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.
116 K 3.8/5 (10 reviews)
55 min.
Easy
75 g
3 IngredientsLast modified on: February 10th 2019
For 75 g, you will need:
25 g 
25 g brown sugar
25 g Change measures:
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.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 2 RDI=1 % | 40 RDI=4 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 380 RDI=20 % | 1,570 RDI: 20 % |
| Per 100 g | 3 RDI=1 % | 60 RDI=5 % | 30 RDI=4 % | 500 RDI=30 % | 2,090 RDI: 30 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 75 g : 0.25 €
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.
540 K4.5 1 hour 4 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.
66 K 1 hour 45 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.
52 K 3 hours 25 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Brown sugar
Like these other recipes: Plum and hazelnut crumble, Canadian apple crumble, Flaky brownie brioche, Tarte à l'coloche, Antoinette's caramelized apple cake, ... See them all 44
Butter
Like these other recipes: Cabbage julienne with ham, Creamy Comtoise artichoke gratin, Household cake (Gâteau de ménage), Jam doughnuts, Clementine Creamy, ... See them all 472
Flour
Like these other recipes: Muffin dough, Oatmeal and apple cookies, Pitta bread, Arlesian Biscuits, Rabbit civet "à la normande", ... See them all 201
Other recipes you may also like
How to prepare cockles
Cockles are small Atlantic shellfish which can be used in many delicious dishes. However, they need to be prepared with care before cooking. Here is a simple way to do this.March 13th 2013552 K 13.7 1 hour 55 min.
Poire Belle Hélène
Poire Belle Hélène is a fairly simple cold dessert. The pears are poached in a vanilla-flavoured syrup, then served on top of vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce poured over.November 22th 202383 K4.7 20 min.
Almond mug cake for Mary
Mug cakes are fun and quick to make. They cook in the microwave in about a minute and a half. This almond version is similar to the small cakes known as financiers.June 22th 2014113 K4.3 9 min.
Clementine sorbet
To capture the delicate flavour of clementines, we need to use not only the juice, but also a little zest to add a delicious hint of bitternes. Here's a simple method using sugar cubes.December 24th 2018145 K4.3 2 hours 50 min.
Tagliatelle with cockles
In this recipe, the cockles and pasta are prepared separately, then mixed with the sauce at the last minute. The cockles are first cooked quickly, then shelled carefully (I find it unpleasant to have to do this on the plate) and the cooking juices are used to prepare a cream sauce. The tagliatelle...June 24th 2018149 K 14.7 2 hours 20 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-06)
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.