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Three French-style pains au chocolat, one broken open to show the flaky layers and the chocolate inside
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Europe

Pain au Chocolat: Laminated French Chocolate Pastry (Chocolatine)

How to make French pain au chocolat at home from a yeasted dough laminated with butter. Covers choosing flour and butter, three letter folds with chilling, judging the final proof by volume and jiggle, and baking to a deep golden brown, with the chocolatine name question, breakfast and goûter culture, and how to fix butter that cracks or leaks.

Level: Advanced

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 9

Mix and knead the dough, then chill it overnight

Pain au chocolat dough starting to come together after milk, water and yeast are combined with the flour
Knead until a thin, translucent film forms, then chill the dough overnight

Combine the milk (5°C), water (25°C) and fresh yeast, then add the croissant flour, plain flour, salt, sugar and the 30g softened butter. Knead for 8 minutes on low speed, then 7–8 minutes on medium speed as a starting point. Mixers differ, and it can take up to about 15–18 minutes in total. The dough is ready when you can stretch a small piece into a thin film that light shows through.

Shape the dough into a rectangle, wrap it in plastic wrap leaving some room for it to expand, and refrigerate for 8–15 hours, ideally 12 hours. This long cold rest builds flavor and gives you a firm, cold dough that is easier to laminate.

STEP 22 / 9

Shape the butter block and chill it overnight

Laminating butter being rolled into an even rectangle between sheets of paper
An even 20 × 30 cm block rolls out at the same pace as the dough

Mix the 500g regular unsalted butter with the 50g flour, then shape it into an even 20 × 30 cm sheet. Keep the thickness uniform so it rolls out at the same rate as the dough. Refrigerate the block overnight alongside the dough.

Before laminating, let the butter reach about 11–15°C as a guide. Too cold and it cracks inside the dough; too warm and it smears into the dough. You want butter that bends without breaking and without feeling greasy.

STEP 33 / 9

Enclose the butter in the dough

A butter block placed in the center of chilled dough, just before enclosing it
Center the butter and fold the dough over it so the edges meet

Roll the cold dough out to about twice the width of the butter block. Place the butter in the center, bring the two sides of dough over it so they meet, and seal the seam. Dust the work surface lightly; too much flour gets trapped between the layers.

STEP 44 / 9

Make three letter folds, chilling between each

Dough folded in thirds and rolled evenly with a rolling pin
Roll evenly with steady pressure so the layers stay intact

Roll the dough into a long, even rectangle and fold it in thirds like a letter. After the first fold, freeze for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 5 minutes. Roll and fold again; after the second fold, freeze for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 10 minutes. Make the third fold, freeze for 15 minutes and refrigerate for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for a further 30 minutes.

If at any point the butter starts to soften and smear, or feels hard enough to crack, do not rush on. Chill the dough or let it sit briefly until the butter is pliable again.

STEP 55 / 9

Roll out the final sheet and cut rectangles

Laminated dough cut into rectangles of equal size
Measure each rectangle at 8 × 17 cm so the pastries proof and bake evenly

Roll the laminated dough to about 1 cm thick; 5 mm is ideal. Cut it into 8 × 17 cm rectangles with a ruler and a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cutting cleanly rather than dragging so the layers at the edges stay open.

STEP 66 / 9

Roll each rectangle around three chocolate batons

Chocolate batons being rolled into laminated dough
Two batons at the start, the third at the first overlap, seam side down

Place two chocolate batons along the top edge of a rectangle and roll the dough over them. Lay the third baton where the first turn overlaps, then continue rolling. Set each pastry seam side down on a baking tray, leaving space between them, about 6 per tray.

STEP 77 / 9

Proof until doubled and jiggly

Shaped pain au chocolat proofed until plump and about doubled
Proofed pastries look puffy and wobble slightly while keeping their shape

Proof the pastries in a switched-off oven with 150ml of hot water in a container, replacing the water every 30 minutes. This water is only for the proofing environment and is separate from the dough water. Watch out: if the oven gets too warm, the butter leaks out. Check the temperature inside with a thermometer, use less hot water if it is getting warm, and if you cannot keep the space gently warm rather than hot, proof at room temperature instead.

Allow about 2.5–3 hours as a guide, though it can take as long as 5 hours depending on conditions. Judge by the pastry, not the clock: they should at least double in volume, look puffy, and jiggle gently when you move the tray.

STEP 88 / 9

Rest for 10 minutes, then brush with egg wash

Egg wash brushed thinly over the surface of proofed dough, avoiding the cut edges
Brush only the smooth top and keep the wash off the exposed layers

Beat the 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks together. Take the proofed pastries out of the oven and leave them at room temperature for 10 minutes so the surface settles; use this time to preheat the oven to 180°C (no fan). Brush a thin coat of egg wash over the top of each pastry, avoiding the cut edges where the layers show, since wash there can glue the layers together.

