Cruffins (Hybrid Method)

ByNatalya Syanova
Jump to Recipe Card

You probably already got it from the name, Cruffin is a combination of a croissant and muffin. My family nominated it to be one of the best desserts they’ve ever tasted. The dough is so delicious and can be used for danish or danish rolls as well.

Thank you for the recipe and inspiration @bennys_baked.

I adjusted the original recipe by adding sourdough starter to it and lowering the amount of yeast.

Ingredients

Danish Dough (for 12 cruffins)

  • 500 g bread flour (protein 12-13%) 
  • 100 g water 
  • 110 g milk 
  • 60 g sugar 
  • 60g sourdough starter on it’s peak
  • 1 egg
  • 10 g salt 
  • 3g instant yeast
  • 40 g butter at room temperature 
  • 250 g roll-in butter (pastry butter with 82% fat or more) 

Pastry Cream

  • 250 g heavy cream
  • 250 g milk
  • 100 g egg yolk
  • 100 g sugar
  • 20 g corn starch 
  • 10 g plain flour
  • 1 vanilla bean

Cherry Compote

  • 1/2 cup frozen tart cherries 
  • 3 tbs sugar
  • 1 tsp cornstarch 
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup of orange juice 

Directions

Night before

  • Dissolve yeast in water and milk mixture add sourdough starter, add an egg, sugar, salt and all flour. Mix by hand , or on a slow speed of your mixing machine. Add soft butter. There’s no need to develop strong gluten. Dough can remain little lumpy. Gluten will develop by itself overnight.
  • Cover in plastic wrap, put in the fridge until next morning.
  • Learn how to make sourdough starter from scratch here.

Next day

  • Prepare butter for rolling. Butter has to be playable (temperature about 64F/18C), use parchment paper to roll it into a block, about 7×9 inches/18x25cm each side), transfer it to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before rolling.

Please note, the butter shouldn’t be too cold, or too warm: If its too cold, then during lamination, it will start to break into pieces. if its too warm it will melt in between the layers.

  • Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll it as a rectangular 12×31 inches/30x80cm
  • Place butter block inside the dough, the way it showed on the picture.
  • Seal the edges, to let butter stay inside.
  • Start rolling by pushing the butter from 1 side to another (lengthwise).
  • Cut the edges. Place on top of the dough. It will release the tension during rolling 
  • Fold the dough as a letter(1st single fold).
  • Turn the dough 90 degrees, and continue rolling lengthwise. Cut the edges, put them aside, fold the dough as a letter(2nd single fold)
  • Cover the dough, transfer it to the fridge for 1 hour.
  • Remove the dough from the fridge.
  • Roll it in a rectangle with sides about 12×20 inches /30x50cm.
  • The dough should be 4-5mm thick.
  • Cut the dough in strips about 1×3 inch/3x9cm.
  • Shape them as shown in the picture as a roll, pinch the sides under.
  • Place each shaped cruffin into cruffin mold or big muffin mold.
  • Poke a hole in a center of each cruffin with your finger.
  • Note: at this point you can transfer covered shaped cruffins to refrigerator until 9-10pm, then you can remove them and let them proof overnight at 68-72C/20-22C. And you’ll be able to bake fresh cruffins for breakfast.

Or

  • Cover cruffins and let them proof for about 4-5 hours at 74-78C / 24-26C until they double in volume.
  • Preheat the oven to 375F.
  • Bake cruffins for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

Pastry Cream

  • Meanwhile prepare the pastry cream by preheating milk and cream on low heat. 
  • In separate bowl combine yolks, sugar, flour and cornstarch, mix until no lumps remain.
  • Temper yolk mixture with warm cream mixture, whisk, put it back to a low heat. Keep stirring constantly, until the cream will get thicker, add vanilla paste or vanilla bean.
  • Let cool down.

Cherry Compote 

  • Cook frozen cherries over low heat, until juice will start to appear. Add orange zest and orange juice.
  • In separate bowl mix cornstarch and sugar. Add to a cherry mixture. Continue cooking over low heat snd stirring constantly until compote will get thicker.
  • Let cool down.
  • Fill cruffins with pastry cream first, then top with cherry compote.

Enjoy!

