Jul 14
2009

« Bonne fête ! » Cheating my way to fresh Pain au Chocolat

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Pour mes chers amis francophiles/français–un bon 14 juillet à vous! « Bonne fête ! » Today is Bastille Day en France–a national holiday in commemoration of the storming of the Bastille prison, which took place in 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. I can’t miss the chance to celebrate, but today is a busy day, so I did a bit of cheating this morning. I love a fresh pain au chocolat, a common French pastry that is like a square croissant with chocolate running through the center of it. I wish that I had the time to make them from scratch today, but it just wasn’t in the cards.
Although I am normally not one to use storebought items like cookie dough or crescent roll dough, occasionally I will make an exception. So, cheater pains au chocolat for this morning! Granted, they’re nowhere near as good as the real thing, but for taking about 2 minutes of prep time and about 12 minutes in the oven? YUMMY!
I pulled out a tube of crescent roll dough,
unrolled it,
pinched together some of the seams to make 4 rectangles out of the 8 triangles,
then cut each rectangle in half to get 8 squares.
Then I brushed each square with a glaze made from 1 large egg beaten with about 2 tablespoons of water,
and placed some semisweet chocolate chunks at one end of each square (you could also use chocolate chips).
Then I rolled up the squares (starting at the end with the chocolate so that the chocolate ends up in the middle), brushed them with the remaining egg wash and sprinkled them with some coarse sugar.
I baked them on a silicone baking mat (but you could use parchment paper as well) according to the directions on the package, et voila!
Hot fresh cheater pains au chocolat to start off this 14 juillet the right way!

Coming Tomorrow: Washoku Warriors 1st Roundup!

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

Laura July 14, 2009 at 10:46 am

you need to enter that last picture in the BFF best foodie foto contest on my blog! Details are here http://heywhatsfordinnermom.blogspot.com/2009/07/vietnamese-pork-chops-and-sauteed-bok.html

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Amber July 14, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Oh yum!! Those look delicious… have you ever tried the Trader Joe's version of pains au chocolat? It's in the frozen section right next to the mini croissants (those are good too!) Give them a try, you won't regret it!

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aerussell July 14, 2009 at 1:53 pm

Wow! You have just made my day with this! I think I'm going to go home tonight and try it!

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Jenn July 14, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Great way to celebrate Bastille Day. I love using Pillsbury products. I use the creations sheet all the time.

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Jess July 14, 2009 at 4:00 pm

You are an evil, evil genius!

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OysterCulture July 14, 2009 at 6:02 pm

It looks pretty legit to me

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Semsavblanc July 14, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Tres, tres naughty!

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Fearless Kitchen July 15, 2009 at 7:30 am

This looks great, and knowing that it can be done with crescent roll dough really makes it more "doable" by someone without a lot of time (or baking skills, like me!)

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pam July 18, 2009 at 9:39 am

Brilliant! Genius!And i bet they are delicious! Will definitely have to start celebrating Bastille Day!

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molly January 12, 2010 at 1:38 pm

those look fantastic!! I am going to try em

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Fuji Mama (Rachael) January 12, 2010 at 2:15 pm

Thanks Molly! Let me know if you do! :)

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Erika - In Erika's Kitchen August 6, 2010 at 12:26 pm

I did something very similar a few months ago – except I used frozen puff pastry. Equally delicious. But your pictures are so much better!

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