Easy Vegan Croissants

Easy Vegan Croissants

We're not going to lie, when we first started testing vegan croissants we genuinely thought we were mad for trying. But here we are, absolutely obsessed with this recipe. Layers of buttery, flaky pastry that shatter when you bite in, made entirely from plants. It's the kind of thing you make on a slow weekend morning and feel properly proud of when you pull them out of the oven. Trust us, once you've nailed these you'll never look at a bakery the same way again.

Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Stand mixer
  • Large baking tray lined with baking parchment
  • Rolling pin
  • Dough rest for 2 hours before shaping

Ingredients

  • 500g white flour
  • 10g salt
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 125g plant-based butter
  • 125g plant-based yoghurt
  • 125ml plant-based milk
  • 25g fresh yeast
  • 50ml maple syrup
  • 50ml soy milk

Method

1

Mix the ingredients together

  • Put the flour, salt, sugar, yogurt, plant-based butter, plant-based milk in the bowl of a stand mixer
  • Start the mixer at speed 2 or 3, making sure that all the ingredients get mixed nicely together
  • After 3 minutes at speed 2 to 3, add the yeast and spin for another 3 minutes
  • You might have to add a couple of extra spoons of white flour so that the dough gets a perfect elastic texture. Not too wet and not too dry
  • Let the dough rest for 2 hours
2

Shape the croissants and cook

  • Pin-roll the dough to about 5mm thick
  • Cut triangles and start rolling them into croissant shapes
  • Mix together the soy milk and maple syrup
  • Then brush the triangles with the soya-maple mix and place them on a tray lined with baking parchment
  • Bake for 10 minutes (depending on the size of the croissants)
  • Remove when they're golden brown

Tips & Variations

  • Get your butter cold: The plant-based butter needs to stay cold throughout the laminating process. If it starts to melt into the dough, pop the whole thing back in the fridge for 20 minutes before carrying on. Patience here is everything.
  • Proof them properly: We find giving the shaped croissants a good long proof, somewhere warm, makes a huge difference to the final texture. Don't rush this step. You want them to look noticeably puffier before they go in the oven.
  • Egg wash swap: Brush with plant-based milk mixed with a tiny bit of maple syrup before baking. It gives them that gorgeous deep golden colour that makes them look like they came straight from a Parisian boulangerie.

Why This Works

The trick here is getting that dough to the right elasticity before you even think about laminating. Not too wet, not too stiff, and the plant-based butter needs to be cold but pliable when you fold it in. Those layers are everything, and getting that balance right is what gives you that proper croissant shatter rather than a sad, bready roll.