How to Make Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)

February 13, 2021. Cold snowy winter day. Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin) with Optional Orange Glaze.

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Whenever it is cold outside (especially when it’s a snowy day), I simply love to tinker and spend my day inside. Specifically in my warm, cozy kitchen dreaming and baking up a storm (lol, pun intended). I have this bucket list of things to make and bake. Cr-oissant + M-uffin = Cruffin has always seemed so intimidating and laborious that I kept skipping it in favor of something easier.

Recently, I’ve successfully made some light and flaky egg tarts as well as some delectable apple Danish pastries. Both of these pastries required the technique of laminating butter and dough. My confidence as a home baker has increased. As a result, I am ready to tackle this multi-layered Butter Cruffin recipe.

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Overview

I am pleased to share that the overall Cruffin making process is not that difficult nor does it require any unusual or obscure ingredients. In fact, it only uses 7 ingredients! However, it does take a bit of patience and time. About 3 to 4 hours. Not a whole day, which is manageable (and perfect for a weekend bake project!). The bulk of the time is simply letting the dough rest and rise (and do its thing) so that we can get the full benefits of the magic when we mix flour, water and yeast together.

We’ll start off by making the dough, letting it proof, followed by rolling it out as thinly as possible, adding the butter filling, and rolling it back up into little cylinders. Then, we cut it into strips and shape it into little rounds – like a snail’s shell or nautilus, and finally let it rest one more time before baking. That’s it in the nutshell!

IMHO, the most laborious part is rolling out the dough as thinly as possible, adding a lovely layer of softened butter, before rolling them up. This step will create the signature layers that are usually seen in a cruffin. I’ve seen people using a pasta maker to roll out such paper thin and fine dough … it’s awe-inspiring!

Bear in mind that this is NOT a croissant and we will not be laminating chunks of butter. And of course, we will be using butter -not crazy amounts, but enough to make it yummy. This is also NOT a hearty muffin, but it is truly a cross between a pastry and bread. The final result is a soft and many-layered buttery treat that is just the thing to go with your morning cup of coffee or tea.

Well, let’s get baking!

Ingredients for Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)

There are only 7 ingredients to make this cruffin dough. Plus 2 if you add the simple orange glaze.

Dough
2½ cups (300g) All purpose flour and more for dusting
2¼ tsp (7g) dry active yeast
2 Tbsp. (25g) granulated sugar
1 tsp (6g) fine salt
1 large egg, room temperature
2/3 cup (140g) full milk, warm
1/2 cup (113g) 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened, divided – 1Tbsp. mixed into the dough, 6 Tbsp. to spread over dough, 1 Tbsp. to grease muffin pan

Optional Orange Glaze
fresh zest of orange
3 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. sugar

These tools are needed: a Stand Mixer, a Rolling Pin, a Bench scraper or sharp knife plus a standard 12 hole muffin/cupcake pan.

Making the Dough

Let’s start by gathering and measuring all the ingredients. I like to weigh all the ingredients for consistent results. I’ve also included both the US and metric measurements in the recipe.

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Into the stand mixer bowl, add all the dry ingredients – flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Lightly whisk to combine. Then, add in the egg, milk and turn on the mixer with dough hook attachment.

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Mix until the dough starts to come together, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in softened butter and mix well, another 1 minute. Dough will look sticky. Scrape down the sides. Increase speed to medium low and knead for at least 8 to 10 minutes until dough looks soft and pliable.

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Remove from mixer bowl. Next, form dough into a ball and place in lightly greased clean bowl. Cover and let it rest in warm place (I usually put it in my unlit oven with the lights on) for 45 minutes to an hour.

Shaping the Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)

While waiting, grease muffin pan with softened butter. Prepare work surface for dough – lightly flour work surface and rolling pin.

Preparing the Dough

When the dough has fully rested, punch it down and shape into a log. Cut into 6 even pieces.

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Take 1 piece of the dough and start shaping into a round. Flatten the dough and fold the edges into the middle, creating a round. Flip the seam down and cupping the dough in your hand, roll it around to create a taut surface on top. Set aside and cover. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces. Cover and let them rest for 10 minutes.

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Take one dough ball and roll out into an oval. Set aside. Repeat with all the dough balls. Then lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin again. Take one of the oval pieces and start to roll out the dough as thinly as possible into an approximate rectangle shape 15″x 7″ (38 x 18 cm). The dough does not have to be perfectly rectangle. The dough is thin enough when it is slightly see-through (or when I can see the lines on my pastry board!).

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Shaping the Dough

Spread the softened butter evenly all over the thin dough. Then carefully roll up the dough and place it seam side down. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.

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When done, take one of the rolled up dough cylinders and cut it in half. With the exposed/cut side up, start to roll up the dough into a round (like a snail shell). Tuck in the ends under the rolled up dough and place into the prepared greased muffin pan. Repeat until all the pieces are shaped.

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Cover loosely with plastic cling wrap and place in a warm place to let it rest for another 45 minutes until the dough is puffy.

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Baking and Finishing the Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). When ready, remove the plastic wrap cover and pop the pan into the oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Bake until the cruffin tops are golden brown. When done remove from oven and cool on racks. Your cruffins are ready!

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Simple Orange Glaze

Optional, but highly recommended. You can add a simple orange glaze to the still warm cruffins.

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To make glaze, heat up 3 tablespoons of water with 3 tablespoons of sugar and zest from half an orange. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool. Brush generously all over the cruffins to glaze.

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Notes on Butter Cruffins (Croissant + Muffin)

1. Spread approximately 1 Tbsp. of softened butter over the thinly rolled out dough.
2. The thinner the dough, the more swirls and layers will show up in the cruffin when baked. 
3. I like to use the light orange glaze to create a beautiful shine on the cruffins. You can also use icing sugar to lightly dust the cruffins if you prefer that look.
4. Cruffin tastes best on the day it’s made. Uneaten cruffins can be stored in air tight container for up to 2 days.

Postscript

Ever wonder how this fun treat came about? I was curious and did a search and found out that cruffin originated in Australia (specifically, Kate Reid of Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne) in 2013. It was brought over to the US and made popular in the West Coast by Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco before it became an online craze. It was thought that cruffin was a direct response to the other popular hybrid pastry at that same time, the Cronut (Croissant + Donut) which was invented by Chef Dominique Ansel.

This recipe was inspired by many fabulous bakers and their methods especially bake-street.com, forktobelly.com, bbcgoodfood.com, Akis Petretzikis and MyLittleKitchen.

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