NORWALK, CONN., December 20, 2007 – Stew Leonard's Bakery Department has become one of the world's largest in-store bakeries, but did you know that it all started with a golden brown crescent-shaped piece of pastry?

To celebrate National Croissant Day, all Stew Leonard's store locations will be offering free samples of this flaky delicacy all day in the bakery on Wednesday, January 30.

Croissants were actually the first bakery product made at Stew Leonard's, thanks to the oldest daughter of founder Stew Leonard, Sr. While studying French language and literature in Paris, Beth Leonard also apprenticed at a bakery, learning how to make croissants in the traditional method – a 16 hour process that involves layering butter into sheets of dough. When she returned to the States in 1982, she asked her father if she could try making and selling croissants at the store. Her Dad's response: "Sure, but what is a croissant?" Today, Stew Leonard's sells more than 25,000 croissants a day in "Bethy's Bakery" between all four store locations.

Croissant (kwah-SAHN or kruh-SAHNT) is actually the French word for crescent. Although the croissant did not originate in France (according to lore, the pastry was invented in Vienna), its present day recipe was inspired by a French baker who in the 1920s added butter to the dough, making it lighter and flakier versus a rich bread dough. Croissants began taking off in the U.S. in the early 80s, when croissanteries began cropping up in New York City and even some fast food chains.

Making croissants can be a laborious process, because it involves laminating the dough – layering the dough with butter through a series of rolling and folding. After it is allowed to proof (letting the dough sit so it can rise), the layers of butter in the dough give off moisture when baked, and the steam that results causes the layers of dough to puff and rise, forming air pockets and giving the croissant its trademark texture.

At Stew Leonard's, making croissants is a two-day process. After the dough is laminated and folded two times, it is placed in a dough retarder to proof overnight. At 3:00 A.M. the dough is then folded a third time (giving the pastry a total of 81 layers) and allowed to proof for another 45 minutes to an hour. The proofing allows the dough to rise and gives the yeast time to develop flavors. Before it is baked, the croissants are given an egg wash to give the outside a rich golden color.

A good croissant should be golden brown on the outside, and provide a nice crunch, with the pastry shattering into flaky pieces. Inside, it should be moist, light and buttery without being greasy.

Stew Leonard's offers a variety of croissants, including butter croissants and mini butter croissants; chocolate chip croissants (a twist on pain au chocolat); cream cheese or cinnamon sugar croissants, as well as heartier sandwich croissants such as ham or turkey and Swiss cheese, and broccoli and cheddar.

"Croissants should ideally be served warm," said Zita Sebastian, Director of Prepared Foods at Stew Leonard's. "We recommend that before serving our croissants, heat them in a preheated 375 degree oven for five minutes. This will not only warm the croissants, but also enhance the shatter effect of the pastry."

For ambitious bakers who would like to make authentic croissants at home, we recommend the following recipe from America's Test Kitchen.

Foolproof Croissants (recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen)
Makes 12

