Fresh Baked Croissants

For Christmas, my staff gave my family a truly great gift!  Knowing that we've been missing France and French bread and especially French Croissants, they gave us a three month subscription to William Sonoma's monthly croissant club.  What a thoughtful and yummy gift!  Our first box of Butter Croissants has arrived and I decided they would be perfect for breakfast this morning.

So, yesterday, I took 6 of the perfectly formed croissants out of the freezer and put them on a baking sheet to proof overnight.

This morning, when I looked in the oven, they had transformed into this.

All I had to do was bake them for 20 minutes.  They were light and airy, tender and delicious.  I do think I let them proof just a bit too long (they became humungous), so next time I'll stick to the 9 hours (I went about 13 hours...because I slept in).

Served warm from the oven with homemade strawberry jam, what's not to like on a drizzly winter morning.  If you'd like some lovely, home baked croissants without all the hassle, you can find them here.