Get on the homemade cereal trend with this mini cinnamon sugar croissant cereal! This recipe starts with a basic rough puff pastry dough, and each mini croissant is spread with a cinnamon sugar filling before being shaped and baked.
The method of creating these cute little croissants is actually very simple, but does require some time for chilling the dough and shaping 40 individual pieces. This recipe is the perfect project for a Sunday afternoon while watching the Great British Baking Show!
For more cinnamon sugar recipes, try Cinnamon Sugar Brioche Knot, Overnight Buttermilk Cinnamon Star Bread, Brown Butter Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls, and Cinnamon Sugar Brioche Donuts.
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Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: You only need about ¾ cup of all-purpose flour.
- Granulated Sugar: Just ½ teaspoon of sugar is added to the rough puff dough, and a couple tablespoon for the cinnamon sugar dusting.
- Unsalted Butter: In total, you'll need about 6 tablespoon of butter for both the rough puff dough and the cinnamon sugar filling.
- Ice Water: Start with about ¼ cup of ice water, but only use 3 tablespoon in the rough puff dough.
- Brown Sugar: Use which ever brown sugar you have on hand for the cinnamon sugar filling.
- Cinnamon: Used in both the filling and the cinnamon sugar dusting.
- Egg: You'll need one egg for the egg wash, which is brushed on the croissants to help them brown while they bake.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this mini cinnamon sugar croissant cereal recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Make the dough. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the cubes of cold butter, and using your hands or a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized. Add about three tablespoons of the ice water to the mixture and combine until the dough sticks together, but is not overly wet. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour to rest. After one hour, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a long rectangle. Preform two letter folds, by folding the top half of the dough over the middle, and then bottom half on top. Roll the dough out to a long rectangle, and repeat this same process for the second letter fold. Once you roll out to a long rectangle for the third and final time, fold it up and place it back in the fridge for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
STEP 2: Shape and bake. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long rectangle about 15x5 inches. Cut the long rectangle in two across the width. Cut each rectangle across the width into five sections, and those five sections vertically down the middle, creating ten small rectangles. Cut each of those small rectangles diagonally, creating 20 very small triangles. Spread the cinnamon sugar filling onto the triangles, then roll them up as you would with traditional croissants. Freeze croissants on a baking sheet for about 15-20 minutes, then brush the mini croissants with an egg wash and bake at 375 degrees for 14 minutes. Roll them in cinnamon sugar and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- When making the croissant dough, avoid kneading it, as this will develop the gluten too much. Add only enough water to make the dough stick together.
- Keep the croissant dough cold as often as you can. After you cute the dough into the triangles, I recommend placing them all in the freezer for a few minutes, then taking out only a few at a time to fill and shape.
- Leftover mini croissants are best kept in the freezer, and left at room temperature to thaw out.
Recipe FAQs
Laminating dough is the process of rolling and folding dough with a butter block multiple times to achieve hundreds of layers dough & butter. These layers are essential to achieving ultra flaky croissants. As the croissants bake, the butter layers create steam and push the dough layers upwards, creating flakes of buttery goodness!
These mini croissants are best enjoyed the day they are made but can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
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📖 Recipe
Mini Cinnamon Sugar Croissant Cereal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Croissant Dough:
- 90 g all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 56 g unsalted butter, cold; cubed
- ¼ cup ice water
For the Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
- 35 g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 30 g unsalted butter, melted
For Rolling in Cinnamon Sugar:
- 45 g granulated sugar
- 10 g cinnamon
Instructions
For the Croissant Dough:
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the cubes of cold butter, and using your hands or a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until the butter is pea-sized.
- Add about three tablespoons of the ice water to the mixture and combine until the dough sticks together, but is not overly wet.
- Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 45 minutes to 1 hour to rest.
- After one hour, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a long rectangle. Preform two letter folds, by folding the top half of the dough over the middle, and then bottom half on top. Roll the dough out to a long rectangle, and repeat this same process for the second letter fold. Once you roll out to a long rectangle for the third and final time, fold it up and place it back in the fridge for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
- Once the croissant dough is almost done resting for the second time, make the cinnamon sugar filling.
- Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together. Set aside.
For Assembly:
- Once the dough is done chilling, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a long rectangle about 15x5 inches.
- Cut the long rectangle in two across the width.
- Starting with the first half of the dough, cut the rectangle across the width into five equal sections, and those five sections vertically down the middle, creating ten small rectangles.
- Cut each of those small rectangles diagonally, creating 20 very small triangles. Repeat with the second half of the dough. At this point, I recommend placing all of the triangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and chilling them in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- While the triangles chill, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Take a few triangles out and spread the cinnamon sugar filling onto them, then roll them up as you would with traditional croissants. Place them back on the baking sheet in the fridge or freezer, and take a few more out. This is not only the best way to ensure that the dough remains cold, but it also makes the dough much easier to work with.
- Once all of the mini croissants are shaped, freeze them for about 15-20 minutes.
- Brush the mini croissants with an egg wash and bake at 375 degrees for 12-16 minutes until golden.
- Roll them in cinnamon sugar and enjoy!
Notes
- When making the croissant dough, avoid kneading it, as this will develop the gluten too much. Add only enough water to make the dough stick together.
- Keep the croissant dough cold as often as you can. After you cute the dough into the triangles, I recommend placing them all in the freezer for a few minutes, then taking out only a few at a time to fill and shape.
- Leftover mini croissants are best kept in the freezer, and left at room temperature to thaw out.
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