1. For the dough: Whisk 2 ¾ cups of flour together with yeast, sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Place milk in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Add flour mixture and knead at low speed until ball of dough forms, about 5 minutes. Add butter pieces to dough. Continue to knead until butter becomes fully incorporated and dough becomes smooth, begins to form ball, and clears sides of bowl, an additional 5 to 6 minutes. (Dough should be sticky, but if more dough is sticking to sides of bowl than to itself, add remaining ¼ cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as necessary.) Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. For the butter square: Following illustrations below, shape butter and flour mixture into even 7-inch square. Refrigerate butter square until ready to use, at least 30 minutes.
3. . Lightly dust work surface with flour. Following illustrations 1 through 5 for making turns (see below), roll dough into 11-inch square. Place chilled butter square diagonally onto dough. Fold corners of dough up over butter square so that they meet in middle and pinch ends of dough together to seal them.
4. Using rolling pin, gently tap dough, starting from center of dough and going outward, until square becomes larger and butter begins to soften. At this point, start gently rolling dough into 14-inch square, checking often to make sure dough is not sticking and dusting with additional flour as necessary. Fold square into thirds to form long rectangle. (This method of folding is called a "turn" and resembles folding a business letter.) Starting from narrow ends, fold rectangle into thirds again to form square. You have now given dough 2 turns. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5. Repeat step 4, giving dough 2 additional turns (for total of 4 turns) and chilling again for at least 2 hours.
6. To shape croissants: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place chilled dough on floured surface and gently roll dough into 20-inch square. Following illustrations 1 through 6 for shaping dough (see below), cut dough into 2 rectangles, then cut each rectangle into thirds. Cut each rectangle on diagonal to yield a total of 12 triangles. Lift one triangle off work surface, holding base (triangle's short side) in one hand and tip in other and gently stretch. With base closest to you, cut 1-inch slit into center of base. (The small slit will allow croissant to roll evenly.) Fold two sides of slit outward and with both hands, roll triangle, gently stretching dough as you roll, leaving last ¼ inch of tip unrolled. Gently transfer croissant to prepared baking sheet (unrolled tip facing downward). Bring ends of croissant toward each other to form crescent shape. Repeat with remaining triangles.
7. Cover croissants loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until puffy (they will not double in size), 45 to 60 minutes.
8. To brush with egg wash and bake: Meanwhile, adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 400 degrees. Using pastry brush, brush croissants with beaten egg. Bake until croissants are golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Cool croissants on wire rack until warm, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Although they are best eaten fresh out of oven, baked croissants will keep at room temperature for 2 days or well wrapped, in plastic, in freezer for up to 2 weeks. To reheat frozen croissants, place them in 300-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes.)

TIPS: Make sure the dough is thoroughly chilled before it is rolled out. If the butter becomes too warm, it will melt, making the dough difficult to roll and shape. If the dough becomes too warm and sticky at any time during the rolling and folding process, wrap the dough in plastic and chill until the dough becomes workable. This dough is best made in a cool kitchen; if your kitchen is warm, place a large tray of ice on your work surface to chill it down before rolling the dough.

Stew Leonard's, a family-owned and operated fresh food store founded in 1969, has four stores in Norwalk, Danbury, and Newington, Conn. and Yonkers, N.Y.. The company was named among FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" for the past six consecutive years. For more information, visit Stew Leonard's website at www.stewleonards.com.

STEP BY STEP: Forming the Butter Square
1. Using bench scraper, toss together butter pieces and flour on clean work surface. Smear butter and flour back and forth against work surface until they have combined into smooth, homogenous mixture.	2. Wrap butter mixture in plastic wrap and use edges of plastic wrap to form even 7-inch square. Refrigerate until firm.
STEP BY STEP: Making Turns
1. Place chilled dough on floured surface and roll into 11-inch square. Remove plastic wrap from butter square and place diagonally on top of dough.	2. Fold corners of dough over butter so they meet in middle of butter square. Pinch ends of the dough together to seal.
3. Using rolling pin, tap dough from center outward until butter becomes malleable. Gently roll dough into 14-inch square, dusting work surface as necessary with flour.	4. Fold one outside edge of dough in toward the center and bring opposite edge in over the top (like a business letter). Brush off excess flour.
5. Repeat process, folding over each end to make square. This is 2 turns. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours before making final 2 turns in same fashion as before.
STEP BY STEP: Shaping Croissants
1. After rolling dough into 20-inch square, use pizza cutter and ruler to cut dough into 2 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle into thirds widthwise and then into triangles, to yield a total of 12 triangles.	2. Working one at a time, lift triangle off work surface, holding base (triangle's short side) in one hand and tip in other hand. Gently stretch into long, narrow triangle with two sides equal in length.
3. With base close to you, cut 1-inch slit into center of base (short side) of each triangle.	4. Fold 2 sides of slit outward.
5. With both hands, roll triangle from base, gently stretching dough as you roll, leaving last ¼ inch of tip unrolled.	6. Transfer croissant to parchment-lined baking sheet, unrolled tip facing downward. Bring ends of croissant toward each other to form crescent shape.