Instructions

To Make the Dough:

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast has gotten foamy,
Add flour (make sure to fluff your flour with a fork before measuring), remaining sugar, salt, and melted butter.
Mix on low, until a shaggy dough begins to form. Continue mixing on low for 3-4 minutes before turning off the mixer. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky (you do not want to develop much gluten at this stage). Cover the dough with a damp towel or some oiled plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to rise for 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
While your dough rises, place 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons of butter onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Place a second piece of parchment over the top of the butter (to sandwich the butter in), and, with a rolling pin, lightly beat the butter into a square (roughly 8inx8in.).
Wrap the butter square in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge to stay cool. Pull the butter back out about 10-15 minutes before you are ready to roll out your dough (you want it to be cool, but lightly pliable).
Once the dough has doubled, remove it from the fridge and, using your fist, lightly punch out the excess air. Turn the dough out onto a (very) lightly floured work surface, and begin rolling into a 10in.x16in. Rectangle.
Once you have rolled your dough into a rectangle, place your square of butter onto the left half of the dough, and fold the right half over on top of it, fully enclosing the butter with the dough. There should be a 1 in. rim of dough around the butter. Press these edges together lightly, sealing in the butter.
Roll the dough, with the butter encased in the middle, back out into a 10in.x16in rectangle. Be careful that no butter squeezes out of the edges.

To Laminate the Dough:

The folding and refrigerating stages of baking croissants is incredibly important. This is where the wonderfully flakey layers of the pastry are formed by rolling the dough and folding it over on itself multiple times to create exponential layers of butter. There are two typical folds that are used to create these layers. They are:
The Envelope Fold: The dough is folded into thirds, as you would fold a letter when trying to fit it into an envelope (folding the bottom third up to cover the middle third, and folding the top third down to cover the bottom third)
The Book Fold: The dough is folded into four, and ends up looking like a closed book. (The ends of the dough are folded in to meet in the middle. The dough is then folded again at the center line that was created, much like closing a thick book.)When completing the next steps, please refer back to these explanations as they are used in the directions.
Take your 10in.x16in. rectangle of dough and perform an envelope fold (see the explanation on how to do this above). After folding, lightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to rest for 20-30 minutes. This allows the butter to get cold once again, and allows the gluten strands to relax. (At this point, you have 3 layers of butter)
After your dough has rested, remove it from the fridge, turn 90 degrees from its previous position on your table when you performed your first roll and fold, and roll it once again into a 10in.x16in. rectangle, making sure the layers remain in place and the butter does not squeeze out of the sides.
Proceed to perform a book fold on the dough (see the explanation on how to do this above). Wrap once again in plastic wrap, and allow to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. (At this point, you have 12 layers of butter).
Remove the dough from the fridge once again, turn 90 degrees from its previous positions on your table on the second roll and fold, and roll into a 10in.x16in. rectangle.
Perform an envelope fold on the dough. Wrap one last time in plastic wrap, and place the dough into the fridge to bulk ferment overnight (8-12 hours. At this point, you have 36 layers of butter.) This creates the most ideal texture and flavor in your croissants.

To Make the Fillings:

The next morning, while your dough is still in the fridge, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
Slice your pear in half, and place it face-side-up in a small, greased baking dish.
In a separate small bowl, mix together the melted butter, honey, and red chili flakes.
Pour the butter and honey mixture over the pear, spreading it on the surface of the fruit. Place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the fruit is fork-tender. Once removed from the oven, cut into twelve 1 inch thick slices that are 2 inches long (you want them to fit fully inside the croissant).
For the Cheese Filling, Mix together all ingredients listed at the beginning of the recipe, and set aside.
Lastly, mix together walnuts, melted butter, salt, and red chili flakes, and place in a small skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until the nuts are fragrant and have toasted.

To Shape and Fill the Croissants:

Remove your dough from the fridge, and place on a lightly floured surface. Grab your rolling pin, and roll into a 12in.x26in. rectangle. Trim an inch off of each side to give yourself a 10inx24in rectangle that can be cut into equal parts.
Using a ruler, make a vertical cut into the dough every 4 inches along the width of the rectangle, cutting the rectangle into 6 equal pieces that measure 4in-wide x 10in-tall.
Using a pizza cutter, take each 4 inch rectangle, and cut it from one corner to the corner on the diagonal from it, cutting the rectangle into 2 equally sized triangles. After cutting each rectangle, you should have 12 equally sized triangles.
To fill your croissants, take a triangle of dough, and in the center of the wide base of the triangle, make a 3 cm long vertical cut towards the point.
Fill a small pastry bag with your cheese mixture, and pipe a line of cheese horizontally across the wide base of the croissant, right above the 3 cm long cut towards the point.
Take a slice of pear, and place it on top of the cheese, and sprinkle with a small portion of the toasted walnuts.
Spread the dough lightly on either side of the cut, separating the cut slightly, and lightly roll the dough into a spiral towards the point. Do not roll too tightly or the croissant will not keep its light, flakey texture. Repeat this process with the remaining 11 triangles of dough.
Once you have rolled all 12 triangles, place them on 2 separate cookie sheets (6 on each) and cover with a damp cloth. Leave them to proof for 1 ½ - 2 hours in a cool spot on your counter, or until they have a slight wobble to them when you shake them. (Do not leave them to proof in a warm spot, or the butter layers will leak out of them, and leave you with an undesired outcome).
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
While your oven preheats, mix your egg with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush lightly over the tops and sides of the croissants. This will give them their signature deep brown color.
Place in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and flakey.
Remove from the oven, serve, and enjoy!