STEP 99 / 9

Bake each tray to a deep golden brown

Pain au chocolat baked to a deep golden color, cooling after leaving the tray
Bake until deep golden, then let the pastries cool

Bake one tray at a time at 180°C (no fan) for 25–30 minutes, until deep golden brown. This time is per tray, not for the whole batch. Home ovens vary, so let the color guide you as much as the timer. Let the pastries cool after baking before serving; the chocolate inside is very hot straight from the oven.

0 / 0
Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 5

Dough

Ingredient Amount Role
Croissant flour (T55 type, about 11–12% protein) 700g Main dough flour
Plain (all-purpose) flour (about 9–10% protein) 300g Softens the dough flour blend
Salt 25g Dough
Sugar 120g Dough
Fresh yeast 40g Leavening. Use fresh yeast as listed
Whole milk 265g, 5°C Dough liquid
Water 265g, 25°C Dough liquid
Unsalted butter, softened 30g Dough butter
2 / 5

Butter block

Ingredient Amount Role
Regular unsalted butter 500g Laminating butter
Plain flour or croissant flour 50g Mixed into the regular butter for the block
3 / 5

Filling

Ingredient Amount Role
Chocolate batons 3 per pastry The chocolate core
4 / 5

Egg wash

Ingredient Amount Role
Whole eggs 2 Egg wash
Egg yolks 2 Egg wash
5 / 5

For working

Ingredient Amount Role
Flour for dusting As needed Keep to the minimum
0 / 0

Pain au Chocolat: Layers That Shatter Around a Core of Chocolate

What this batch should keep

Keep the dough cold and the butter pliable but never melting. Protect the layers through every fold, let the shaped pastries proof until they have clearly doubled and jiggle, then bake them to a deep golden brown.

In the morning, a rectangle of pastry lifts out of a paper bag and leaves flakes behind. In the afternoon, the same pastry appears again as the goûter, the light snack that bridges lunch and dinner. In France, pain au chocolat is eaten at breakfast, at goûter time, and whenever a small hunger strikes, and its shape is familiar long before you ever think about how it is made.

Making it at home is less about any single difficult move and more about temperature. A yeasted dough has to rise and develop flavor, while a sheet of butter has to stay flexible enough to stretch with it without cracking or seeping out. This recipe follows one published professional formula from start to finish, without mixing in other versions, and at each step it tells you what to look at, not just how long to wait. The source recipe gives a yield of 16–20 pastries and an overall schedule of 16–24 hours, most of which is chilling and proofing rather than hands-on work. The method has not been test-baked for this article, so treat oven times as guides and watch the pastry.

What Pain au Chocolat Is, and Why It Is Also Called Chocolatine

Despite the word "pain", this is not bread dough. Pain au chocolat is a viennoiserie made from pâte levée feuilletée, a yeasted dough that is laminated with butter. Fermentation and tourage (folding butter into the dough) overlap in the same dough: the yeast gives lift and aroma, and the folds create the thin layers. Chocolate batons are rolled inside.

In much of France it is called pain au chocolat, while in the southwest the same pastry is known as chocolatine, and there are other regional terms as well. These are differences in local vocabulary for one pastry, not two different recipes, and there is no need to declare one name correct.

A Pastry for Breakfast and Goûter

Pain au chocolat on a plate with a cup of coffee for breakfast or an afternoon snack
Pain au chocolat belongs to both the breakfast table and the afternoon goûter

The French bakery federation describes pain au chocolat as something eaten at breakfast, at the afternoon goûter, or simply when you feel peckish. That range of moments explains its appeal: it is substantial enough to start a day, yet light enough for a mid-afternoon pause.

There is no single fixed formula among bakers. Some use water, some milk; some add eggs and some do not; and the number of chocolate batons varies. What bakers aim for is a balance between fermentation, butter and chocolate. To keep the method reproducible, this article stays with one version: a dough with both milk and water and three batons per pastry.

How Much Is Known About Its Origins?

The broad outline is that viennoiserie grew out of Viennese baking techniques that spread in France. The bakery federation's materials mention August Zang in connection with this story, but they do not establish him as the inventor of pain au chocolat, and the federation itself notes that the pastry's origins are not clearly settled. No single inventor or date is confirmed.

The word chocolatine has several competing explanations for its origin, and none is established. If you enjoy these stories, enjoy them as stories, not as proven history.

If you want to explore more of the country's cooking, see the France page.

Ingredients: One Formula, Grouped by Dough, Butter, Filling and Wash

Measured flour, salt, sugar, yeast, milk, water, unsalted butter and chocolate batons laid out for pain au chocolat
Weigh everything before you start; the dough butter and the butter block are separate amounts

All amounts belong to a single recipe and should not be combined with other formulas. This version uses regular unsalted butter for the butter block, which is why 50g of flour appears in the butter group. That 50g is separate from the dough flour, and the 30g of soft butter in the dough is separate from the butter block.

To serve, a cup of black coffee is an optional companion.

