Massive Sheet Pan Croissants Are The Decadent Dessert You Didn't Know You Needed

Even the most intrepid home baker might quiver at the thought of making a batch of croissants for the first time. The beloved crescent-shaped pastry gets its signature flakiness from a process called lamination, which involves rolling butter into pastry dough in countless folds. It might sound simple, but it takes a lot of time and patience to do it right. 

Enter: the giant sheet-pan croissant, a clever invention that recipe developer Sohla El-Waylly shared with NYT Cooking on YouTube. Instead of preparing a buttery détrempe, letting it rise, laminating the dough, and rolling it into individual crescents, El-Waylly's quick-and-easy version, which was born from an intense craving for a really big almond croissant, requires very little effort, forethought, or loyalty to French tradition. It's also super adaptable, so you can make it as fancy or as pared back as you wish. The best part? You don't need to bust out your stand mixer.

Instead of using croissant dough, Sohla El-Waylly's giant croissant recipe makes use of store-bought puff pastry. Since it's laminated with butter but not leavened like traditional dough, it yields an extra-crunchy bite that evokes the shatterable exterior of a typical croissant. When the puff pastry is thawed but still cold, El-Waylly unfolds it onto a sheet tray and bakes it in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, followed by another 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Once it's out of the oven, the next step is to slice it open lengthwise and fill it with whatever your heart desires. "Anything you would want in a croissant, you can put in this puff pastry," she says. To prove it, she makes three versions: a classic offering with almond frangipane, like the kind you'd find in a typical almond croissant; a ham and cheese; and a hazelnut frangipane with a little whiskey thrown in.

The word "frangipane" might sound fancy, but it's actually pretty simple to whip up. For the almond version, Sohla El-Wayyly mixes together melted butter, sugar, and kosher salt, then adds an egg, some almond flour, and some vanilla and almond extract. She doesn't add rum but says a splash of it would be a welcome addition, not to mention a nod to bakery-style almond croissants, which are traditionally soaked in rum syrup.

After slicing the baked puff pastry in half lengthwise, she spreads a layer of frangipane in the center, leaving about a third in the bowl. The rest gets spread on the top layer, along with a layer of sliced almonds and a sprinkling of flaky salt. It goes into a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 more minutes, and voilà, your massive pastry is complete. El-Wayyly's recipe is the perfect vehicle for your favorite ingredients, so if you're not into nuts, that's fine — we could see this recipe working well with a classic chocolate filling, or, channeling Lebanese street food, a healthy sprinkling of za'atar.