Make your own chocolate-filled French morning pastries. They're ideal for a mid-morning snack or a cup of coffee.
– 420g plain flour – 8g sea salt – 60g caster sugar – 220g unsalted butter (at least 82% fat works best), 20g softened
– 20g fresh yeast, or 10g dried yeast – 1 egg, beaten – 110ml whole milk – 16 dark chocolate batons
Make stand-mixed dough. Add flour, salt, sugar, and 20g softened butter. In 80ml tepid water at 38C, dissolve the yeast. Too hot will destroy it.
Leave the dough wrapped firmly at room temperature for 10 minutes. Unwrap the dough and roll it into a 40 x 30cm 4mm rectangle.
Meanwhile, roll the remaining 200g butter into a 20 x 30cm rectangle on baking parchment. You want it half the length of the dough rectangle but the same breadth.
Butter the center of cooled dough from the fridge or freezer. Cover the butter by folding the dough edges together.
Roll the dough out to 40cm in length and width after rotating it 90 degrees.
Double-turn the dough by folding its edges into the middle and then over on itself like a book. Let chill 30 minutes.
Dough rotation 90 degrees again. Repeat the long roll and fold the edges to meet in the middle. Chill 30 more minutes.
Bake the pain au chocolate for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and heated through at 175C/155C fan/gas 4. Though best eaten right away, it can be kept in an airtight jar for two days.