Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Last updated on July 16th, 2026.

My Cruffin is a delectable pastry hybrid that combines the buttery layers of a laminated croissant dough rolled into individual spirals and baked in muffin tin. The result is a pastry that’s crisp, flaky, and deeply buttery on the outside, while remaining tender, light and wonderfully moist on the inside. It’s everything you love about a croissant, with the impressive look and satisfying shape of a muffin, creating a truly elevated baking experience.

A baked cruffin pastry.

One of the things that makes a Cruffin so special is the way it’s shaped and baked. Unlike croissant, the laminated dough is rolled into an open spiral with the layers exposed at both the top and bottom. At it bakes, some of the butter melts out of the exposed layers and collects it the muffin tin. At the same time, the tin limits how much the pastry can expand and slows the escape of steam.

The result is a pastry with a crisp, deeply buttery crust, and a tender, slightly chewy, wonderfully moist interior.

Perfect to be personalized with a variety of cremes and fillings, and is quite different from the classic light and airy croissants, which is baked in a flat baking sheet where it has plenty of room to expand with unrestricted airflow.

Laminated Dough Made Easy

I too, was very nervous with the idea of making laminated dough from scratch, but now I know that the notion that it is hard is nothing but a rumor. The key is to focus, have a clean working environment, and carefully read my tips and notes, while taking visual cues from my step-by-step images:

Part 1: Make The Dough

You can prepare the dough and refrigerate it overnight. Shape and bake them the next morning for a fresh breakfast treat.

Make sure to refrigerate the dough for at least one hour before rolling it. When cold, it rolls easily without bouncing back.

A mixing bowl with milk and yeast.
Measure the milk, and yeast mix, and set aside for about 5 minutes.
A mixing bow with flour and pieces of butter.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until you have a smooth, hydrated dough,
A bowl with dough covered with plastic wrap.
Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 90 minutes or refrigerate for 8-10 hours.

Part 2: Laminate The Dough

After many many times of dough lamenting, I found that for best results the butter should be at a playable consistency (about 65-68°F). That means that it is colder than room temperature, but is flexible enough to band without breaking or sticking to our hands or surface.

This is why: If too cold, it will break as we fold and roll the dough, and we’ll get air pockets instead of layers. If too soft, it will ooze out of the dough (very messy), and the water in the butter will be absorb into the dough. That means dense dough with no layers.

This is what I do to make sure the butter is at the right consistency: I lock the butter when playable, then roll and fold it like the images below. Then refrigerate for 10 minutes, and no more than 15 minutes.

A ziplock bag with 10x9-inch butter block.
Roll the butter to a 9×10 inch rectangle and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge about 20-30 minutes before using.
Rolled dough topped with butter block.
Roll the dough into a 15×9-inch rectangle and place the butter block on one corner.
Folded dough lined with butter block.
Fold the bare side over the center than the opposite side over the center.
Tapping dough with a rolling pin.
Use a rolling pin to tap the dough into a 1-inch thickness.
A dough rolled into 21x10-inch rectangle.
Roll the dough into a 21×10-inch rectangle.
Dough folded in three.
Fold one third of the dough over the center third of the dough and top it with the opposite side. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes and repeat twice.

Part 3: Shaping The Cruffins

Make sure the dough is cold when you roll it, and do not dust it with flour.

Use a roller to cut even stripes of dough, but before you slice it, allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes (or longer if in the refrigerated). This will prevent the dough from shrinking.

Roll the dough into 8×18-inch rectangle.
Use a ruler to cut the dough into 18 1-inch stripes.
Line one piece over another piece about 1/2-inch from the top.
Roll into a spiral.
Turn the roll over and pinch the ends.
Place in a muffin tin.

Coat and Fill (optional)

Coat the cruffins in sugar (or flavored sugar) when they are warm to the touch but not completely cold. You want to make sure that the melted butter around the crust is not set all the way and can “glue” the sugar.

baked cruffins in sugar
Roll the warm pastries in sugar, fill, or serve.
sugar coated cruffin recipe

Filling and Coating Ideas

  • Berry Bliss: Fill with my Homemade Strawberry Preserves and dust with powdered sugar.
  • Cinnamon Sugar Swirl: Spread cinnamon and sugar inside, then roll the pastries with cinnamon sugar.
  • Citrus Zest: Add lemon or orange zest to the dough and fill with citrus curd.
  • Nutella. Fill the pastries with Nutella and sprinkle some chopped hazelnut on top.
  • Pastry cream. Fill with classic French Creme patisserie, or its various like Creme Legere (pastry cream lighted with whipped cream), Creme Mousseline (pastry cream thickened with butter)
  • Crema Pasticcera. An Italian pastry cream, slightly thicker and creamier.
  • Homemade Pistachio Cream.
  • Homemade Lemon Curd.
  • Homemade Caramel Sauce.

