Pistachio Free Pain au Chocolat
Few baked goods inspire as much awe as a perfectly laminated pastry, and this one delivers those signature shatteringly crisp, buttery layers wrapped around pockets of melted dark chocolate. The process is genuinely hands-on — you're building a butter block, executing three careful turns, and letting the dough rest between each one — but every step is straightforward if you follow the timing. For anyone navigating tree nut allergies, store-bought versions can be a real gamble, since bakery cases and packaged pastries often share equipment with pistachio-laden croissants and filled pastries. This recipe keeps things clean and simple: flour, butter, milk, sugar, yeast, salt, and dark chocolate batons are all you need. The lamination technique is what makes these extraordinary — thin, distinct layers of dough and cold butter that puff and separate in the oven into something that looks and tastes genuinely professional. Pull them from the oven when they're a deep amber brown, let them cool just long enough to handle, and bite in while the chocolate is still slightly soft in the center.
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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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