croissant
5. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and gently compress to ensure they stick to the almond cream on top of your croissant
6. Bake your almond croissants for 15-18 minutes until golden brown
7. Finally, dust with icing sugar and enjoy while hot and crispy! (This is the best part)

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! It’s a lot simpler when you don’t have to make the croissants from scratch! If you still find yourself with some leftover cream, you can also spread it on toast and bake it in a toaster oven!

Obviously, my fiance was pulled into this by being forced into being my hand model in exchange for some croissants to eat. Yes, these croissants can be used as leverage too!