Whenever I visit Trader Joe’s there are a few things I love to stock up on.  One of these is their frozen croissants with a few boxes of these in your freezer, you are ready to hang up a sign for your own French Pâtisserie. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your area, order your frozen croissants from William-Sonoma.

Freshness is the key to good pastries, nothing compares to a pastry that is fresh from the oven.  Most pastries we taste in bakeries or coffee shops are at least a few hours old, if not a day!

The beauty of these delights is that they have been formed and frozen and ready to be “proofed” (allowed to rise), and baked.

After a few simple steps, warm from the oven goodness is there for you and yours (not to mention that incredible smell!)

This morning, for a friends birthday, a group was gathering before tennis.  What better treat for a special day than a fresh baked croissant.

Here is how easy it was:

Last night I place the frozen mini croissants on the tray. I cut the chocolate croissants in 1/2 and placed them on the tray.

After my beauty sleep I awoke to these lovely, fluffy, soft puffs:

 The entire market smelled like Poilâne, the famous Parisian bakery!!

If you’d like, you can brush a little egg white onto the pastries to give them a sheen, but I don’t know if they need it.

These croissants were baked without an egg wash:

To make an egg wash, crack open a fresh egg. Over a bowl, drop the egg back and forth between the 2 halves, allowing the egg white liquid to be captured in the bowl.  Use a basting brush to paint the egg whites onto the unbaked pastries.

 After packing the warm croissants into bowls, I grabbed a candle and matches and ran to the party!