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.
95K 10 3.8
Last modified on: February 10th 2019
Keywords for this recipe:For 300 g, you will need:
5.5 oz 
3.5 oz brown sugar
3.6 oz 
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.
Source
Home made.
Nutritional information
| Whole recipe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Energetic value | Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats |
| 1,500 Kcal or 6,280 Kj | 10 gr | 174 gr | 85 gr |
| 75 % | 4 % | 16 % | 13 % |
| 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 300 g : 0.99 €
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
Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.
519K4.5 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.
49K 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.
37K 3 hours 21 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
 | Flour: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Little chocolate and hazelnut fondants, Apple and almond cake, Pitta bread, Pesto crackers, "BN style" chocolate-filled biscuits, ... All |
 | Brown sugar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Smart plum tart, Cocktails, Chaud-froid of grapefruit, pineapple and lime custard , Crisp apricot and pistachio tart, Chocolate cereal bars, ... All |
 | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Hollandaise sauce, Eggs en Cocotte à la Française, Aperitif rolls, Red rice pannequets, Purée of Jerusalem artichokes with foie gras, ... All |
Other recipes you may also like
How to prepare a bain-marie
A bain-marie is the best way to cook or heat a preparation gently without risk of burning.503K5 7 min. July 5th 2013
Epiphany galette
Here is the recipe for the very classic but delicious "galette des rois" (Epiphany galette) in puff or flaky pastry (pâte feuilletée) with almond cream or frangipane . You will also see some professional tips to easily handle the dough, and obtain a nice and regular galette.274K 24.5 3 hours 8 min. January 6th 2021
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...1.6M 74.3 4 hours 38 min. December 31th 2011
Sweet pancake rolls from Brittany
Stewed apples, raisins soaked in whisky, toasted almonds, rolled in a lightly caramelized pancake.237K4.3 2 hours 16 min. March 10th 2015
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2024-04-21)
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.