I created this super simple chocolate croissant recipe for an upcoming cafe party tutorial (check back on Friday!). One of the things I miss most about Europe is all of the little cafes with delicious coffee and even yummier pastries. You really can’t go wrong with any of the tasty baked goods in those cafes, but my absolute favorite is the pain au chocolat – aka – chocolate croissants.

I found an amazing recipe for pain au chocolat, but the directions said it would take three days to complete the recipe. Three days? Come on, who has time for that! I definitely don’t have that much free time to bake. Then, I found this semi-homemade recipe that seemed like a winner.

But there were a couple things about this recipe that seemed off to me. First, pain au chocolat are not shaped like traditional croissants. They are more rectangular and they definitely don’t have that overlapping triangle look you get with regular croissants. Also, I’ve never seen one with a chocolate drizzle on the top. Rather, they usually have little flakes of chocolate, almost like chocolate sprinkles, or nothing at all on the top.

I decided to use the basic idea of that semi-homemade recipe and make it a little more authentic by making them into a rectangular shape and adding small chopped chocolate on the top. This recipe is awesome because it takes less than 10 minutes to put together and another 10 minutes to bake. It is just super simple and really tasty. It is the perfect recipe to compliment a little coffee or tea party, or to enjoy for breakfast or brunch.

Easy Semi-Homemade Chocolate Croissant (Pain Au Chocolat) Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cans of crescent dinner rolls
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with  parchment paper. Set aside.

Separate crescent dough into 8 rectangles. Use your fingers and a rolling pin to remove the pre-cut seam from each rectangle.

Sprinkle about 1-2 Tablespoons of chocolate chips on the end of each rectangle. Roll the crescent dough until you have eight mini rectangles (almost like mini cigars). Press the ends to seal the dough. Brush each croissant with egg wash.

Bake for 12 to 17 minutes, until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle finely chopped chocolate on top of each crescent. Enjoy!