In a large mixing bowl, stir together 3⅓ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup sugar, and 2¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast.Add ¾ cups almond milk, ½ cup water, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, the grated zest of 1 orange, and ¼ teaspoon salt.Mix with wooden spoon until the ingredients form a dough.
Dust a clean worktop with 2 tablespoons of flour and knead the dough for 5 minutes or until soft and smooth.Add more flour if the dough is too sticky, but remember that your dough should be elastic, soft, and moist by the end. It should almost stick to the worktop.
PROOF IN A WARM PLACE
Shape the dough into a ball, then transfer it into a greased bowl, brush it with a thin layer of oil, and cover the bowl with a damp kitchen cloth, leaving enough space for the dough to double in volume.
Let it proof for 2 to 3 hours in a warm place.Tip: we recommend putting it in a slightly warm oven. Turn the oven on for 30 seconds, then turn it off and put the dough in it to proof.
SHAPE THE VEGAN CROISSANTS
After proofing, transfer the dough onto a clean worktop without flour and roll it out into a 20x12 inches (50x30cm) rectangle with a rolling pin.
With a sharp knife or with a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 9 to 10 triangles.
Roll each triangle on itself to give it the traditional croissant shape (crescent shape).Knead the croissant dough scraps together, roll them out, and repeat until you run out of dough.
Arrange the croissants on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving some distance between them. You should be able to fit 9 croissants.Let them proof a second time for 1 hour in a warm place.
BAKE THE CROISSANTS
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Brush the top of the croissants with non-dairy milk (that’s our vegan egg wash) and bake on the mid-lower oven rack for around 20 minutes.
Let them cool down for 10 minutes before eating them or filling them with vegan custard, jam, or vegan Nutella.
You need a pastry piping bag with a long and narrow tip to fill them.You can do so from the top, inserting the nozzle diagonally in between one of the layers of dough, pushing it through the core, and squeezing about 2 tablespoons of filling in the croissant.