Oats Free Pain au Chocolat
Few things in the pastry world rival the moment you pull apart a perfectly laminated chocolate pastry and watch those flaky, buttery layers separate to reveal a ribbon of melted dark chocolate inside. This recipe achieves that bakery-counter magic entirely from scratch, using a classic lamination technique where cold butter is folded and rolled into the dough through a series of careful turns — no shortcuts, no mystery ingredients. Every component is straightforward: flour, milk, butter, sugar, yeast, salt, egg, and dark chocolate batons. For anyone navigating an oat sensitivity, that clean, simple ingredient list is genuinely reassuring, since there's no grain filler, no oat-based thickener, and nothing that typically triggers cross-contact concerns hiding in the dough. The process does ask for patience — multiple chilling periods keep the butter layers distinct and are what create that signature shatter-and-pull texture — but none of the steps are technically intimidating once you understand the rhythm. The payoff is a deeply golden, amber-crusted pastry with a soft interior and pockets of bittersweet chocolate that taste like they came from a proper French boulangerie. Serve them still slightly warm from the rack and they will absolutely ruin you for store-bought forever.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp fine salt
- ¾ cup whole milk, cold
- ¼ cup water, cold
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
For the butter block
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 225g) unsalted butter, cold
For the filling
- 16 dark chocolate batons (or 4 oz dark chocolate, cut into 16 short sticks)
For the egg wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp whole milk
Instructions
- 1
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt. Add the cold milk and cold water, then mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms, about 2 minutes. Add the 2 tbsp softened butter and increase to medium speed, mixing until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky.
- 2
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into a flat rectangle roughly 6×8 inches, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
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