Cruffin

Cruffins (Hybrid Method)

519kcal
No ratings yet
Share Print
Prep 45 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Rise & Rest Time 10 hours
Total 11 hours 15 minutes
A cruffin is the ultimate bakery mashup—a glorious combination of a flaky, laminated croissant and a soft muffin. This hybrid version uses a mature sourdough starter alongside a tiny touch of yeast to build an incredibly flavorful, layered pastry that stands tall and wraps around a rich cream core.
Servings 12 Cruffins
Cuisine Fusion

Ingredients

The Danish Dough Matrix
  • 500 g Bread flour (12–13% protein)
  • 100 g Water
  • 110 g Milk
  • 60 g Sugar
  • 60 g Sourdough starter (Active and at its peak)
  • 1 Large egg
  • 10 g Salt
  • 3 g Instant yeast
  • 40 g Butter (Softened at room temperature)
  • 250 g Roll-in butter (Pastry butter block with 82%+ fat content)
The Rich Pastry Cream Core
  • 250 g Heavy cream
  • 250 g Milk
  • 100 g Egg yolk
  • 100 g Sugar
  • 20 g Cornstarch
  • 10 g Plain flour
  • 1 Vanilla bean (or high-quality vanilla paste)
The Tart Cherry Compote Topping
  • cup Tart cherries (Frozen)
  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cornstarch
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup Orange juice

Equipment

Method

Night Before – Low-Gluten Mixing & Primary Chill
  1. 9:00 PM: In your mixing bowl, dissolve the 3g of instant yeast into the 100g of water and 110g of milk. Stir in the 60g of active sourdough starter, 1 large egg, 60g of sugar, and 10g of salt.
  2. Dump all 500g of high-protein bread flour over the liquids. Mix carefully by hand or on the lowest speed of your mixer just until a rough mass forms, then add the 40g of soft room-temperature butter.
  3. Mix only until the butter disappears into the shaggy dough. Note: There is absolutely no need to develop strong gluten right now; the dough can look slightly lumpy. The gluten network will naturally map and smooth itself out completely overnight.
  4. Wrap the shaggy dough securely in plastic wrap and transfer it directly to the refrigerator to rest until the next morning.
Next Morning – Butter Lamination & Cruffin Shaping
  1. 8:00 AM – The Butter Block: Place your 250g of cold roll-in butter between sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out into a flat, uniform geometric block measuring roughly 7×9 inches (18×25 cm). Place it in the fridge for 15 minutes to stay firm yet pliable (ideally around 64°F / 18°C).
  2. The Encapsulation: Remove your dough from the fridge and roll it out into a wide 12×31 inch (30×80 cm) rectangle. Place your prepared butter block cleanly onto the dough sheet and fold the outer edges over it, pinching the seams tightly to lock the butter inside.
  3. The Lamination Folds: Carefully roll the dough package out lengthwise. Cut the uneven short edges off and place them on top of the dough mass to relieve rolling tension. Fold the sheet into thirds like a business letter (1st single fold). Turn the dough package 90 degrees, roll it out lengthwise a second time, trim the edges, and execute another letter-fold (2nd single fold).
  4. Wrap the folded dough in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator for exactly 1 hour to chill the fats.
  5. 9:15 AM – Shaping: Roll the chilled dough out into a neat 12×20 inch (30×50 cm) rectangle with an even thickness of about 4 to 5 mm.
  6. Cut the sheet lengthwise into 12 even strips measuring roughly 1×3 inches. Roll each strip up tightly from bottom to top like a cinnamon roll, and pinch the bottom edges underneath to secure the layers.
  7. Press each rolled pastry into a greased cruffin mold or a large muffin tin lined with tall tulip wrappers. Use your finger to poke a deep, clean hole straight through the center of each roll to establish a deep cavity for the future filling.
  8. Cover loosely and let proof on your counter for 4 to 5 hours at a warm 74–78°F (24–26°C) until doubled in volume. Alternatively: Keep them in the fridge during the day, then pull them out at 9:00 PM to proof slowly overnight at a room temperature of 68–72°F (20–22°C) for fresh breakfast baking!
Baking & Dual Filling Injection
  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Slide the puffed trays into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the flaky outer layers turn a rich, deep golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
  2. The Pastry Cream: While they cool, heat your 250g of milk and 250g of heavy cream in a saucepan over low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the 100g of egg yolks, 100g of sugar, 10g of flour, and 20g of cornstarch. Slowly temper the yolks with a ladle of the warm milk, pour everything back into the saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a rich custard. Stir in the seeds of 1 vanilla bean and let cool.
  3. The Cherry Compote: In a clean saucepan, cook your 1/2 cup of frozen cherries over low heat until they release their juices, then stir in the orange zest and 1/2 cup of orange juice. Whisk 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch together in a small cup, dump it into the bubbling cherries, and stir constantly until it thickens into a glossy jam. Let cool.
  4. Assembly: Insert a sharp knife straight down into the top center of each baked cruffin and wiggle it gently to open up the internal pocket. Fill a piping bag with your cooled pastry cream and inject it generously deep inside the cavity, then spoon a vibrant dollop of the tart cherry compote right on top.

