Hi,

I adore croissants, but this morning i was told that thay are made from animal fat, whilst i had one in my mouth :grr: . I am new to vegetarianism so i dnt know much about which non-meat foods use animal products. I would really like to know if croissants get the green light.... im gonna have to weane myself off of them :cry:

Thanks for your help

They're made with butter which is a dairy product; if you're vegetarian, they are fine... I'm pretty sure they're not made with animal fats like beef tallow or lard.

Croissants are just flaky dough. They're flaky because in between each thin layer of dough is a layer of fat. The fat separates the layers and produce steam while baking, producing thin layers of flaky bread. Most good croissants use butter, but I supposed you could use a vegan margarine if you wanted to make them. Making them sounds like a pain in the butt. You have to roll out the dough, then spread a thin layer of margarine. Then fold it in half. Then roll out the dough again. Then spread more margarine. Then fold it in half. Etc. You could just buy some filo or puff pastry dough and bake it at home.
Here's a recipe for them.
http://recipecircus.com/recipes/CVC/BREAD/Vegan_Croissants.html

Although you might be able to find a place that uses vegan margarine instead of butter. Or maybe you could try those pillsbury flaky biscuits instead, I don't know if they're vegan though.
HTH,
~Wonder :sunny:

i've made homemade croissants before, they take a little effort, but they are worth the effort - better than pre-made dough!

and pillsbury crescent rolls are vegan, the last time i checked..

Some of those pillsbury flaky biscuits sound real good right about now :drool:

I should say for the croissants, what you basically do is roll out a square piece of dough. Create a decently thick layer of butter/margarine. Then fold it in half and refrigerate until hard. Then roll it out a bunch, fold it in half, roll it out again, fold it in half. Everytime you fold it, you're doubling the number of layers of butter. So do this until you have folded it quite a few times. Then cut triangles, roll into the crescent shape, and then bake.
~Wonder :hamster:

I think most croissants are suitable for lacto-ovo vegetarians.

Ok, i'm very relieved. I can carry on eating croissants! I mite even start making them.

They're made with butter which is a dairy product; if you're vegetarian, they are fine... I'm pretty sure they're not made with animal fats like beef tallow or lard.

It depends.... A "real" croissant does not have lard. Most commonly they're made with butter or shortening.

thanx for all the info had no idea...

peace and love

jenn:pibo: