Easy Almond Croissants

Making almond croissants at home is a breeze when using ready made croissants and a homemade frangipane. All you need is almond flour, almond extract and some pantry ingredients to whip up a couple fresh almond croissants in under an hour!

While I almost never opt for a plain croissant from a bakery, almond croissants are a top pick! I love the contrast of the soft almond filling, crunchy almonds on top and dusting of powdered sugar.

My main gripe with most almond croissants is that there’s never enough almond cream in the middle. The best part of making them at home? You can customize the exact amount of almond paste you like!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Great use for slightly stale plain croissants: If you’ve ever bought a case of croissants at Costco or just ended up with leftover croissants for days, this is the perfect use for them!
• Quick to make: The almond cream comes together in 5 minutes in a food processor, and same for the simple syrup on the stove. Assemble the croissants, bake for 20 minutes, and you’ll have perfect almond croissants in a snap!
• Cheaper than buying almond paste: By making homemade frangipane with just 6 ingredients, you can skip on buying almond paste at the store, which can be expensive.

Almond paste vs. marzipan vs. frangipane

What’s the difference between almond paste, marzipan and frangipane? Almond paste typically has double the almond content compared to marzipan, which has a higher ratio of sugar. Marzipan is typically very smooth and thicker than almond paste, which can be slightly coarser and a little looser in consistency.

Meanwhile, frangipane is an almond cream made up of almonds, sugar, butter and egg. I use the almond paste from these almond scones as the base for this frangipane and simply add an egg and softened butter to turn it into a homemade almond filling.

Recipe ingredients

• Almond flour: You can use almond meal or almond flour in this recipe. Almond meal will yield a slightly coarser paste while almond flour will yield a smooth and pale paste.
• Almond extract: Don’t skip this! It gives the essential almond flavor to the otherwise very neutral paste.
• Unsalted butter: I always use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in each recipe. Softened, room temperature butter is best for incorporating into the almond paste. You can always zap the butter in the microwave for a few seconds to soften this as it doesn’t matter if the butter is slightly melted!
• Chocolate chips: To turn these into chocolate almond croissants, all you do is add a layer of your desired chocolate on top of the almond filling! You can use semisweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate depending on your preference.

How to make almond croissants: step by step

1. Combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, almond extract, water, egg and butter in a food processor to create a smooth almond cream.

1. Cut croissants in half, brush with simple syrup, then spread frangipane on the bottom half of each croissant. (Add chocolate chips if desired!)

1. Add the top half of the croissant, spread with more frangipane and sliced almonds. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until frangipane is set and browned. Top with powdered sugar!