Nutrition

Calories519kcalCarbohydrates56gProtein10gFat29gSaturated Fat17gPolyunsaturated Fat2gMonounsaturated Fat8gTrans Fat1gCholesterol177mgSodium245mgPotassium164mgFiber1gSugar21gVitamin A1038IUVitamin C5mgCalcium85mgIron1mg

Notes

  • The Zero-Knead Overnight Advantage: You do not need to work yourself out kneading this dough on Day 1. Leaving the dough slightly lumpy and letting it rest in the cold refrigerator overnight allows the gluten proteins to cross-link and organize completely on their own. This ambient hydration process gives you an incredibly supple dough that rolls out easily without snapping back.
  • The Pliable Butter Block Guardrail: Lamination success depends entirely on temperature matching. Your butter block should never be hard and brittle out of the deep freeze, nor should it be warm and melting. It needs to be perfectly pliable (around 64°F / 18°C) so it spreads into micro-thin, unbroken ribbons between the layers of dough as you roll.
  • The Disappearing Finger Hole Hack: Do not panic if your structural finger pokes completely disappear or fill back in during the explosive oven rise. If your holes close up during baking, simply take a sharp paring knife or small serrated knife once the pastries are cool, push it down through the top center, and gently hollow out an internal pocket to make plenty of room for the fillings.
  • No-Starter Yeast Alternative: If you want to skip the sourdough process entirely, you can easily adapt this into a standard yeast-leavened pastry. Omit the 60g of active starter from the dough mix, increase your total instant yeast delivery up to 5 grams, and add an extra 30g of water and 30g of flour to balance out the missing volume.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Discover more from Natasha's Baking

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

44 Comments

      1. I wish that you would also include the amounts of ingredients in conversion to cups and spoons please. I do not want to waste time trying to figure out the grams which I am not comfortable with. chaseone66@gmail.com

      2. Thank you for your feedback! We will definitely take your suggestion into consideration and work on including the amounts of ingredients in conversions to cups and spoons in our recipes. We want to make sure our recipes are accessible and easy to follow for all our readers. If you have any more suggestions or requests, please feel free to let us know.

    2. Hello, what if I want to make it with yeast? An you help with the amount please and thank you.. Can’t wait to make it 🙏

      Reply

      2. I’d like to use yeast as well and would appreciate the amount, type, etc. TIA
        Susan W

  2. Can’t wait to try! Could you possibly include more pictures of rolling the dough out with the butter on it prior to refrigeration? Also which edge of the dough am I supposed to cut?
    Thank you!

    Reply

  3. Is the butter sweet ?
    What kind of brand do you use ? Or can I make it . I’m a bit confused on which butter to use .
    Thank you

    Reply

  4. Hi this looks amazing!
    Quick question Is the butter sweet ? What kind of brand do you use ? Or can I make it . I’m a bit confused on which butter to use .
    Thank you

    Reply

  5. Will you please review the measurements of the dough rectangle and the strips. They don’t match the pictures.
    Results were fair, an incredible amount of work though. Thank you

    Reply

    1. Mihaela, sorry it didn’t work out for you. All measurements are correct. So many factors involved to get great results: flour and butter quality,temperature of the environment and dough, dough handling.
      I’m sure with some practice it will get much better.

      Reply

  7. hello! So I followed the instructions and instead of 12 I made 8 haha soooo should I lengthen the bake time and decrease the temp in the oven so they don’t burn? A little butter was coming out too as I rolled them

    Reply

  8. Hi why do you poke a hole in the cruffin before chilling? What does it do? And can I do it after proving but before baking? Or must it be done before proving?