Allergens and raw ingredients

This pastry contains wheat, milk and egg. Chocolate products may contain milk, soy and other allergens, so read the labels on your batons, including any statements about shared facilities and cross-contact. Do not taste raw dough or raw egg wash. Prepare the listed egg wash, but use only as much as needed for brushing; leftover wash should never be poured over the pastries.

Choosing Flour, Butter and Chocolate

Flour. Use croissant flour (T55 type) with roughly 11–12% protein and plain flour with roughly 9–10%. Flour names alone do not tell you how a product behaves, so check the protein figure on the label rather than assuming a flour is equivalent. If you only have strong flour, you can replace both dough flours with 500g strong white bread flour and 500g plain flour. Different flours absorb water differently, and that difference has not been tested here.

Butter block. Professional laminating butter (such as Isigny Ste-Mère A.O.P.) is the first choice. This article uses the alternative instead: 500g regular unsalted butter mixed with 50g flour. If you do use professional sheet butter, do not add the 50g of flour to it. The regular-butter block may melt in the mouth a little differently from a professional sheet.

Chocolate. Look for chocolate batons made for baking, so each pastry gets an even core. Cutting a chocolate bar into strips of similar width is an option, but its thickness and melting behavior in the oven have not been tested.

Yeast. Use fresh yeast as listed. No conversion to dried yeast is given here.

Batch size. This is a large batch. Before you start, check your mixer's flour capacity, your refrigerator space, and how many trays you have. Place about 6 pastries per tray across several trays; the batch is not meant to be scaled down or baked all at once without adjustment.

Equipment

  • Stand mixer with a dough hook
  • Rolling pin
  • Ruler
  • Bench scraper
  • Pastry wheel or sharp knife
  • Baking paper
  • Several baking trays
  • Pastry brush
  • Digital thermometer, for the butter and the proofing environment
  • Oven thermometer
  • A heatproof container for hot water (for the proofing setup)

Method: Cold Dough, Pliable Butter, Patient Proofing

How to read the timings

Your kitchen, flour and oven will differ, so treat every time and temperature below as a guide. When a time and the state of the dough disagree, go by the state: butter that bends without cracking, dough that has doubled and jiggles, a crust that is deep golden.

Start the dough and the butter block on the same evening. Both rest overnight in the refrigerator, and the folding, shaping, proofing and baking happen the next day.

When Things Go Wrong: Butter, Layers, Proof and Color

Most problems with laminated dough come back to temperature. When something goes wrong mid-process, the usual fix is to return to chilling rather than to push on.

Problem Likely cause What to do
The butter cracks inside the dough The butter is much colder than the dough Wait a little until the butter is pliable and matches the dough before rolling again
Butter smears or leaks out The dough or the proofing environment is too warm Chill the dough between steps. During proofing, do not let the hot-water setup make the oven hot
The layers are squashed Too much dusting flour, heavy pressure, or butter melting Use the minimum flour and roll evenly with steady, moderate pressure
The pastries stay small Underproofed Do not judge by time alone. Wait until they have doubled and jiggle
The color is pale or the base is heavy Oven temperature or baking time off for your oven Follow the set temperature and the deep-golden guide, and observe how your oven behaves

Variations Without Changing the Core Recipe

  • Two batons instead of three. Bakers vary the number of batons. Using two changes the chocolate ratio and is a different version from the three-baton recipe above.
  • Professional sheet butter. If you can find laminating butter, use 500g of it for the block and leave out the 50g of flour.
  • Bread flour blend. Replace both dough flours with 500g strong white bread flour and 500g plain flour, as the source allows.
  • Bar chocolate. Cut a chocolate bar into strips of matching width. This is outside the source and has not been test-baked; thickness and melting may differ.
  • Compare the crumb. Once the pastries have cooled, break one open and look at the layers and the chocolate. This changes nothing in the recipe, but it shows how well your lamination held.

Serving and Keeping

Serve the pastries once they have cooled, for breakfast or as an afternoon goûter, with black coffee if you like. They are at their best on the day they are baked. No safe room-temperature storage period is given here. If you want to keep some, freezing is a way to hold their quality; warm them in the oven before eating to bring the layers back to life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are pain au chocolat and chocolatine different pastries?

No. They are the same kind of pastry. Chocolatine is the name used in southwestern France, while pain au chocolat is used in much of the rest of the country, with other regional names besides.

Why chill the dough overnight?

The source recommends 8–15 hours in the refrigerator (its author uses 12). The long cold rest develops flavor and gives you a cold, firm dough for laminating the next morning.

Can I make the butter block with ordinary butter?

Yes. The source's alternative to professional laminating butter is 500g regular unsalted butter mixed with 50g flour, which is the version used in this article.

How many chocolate batons go in each pastry?

Bakers differ on this, but this recipe uses three per pastry: two rolled in at the starting edge and one at the first overlap.

How long does the final proof take?

About 2.5–3 hours as a guide, and sometimes as long as 5 hours depending on conditions. Room temperature varies a lot, so the real test is that the pastries have about doubled, look puffy and jiggle gently.

Sources