Almond Croissant (Bakery-style Recipe)

These easy almond croissants or croissants aux amandes are bakery-style croissants made with almond croissant filling and baked to perfection. The recipe is not only budget-friendly but also created to use stale croissants, fancying them up into French style bakery treats.

Have you ever wondered what to do with leftover croissants? Here is your chance to learn how to turn your one-day-old croissants into almond croissants in just 20 minutes.

Jump to:

• What are almond croissants?
• Almond croissant recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make almond croissants
• Expert Tips
• Recipe variations
• Storing and freezing
• Recipe FAQ
• Love breakfast recipes? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

Then, serve them for breakfast with your morning cup of coffee, brunch, and dinner. Or enjoy them with mint tea for an afternoon oriental break or with a mulled wine like at the Alsatian Christmas market.

What are almond croissants?

Almond croissants (croissants aux amandes) are one-day-old croissants filled with French almond cream, sprinkled with almonds, and baked until golden brown.

For the bakeries, it is a way to recycle stale croissants, unsold the day before, into a delicious and crispy treat.

Authentically, French boulangeries use almond croissant filling - rich almond cream, not frangipane filling.

Almond croissant recipe

• It is an easy almond croissant recipe, also anti-waste, and budget-friendly. A batch of regular croissants costs less than the best almond croissant in town.

• Homemade almond croissants get that classic French bakery look in no time: it takes 20-25 minutes from start to finish.

• They taste like Parisian croissants and are better than flaky almond croissants from Starbucks or your favorite bakery.

• The recipe has a make-ahead option: buy croissants and make creamy almond filling one day before, spread the cream, and bake the next day.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Croissants: You will need one-day-old croissants (stale croissants) to make the recipe, but fresh croissants will also work. Use store-bought or homemade croissants interchangeably. Ideally, keep French croissants on the counter uncovered for 1-2 days.

• Almonds: Opt for top-quality organic blanched almonds finely ground with a food processor into almond powder. Process the nuts at the last moment to reveal the best flavors.

Alternatively, use ground almonds out of whole nuts or store-bought almond meal. If unavailable, use blanched or unblanched almond flour. To sprinkle the croissant top, use flaked or slivered almonds.

• Sugar: Use icing sugar (confectioners' or powdered sugar) to make the almond croissant filling and granulated sugar - for sugar syrup.

• Butter: Use softened semi-salted or unsalted butter butter at room temperature. Choose European-style butter with 82% fat for the best butter flavor and taste. 

• Eggs: The recipe calls for a whole egg at room temperature.

• Flavorings: Flavor sugar syrup with dark rum, amaretto, vanilla extract, orange flower water, or 2-3 drops of bitter almond extract.

Pro tip: To prevent the almond cream filling from spreading out while baking, add 2 teaspoons of all purpose flour or 1 ½ teaspoon of cornstarch to the cream recipe.

How to make almond croissants

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Step 2. To make simple syrup, pour water with sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove it from the heat. Optionally, add rum (or vanilla extract) and let it cool.

Step 3. To make almond croissant filling, mix the softened butter and icing sugar with a hand whisk or a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. 

Pro tip: Consult the almond cream recipe for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 4. Add the egg and mix well with a whisk. The mixture may look a little bit curdled, but it will disappear with the addition of ground almonds.

Step 5. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in ground almonds and mix again until you obtain a smooth cream.

Pro tip: Refrigerate the cream in a bowl covered with plastic for 30 minutes. This step is optional but helps firm the cream a bit.

Step 6. To assemble croissants, use a large serrated knife to cut the croissants in half lengthwise.

Pro tip: Alternatively, cut croissants to the far edge without separating them into two halves. This helps prevent the almond cream filling from spilling out of the croissant during baking.

Step 7. With a silicone or pastry brush, brush each half of the croissant with lukewarm sugar syrup, and let them soak for 1-2 minutes on a wire rack.

Step 8. Spread about 2 tablespoons of almond cream on the bottom half of each croissant (photo 1).

Pro tip: Use an amount of cream that corresponds to the size of your croissants. Aim for a thickness of 3-5 mm for the cream.

Step 9. Place the top half of the croissant and press lightly with your hand to seal.

Step 10. Spread about 1 tablespoon of almond cream on top of each croissant. Take one croissant at a time and wrap the cream-covered top into the bowl of flaked almonds (photo 2).

Pro tip: Alternatively, sprinkle croissants with sliced almonds, pressing lightly on them so that they stick.

Step 11. Continue for the rest of the croissants. Place croissants on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with fleur de sel (optionally).

Step 12. Bring to the hot oven and bake for 13-15 minutes. The almond cream should be set, and the tops of the croissants should be lightly browned.

Pro tip: If the cream is too soft, place assembled croissants to set for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, then bake.

Step 13. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle croissants with icing sugar.

Expert Tips

1. Don't overfill the croissants to prevent the almond cream from leaking during baking. 
2. Serve almond croissants warm or cold.
3. Make-ahead option: Buy croissants and prepare the almond cream one day before. Keep the almond cream refrigerated until ready to use. Assemble almond croissants and bake them the next morning.

Recipe variations

All the recipe variations are attributed to flavor variations of the almond cream.

• Ground nuts: Replace 20-30% of the almond powder with other ground nuts (hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, etc.).

• Chocolate: Add 2-3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to the almond cream to make chocolate almond croissants.

• Other viennoisery pastries or bread: Try stale chocolatine (pain au chocolat), French brioche, or even country bread slices instead of croissants.

Storing and freezing

Almond croissants are best eaten fresh, but you can store them in an airtight container for up to two days. To reheat, bake them at 325°F (165°F) for 5-7 minutes.

Can you freeze almond croissants? You can freeze both assembled croissants with raw almond cream and baked almond croissants.

• Place assembled croissants on a baking sheet in one layer and freeze for 3-4 hours. Then, place the croissants in a freezing ziplock bag and freeze them for 1-2 months. When you are ready to bake, add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
• If you have already baked almond croissants, you can also freeze them. Cover each croissant with double layers of plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 1 month.

Recipe FAQ

Love breakfast recipes? Try these next!

• French crepes
• Savory breakfast muffins
• Vanilla Dutch Baby
• Yeasted Blini

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.