Storing

​This Cruffin recipe is the best when eaten the same day, or fresh from the oven. Leftovers should be stored at room temperature, and covered for up to three days. Stale pastries can be used to make this French Toast Cassarole.

To freeze, place the leftovers in a freeze bag and freeze for up to four weeks. When ready to eat, place in a 300F preheated oven until warm and crispy (about 10 minutes).

cruffin in a pan
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin

Homemade Cruffins Recipe From Scratch

My Cruffin is a delectable pastry hybrid that combines the buttery layers of a laminated croissant dough rolled into individual spirals and baked in muffin tin. The result is a pastry that's crisp, flaky, and deeply buttery on the outside, while remaining tender, light and wonderfully moist on the inside. It's everything you love about a croissant, with the impressive look and satisfying shape of a muffin, creating a truly elevated baking experience.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
10 hours
Servings 15 cruffins
Author Dikla Levy Frances

Ingredients

For The Dough

  • 1 1/2 Cups (350g) Unsalted butter soft (for butter block)
  • 1 1/2 Cups (360ml) Room temperature milk
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons (10g) Instant yeast
  • 4 1/2 Cups (560g) Unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 Cup (50g) Sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (25g) Unsalted butter soft
  • 1 tablespoon (14g) Sea salt

For Coasting

  • 2 Cups Sugar

Instructions

  • Place the fist amount of butter (350g) in a large ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to roll it into a 10×9-inch block. (the bag is 10-inch wide, use a ruler to measure 9-inch with a marker)

Make the dough

  • In a bowl of a standing mixer, pour the milk (360ml) and stir in the yeast (10g). Let sit for five minutes.
  • Add the flour (560g), sugar (50g), salt (14g) and butter (25g) and use the dough hook to mix until a dough forms than mix for 2-3 minutes longer. (do not over mix)
  • Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and set aside for 90-120 minutes, or refrigerate 8-10 hours.

Laminate

  • About 20 minutes before lamination remove he butter block from the refrigerator.
  • Punch the dough, and roll to 15×9 inch rectangle.
  • Place the butter block (you'll have to cut the bag around it) and place it on one end of the dough, making sure the dough and butter are parallel (meaning on the same line).
  • Fold the excess dough over the butter, then fold the other side (with the butter) over the center. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
  • Lightly flour your work surface and use your rolling pin to tap the dough to one inch thick.
  • Roll your dough into a 21×10 inch rectangle.
  • Fold the left third of the rectangle over the center, and then fold the right third over the center as well. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes and repeat this step twice more.
  • After the last fold, loosely wrap the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for one hour.

Shaping and baking

  • Divide the dough into two, and roll one part over a lightly floured surface to an 8×18 rectangle.
  • Cut the dough into one inch stripes.
  • Using two lines at a time, line one piece of dough over another, about 1/2 inch from the top, and use your fingers to roll it into a swirl.
  • Tuck the ends at the bottom and use your fingers to pinch them to the edges of the roll.
  • Place the roll in a greased muffin tin and continue with the rest of the dough and the other part.
  • Allow the rolls to rise in the muffin tins for about 60 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Bake for 12 minutes then reduce heat to 350F and bake for additional 12 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and carefully roll each cruffin in the sugar.

Notes

  • Keep Your Work Surface lightly Floured: Prevent the dough from sticking to your work surface by dusting it generously with flour while rolling and folding. This helps maintain the integrity of the layers.
  • If the butter is coming out of the dough, sprinkle some flour over it and refrigerate if needed.
 
Dee Signature
Spread the love
5 from 1 vote

Leave me your lovely thoughts

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2 Comments on " Homemade Cruffins Recipe From Scratch "

  1. Dikla Levy Frances
    Ange says:
    Wed Dec 31 25

    5 stars
    Love them. Thank you

    Reply
    1. Dikla Levy Frances
      Dikla Levy Frances says:
      Fri Jan 2 26

      Thank you Ange!

      Reply