Vegan Almond Croissant Pastry (Easy, Yeast-Free)

This is my recipe for sweet, crispy vegan almond croissant pastry, a cross between almond croissants and brioche. I’m French and I love a classic French almond croissant. What I love the most is not the puff pastry, it’s the almond filling. Since I love a quick and easy sweet treat, I wanted to find a way to make almond croissants without making a complicated and time-consuming vegan puff pastry. This is my way of enjoying almond croissant flavors in less than 30 minutes!

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I love anything almond, but there’s something in traditional French baking called Frangipane, a sweet almond cream traditionally made with almond flour, butter, and sugar. It has a strong almond taste that is typical of French King’s Cakes, almond croissants, or almond cake.

These almond croissant pastry are buttery, crunchy on the outside with that sweet moist almond paste filling that tastes almost like marzipan. The crunchy toasted sliced almonds on top along with powdered sugar bring out all the flavors of a classic almond croissant but with a pastry shortbread texture.

It’s a mix between a almond croissant and a cookie, and totally inspired by my gluten-free almond croissant cookies!

Ingredients and Substitutions

You only need 8 ingredients for this recipe. It’s not as simple as my 3-Ingredient Banana Cookies, but it’s easier to make than you think!

• Flour – You need classic all-purpose flour. I haven’t tried this recipe with any type of gluten-free flour. I don’t think it’d work with almond flour for the croissant dough, so you really have to stick to wheat flour. You also can’t use self-rising flour as it contains too much baking powder for this recipe.
• Baking Powder – Necessary for the little rise you need.
• Soy Milk – I prefer soy milk for most baking recipes because it contains plenty of protein, making it bring a good texture and binding. You can however, use other plant-based milk if you prefer.
• Vegan Butter – Any type of vegan butter alternative works.
• Almond Flour – To make the almond paste, you need almond flour.
• Sugar – I used classic table sugar, but you can also use unrefined coconut sugar instead.
• Almond Extract – For a stronger almond flavor.
• Sliced Almond -To decorate on the top.

How To Make Vegan Almond Croissant Pastry

I’ve included all details in the recipe card below, but here are pictures of the most important steps to make sure you make them perfectly. Scroll just below for my tips!

1. Almond croissant dough ingredients in a bowl.

2. Croissant dough into a ball.

3. Flattened croissant dough (10 x 12 inches).

4. Cutting the croissant dough into triangles

5. Almond paste ingredients in a bowl.

6. Almond paste combined.

7. Log of almond paste on a dough triangle.

8. Rolling a croissant pastry from the short side.

9. Rolled croissant pastry on a baking sheet.

10. Decorated almond croissant pastries.

Expert Tips

1. Rest the dough for 10 minutes after forming the ball. It relaxes the dough and makes it softer and easier to roll.
2. Roll a perfect rectangle to cut out nice triangles from it that all have the same size.
3. Cut the triangles with a pizza cutter for better cutting and shape them equally. See pictures just above to see how I cut the dough.
4. Roll each triangle again before filling them. The goal here is to extend the dough – you want a long thin pointy triangle and a large base so you can fit the almond filling and roll it a nice croissant. If the dough is too thick and the triangle too small, it won’t roll into a croissant,
5. Roll the almond paste filling into a cylinder that is way smaller then the triangle base or the filling runs out as the croissant bakes in the oven. Have a look above to see how I do it.
6. If the almond paste is too dry, adjust it simply adding water. It should be sticky and easy to roll into ball or cylinder. If it’s too sticky, oil your hands before rolling.
7. Press sliced almonds on top of the croissant to stick them into the dough. This ensures the almonds hold onto the dough after baking.
8. Brush the warm croissants with melted vegan butter after cooking for an extra buttery flavor that mimics traditional croissants.
9. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They harden in the fridge. They would still be good in the fridge, but I prefer them at room temperature.

More Baking Recipes with Almonds

Almond Croissant Cookies

Almond Flour Banana Cookies

Almond Flour Cake Recipe Without Eggs

Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies

Vegan Almond Croissant Pastry

These Vegan Almond Croissant Pastries are delicious yeast-free treats with a classic French almond croissant taste that only takes 30 minutes to make.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16 pastries

Calories: 284.4 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 3 ½ cups Flour - (note 1)
• ▢ 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• ▢ 1 ⅓ cups Soy Milk - (note 2)
• ▢ ⅓ cup Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - (note 3)

Almond Paste Filling

• ▢ 1 ½ cup Almond Flour - (note 4)
• ▢ ½ cup Sugar - (note 5)
• ▢ 6 tablespoons Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Almond Extract

Toppings

• ▢ ⅓ cup Sliced Almond
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - to brush on top

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the flour, and baking powder. Whisk to combine.
• Add the soy milk, melted, cooled, and vegan butter.
• Use a rubber spatula to stir and bring the ingredients together. When it starts to be difficult to stir, lightly flour your hands and knead the dough to bring it together into a dough ball.
• Set the dough aside for 10 minutes.

Almond Paste

• Meanwhile, prepare the almond paste filling. In a large bowl, stir almond flour, sugar, almond extract, and melted, cooled vegan butter until it forms a paste that is a bit sticky, and easy to roll into small balls. If too dry, add 1-2 teaspoons of water to bring together. Set aside.
• Lightly add flour to the benchtop, release the pastry dough made before, and sprinkle some extra flour on the top of the dough.
• Roll the dough into a 12.5-inch x 10.5-inch rectangle. Divide the rectangle in half from the smaller sides using a pizza cutter. Then, cut out triangles – see pictures above above.

Assembling the croissant

• Bring one of the triangle in front of you and roll it again to spread it out, making sure the larger base of the triangle is wide enough to form a lovely croissant shape.
• Grab 1 tablespoon of almond paste from the previous bowl, roll it into a small cylinder that is less wide than the larger sides of the triangle so it fits in.
• Place the almond paste at the bottom part of the triangle – opposite to the pointy bit and start rolling to form a croissant shape.
• Place each prepared almond croissant pastry onto the baking sheet, leaving a thumb of space between each.
• Brush the top with almond milk and press a few sliced almonds on top of each croissant.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
• Remove from the oven and immediately brush the top with melted vegan butter.
• Cool down on a wire rack. When they reach room temperature, dust some powdered sugar on top.

Notes

Note 1: I haven’t tried this recipe with gluten-free flour or any other flour, so I can’t suggest any swap. For GF, you’d have to try your particular blend, as they tend to all behave very differently.

Note 2: I use soy milk because its high protein content makes the dough come together perfectly and cook evenly. You can use other plant-based milk if you prefer.

Note 3: You can use melted vegan butter or any margarine you like. 

Note 4: For an almond croissant, you have to use almond flour! You might be able to swap it for hazelnut flour for hazelnut croissant. Don’t swap for coconut flour.

Note 5: I used classic sugar, but you can use any kind of refined or unrefined sugar like coconut sugar.

Storage: You can store these pastries for up to 4 days in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months in zipper bags. 

 

 

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Nutrition

Serving: 1croissant | Calories: 284.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 29.7g | Protein: 6.5g | Fat: 16.2g | Saturated Fat: 2.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.2g | Trans Fat: 1.7g | Sodium: 191.1mg | Potassium: 71.5mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 7.3g | Vitamin A: 77.9IU | Vitamin B12: 0.2µg | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Vitamin D: 0.2µg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 0.9mg | Magnesium: 12.4mg | Phosphorus: 58.2mg | Zinc: 0.4mg