    Reply

    2. I poked it before the overnight proof, and it disappeared by morning, so I tried poking it again and it started to deflate my cruffins. They puffed up so much in the oven anyway that the hole disappeared, so I wouldn’t bother with poking the hole again. Instead, I just stuck a knife down the top after baking and wiggled it around a bit so there was enough room for all that tasty filling:)

      Reply

      1. Thank you for sharing your experience with poking the cruffins before and after baking! It’s great to hear that you found a method that works for you by using a knife to create space for the filling after baking. Experimenting with different techniques is all part of the fun in baking. Enjoy your delicious cruffins!

  9. Прекрасный рецепт. Спасибо. Я бы хотела приготовить без дрожжей. Как рассчитать время расстойки? Спасибо

    Reply

  10. Doing this recipe right now! For overnight proof on the counter- is that based on 8hours? Just trying to gauge so I don’t over proof!
    Thanks!

    Reply

      1. I’m glad to hear that the overnight proof worked out well for you! It can be nerve-wracking to leave dough overnight, but the results are often worth it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

    1. I just used a normal muffin tin, but I did it with tulip liners since they’re a bit bigger. It seemed to be the perfect size!

      Reply

  13. “Shape them as shown in the picture as a roll, pinch the sides under.”
    Is it only me, but I don’t see a picture there…?

    Reply

  14. Hi I am making these and the first proof in the fridge I couldnt get to them until much later. can I still use this dough? Or should i restart

    Reply

  16. These are so tasty! Although the recipe was a bit confusing in a few cases, I pushed through and ended up with delicious Cruffins for easter breakfast! The important thing is to read the recipe through and make sure you will have enough time to properly execute the recipe- I made a little schedule for myself on an index card like I always do for laminated doughs or fancy breads. I will say that the dough was SUPER hard to roll. I’m guessing I just overdeveloped the gluten, as I let my stand mixer do the work to mix the ingredients together, but I will say that although I was nervous that they would be very tough, they were still light, flaky, and quite delicious at the end. These are not the most flaky pastry you will ever eat, but they still had a good amount of flake to them and I was very happy with the result. If you wanted more, you could probably do a fold or two more. Once I cut them into 12 strips, I rolled them into thinner strands and rolled them up (much like cinnamon rolls) before putting them in muffin tins. I did use larger tulip liners so they had enough room to expand. I did poke a hole in the center before the overnight rise and after, and it just disappeared in the oven and partially deflated the cruffins before baking. In the end, I just took a knife and hollowed out a small hole after baking and it worked wonderfully- I won’t bother with poking a hole with my finger again. I will say, I was sceptical about letting them rise overnight at room temperature- I almost put them in the fridge anyway- but I had faith and followed the recipe and they were perfectly proofed in the morning! Considering this, I’m not sure if the 4-hour eating on the same day proof would be long enough, and I would definitely opt for the overnight option. As far as the pastry cream and compote topping- WOW! Best pastry cream I’ve ever tasted! Better yet, there was a decent amount of extra, so I used it in a plethora of wonderful ways the week following 🙂 I did change it up and make a raspberry compote instead, so I just subbed raspberries for cherries and used lemon juice instead of orange. It was so good, and added the perfect bit of tartness to the recipe, while the pastry cream brought some sweet creaminess, and the cruffin itself brought good flavor and wonderful flaky layers- it was a textural and flavorful dream! I ended up using a piping bag and round tip to really get the fillings in there. After eating, I just stored them in the fridge, and they kept very well, not really losing any of that flaky charm, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch so you’ll have extra!

    WOW that was a long review. To sum it up- Make these NOW!!!

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your detailed and enthusiastic review! We’re thrilled to hear that you enjoyed making and eating the Cruffins, despite the slight challenges you faced with the recipe. Your tips and insights on the process will be incredibly helpful for other bakers looking to try this recipe. It sounds like you put a lot of care and effort into perfecting these Cruffins, and we’re so glad that your hard work paid off with delicious results.

      Reply

  17. Hi, thanks for the amazing recipe:) is it possible to freeze the cruffins (maybe before or after final proofing) to bake them another day?

    Reply

  18. Thank you for this amazing recipe. I always had a hard time to make this type of pastry and finally I followed your steps and it came out perfect 👌🏼 and delicious. Thanks a million🙏🏼

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating