The Secret to Making the Cruffin, a Croissant-Muffin Hybrid

Every week, we’re spotlighting a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, Mandy Lee of Lady and Pups blows our minds with a flaky croissant-muffin mashup. Lee calls on an unlikely kitchen tool to achieve the dish’s delicate texture: a pasta maker.

Cruffins, anyone? Photo: Mandy Lee

Cruffins
Makes 8 cruffins

This came to me on a complete whim, took some stumbling and revisions, but people… zero folding, absolutely no chilling in between, utterly flakey and shattering cruffins (croissant + muffin = it’s a thing) made with a pasta machine! I don’t know what else you need to hear about it. Seriously. Go now. Do it.

11 ½ tablespoons (165 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150 grams) bread flour
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150 grams) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon (6 grams) instant dry yeast
1 ½ teaspoon (11 grams) salt
½ cup (130 grams) lukewarm water + 2 tablespoons (30 grams) for adjustment
3 ½ tablespoon (50 grams) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Two hours before starting the dough, leave 11 ½ tablespoons (165 grams) unsalted butter on the counter for it to completely come to room-temperature.

In the bowl of a stand-mixer equipped with a dough-hook (or large bowl with hand-held mixer with dough-hooks), whisk together bread flour, all-purpose flour, instant dry yeast and salt until even. Add ½ cup of lukewarm water (around 95°F/35°C) and knead on low speed for 3 minutes. The dough should be slightly shaggy and stiff, but if it has difficulty coming together, add the additional 2 tablespoons of water and knead again. Then add 2 1/6 tablespoons cubed, unsalted butter and knead on low speed for 5 minutes until completely incorporated. Then increase to medium speed and knead for another 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is extremely smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 40 to 45 minutes at room temperature. It should expand slightly.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and divide into 4 equal portions. Work with 1 portion at a time and cover the rest loosely with plastic wrap. Dust the dough with just enough flour so it doesn’t stick, then roll it into 1/30-inch (1 cm) thickness. With a pasta machine at its thickest increment, feed the dough through the machine once. Then feed it back again, but this time overlap 1 end of the dough over the other and run the seam through the machine so it sticks/connects tightly together. You should have a continuous ring of dough going through the pasta machine like a conveyor belt. This saves you the trouble/time of re-feeding the dough back into the machine after each increment.

Now dust both the inner and outer sides of the dough with a bit of flour, then start running the dough through the machine, continuously, until you reach the thinnest increment (should be paper-thin). Gently avoid any crinkling or folding of the dough during this process, laying it neat and flat on the counter. Now cut the dough loose where it’s close to the machine, then run to release the dough from the machine.

The dough will be very long, so you may need to cut it in half, and keep it unfolded and laid flat on the counter. Now with your fingers, gently rub a thin layer of the room temperature butter (has to be very soft but not melted) evenly across the dough, extending all the way to the edges. Do this to both sections of the dough, if you had to cut it in half. Just keep in mind that this is a ¼ of the entire dough and you should use up ¼ of the remaining butter.

Once finished, start rolling the dough from one end to the other, as tightly as you can, into a firm log. Place the log on one end of the other buttered section of dough, and roll it up again. Now, cut the log in half length-wise with a floured knife, then with the cut-side facing outward, twirl it into a semi-knot and tuck the ends underneath itself. (Do not make them too tight, because they need a bit of room to expand.)

Place the knots inside buttered muffin-pan. Repeat the process with the other 3 portions of the doughs and butter.

Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until fully doubled in size. (It may need a couple hours more if the dough is cold.) Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F/200°C, for 25 min until puffed and golden brown. Let cool slightly on a cooling-rack, then dust with powdered sugar.

Notes: I strongly recommend measuring the ingredients by weight. Also, this recipe lands slightly on the savory side. If you want it to be sweet, reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon, then add 2 tablespoon of sugar to the dough-mix. Then instead of powdered sugar, you can roll the cruffins in sugar all around.

More food mashups that should be on your radar:

Thanksgiving poutine, a.k.a the best American-Canadian mashup ever

Dominique Ansel’s sweet hybrid, banana bread tiramisu

Churro ice cream sandwiches, which truly make the world a better place

What’s your favorite food mashup? Tell us below!