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.
124 K 3.8/5 (10 reviews)
55 min.
Easy
0.50 €
150 g
3 IngredientsLast modified on: February 10th 2019
50 g 
50 g brown sugar
50 g Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Resting: 30 min.
All in all: 55 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
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.
Source: Home made.
How much will it cost?
- For 150 g : 0.50 €
Change currency:
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipe
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.
553 K4.5 1 hour 4 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.
59 K 3 hours 25 min.
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.
74 K 1 hour 45 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Brownies, Cheese Soufflé, Pistachio "Financiers", Chocolate sweetcrust pastry, Biscuit de Savoie sponge cake, ... See them all 206
Brown sugar
Like these other recipes: Chaud-froid of grapefruit, pineapple and lime custard , Crunchy blackcurrant and mascarpone cream verrine, Brownies, Flaky brownie brioche, Traditional nutty choc-chip cookies, ... See them all 45
Butter
Like these other recipes: Cashew-nut and Parmesan biscuits, Kouign-amann, Caramelized pear custard tart, Pavlova, "BN style" chocolate-filled biscuits, ... See them all 480
Other recipes you may also like
Gingerbread
Maybe this recipe will bring back memories. February 21th 2011297 K4.2 1 hour 4 min.
Crème brulée
Crème brûlée (burned cream) is quite easy to prepare: it's a simple egg-cream dessert. The only difficulty is in making the delicious crunchy caramel layer on top. The perfect crème brulée (for me) is a cold and soft cream, with on top a nice hot caramel crust. This is a completely new version of the former recipe, with video. December 31th 20111.68 M 74.3 4 hours 40 min.
Rice pudding (riz au lait)
My personal version of this classic family recipe. December 18th 2018413 K5 40 min.
Tiramisu
Classic italian recipe (the name means "pull me up" or more poetically, "take me up to the sky"). It's similar to a charlotte in its structure: layers of flavoured biscuits between layers of smooth cream. July 27th 2013515 K5 50 min.
Frozen nougat
Dazzle your guests with this delicious dessert, a creamy blend of meringue, whipped cream and dried fruit that can be prepared several days in advance. November 17th 2024295 K4.5 1 hour 25 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-11-09)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a 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.