Craquelin (sweet cracker dough)
This sweet cracker dough ("craquelin" in French) is a very simple mixture: equal parts of flour, butter and light brown sugar. It is simlilar to a shortbread dough and can be rolled out very thinly and cut into any shape as desired. Craquelin is mostly used (though not exclusively) on top of choux pastry (pâte à choux) to give a more attractive and regular result, with eclairs, for example, and gives them a delicious crisp crust on the top.
This is very much the current trend in French patisserie: less icing, at least on choux pastries, and more use of "craquelin". The pastries lose a bit of colour, but are less sweet and are crisper.
This is very much the current trend in French patisserie: less icing, at least on choux pastries, and more use of "craquelin". The pastries lose a bit of colour, but are less sweet and are crisper.
80K 10 3.8
Last modified on: February 10th 2019
Keywords for this recipe:For 150 g, you will need:
50 g 
50 g brown sugar
50 g 
How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
| Preparation | Resting | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 24 min. | 30 min. | 54 min. |
At what time:
- When will I finish if I start the recipe at ... ?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at ... ? - Work this out...
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Knead on medium speed until the dough is evenly mixed.
Stage 3 - 3 min.
Gather the dough into a flat cake and pat this out with your hand on a sheet of plastic film and cooking papers (very important, as the craqulelin dough tends to stick easily).
Stage 4 - 30 min.
Lay a second sheet of cooking parchment over the top, then roll out thinly with a rolling pin to about 1/8 of an inch (2 or 3 mm) maximum.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Stage 5 - 3 min.
After this time, lay the dough on the worktop and gently remove the top sheet of paper.
Dust the dough with a little flour.
Dust the dough with a little flour.
Stage 6 - 3 min.
Turn the dough over onto the floured side, then gently remove the other sheet of paper.
Your craquelin is now ready for cutting out.
Your craquelin is now ready for cutting out.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Use cutters to cut out any shapes you want. Here I'm cutting small circles to use on choux puffs.
Stage 8
Sit a circle of caquelin on each mound of choux, put in the oven immediately and bake as usual.
Stage 9
When they come out of the oven, you will see how lovely and regular your choux puffs are when topped with craqulin.
Remarks
If you use softened butter, which has been out of the fridge for at least an hour, you will find the mixing at stage 2 far easier and quicker.
This recipe does not call for salted butter, but it is fine to use it if that's all you have to hand.
This recipe does not call for salted butter, but it is fine to use it if that's all you have to hand.
Keeping
1 or 2 days in the fridge, covered with plastic film.
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 750 Kcal or 3,140 Kj | 5 gr | 87 gr | 43 gr |
| 38 % | 2 % | 8 % | 6 % |
| Per 100 g | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 500 Kcal or 2,093 Kj | 3 gr | 58 gr | 28 gr |
| 25 % | 1 % | 5 % | 4 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 150 g : 0.50 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some recipes that use this recipe
Mini Mont-Blanc choux puffs
These mini choux puffs are topped with a layer of craquelin and filled with Mont-Blanc cream: a mixture of whipped cream and sweetened chestnut purée.
38K 1 hour 43 min.
Galette de Fougerolles
This Galette de Fougerolles is a flattish cake filled with a hazelnut buttercream and topped just before baking with a "craquelin" (sweet cracker) crust, studded with griottine cherries.
29K 3 hours 21 min.
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.
505K4.5 1 hour 4 min.
Source
Home made.
This recipe uses (among others)
 | Flour: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Rabbit civet "à la normande", Biscuit de Savoie sponge cake, Lemon and lime cakes, Fresh pasta dough, Diamond biscuits, ... All |
 | Brown sugar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Caribbean upside-down cake, Gingerbread, Soft apple cookies, Chocolate cereal bars, Sweet pancake rolls from Brittany, ... All |
 | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Lobster Thermidor, Tatin apple diplomat tart, Turnip top soup, Tea and white chocolate biscuits, Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants), ... All |
Other recipes you may also like
Soft fruits in sabayon
This recipe is made by briefly cooking an assortment of soft fruits (raspberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, blueberries, currants...) with a little sugar to glaze them. They are served in a small dish, covered with a delicious sabayon which can be lightly "burned" on surface.249K3.9 46 min. February 21th 2011
Surprise bread
This recipe is for a large surprise bread so you can make six layers (48 small sandwiches if you divide each layer in 8), with three different flavours: smoked salmon/lime, smoked ham/butter, mayonnaise/chicken.667K 84.5 6 hours 24 min. December 27th 2020
Scandinavian cocktail
A very refreshing starter, containing prawns and smoked fish.281K5 54 min. February 21th 2011
Butter cream
Butter cream is made with egg yolk, sugar syrup and, of course, butter. These days it has fallen rather out of fashion, probably because it's very rich, but it still has its aficionados. Here is the classic plain version, which you can lighten and flavour as you wish.298K4.6 58 min. October 13th 2010
Tomato tatin
A savoury shortcrust pastry with Parmesan is used to cover tomatoes cooked in two stages, first in the pan, then in the oven. As for a classic tart tatin, the whole thing is then turned upside down.131K4.8 2 hours 35 min. December 5th 2010
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2023-04-02)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post your comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.