Pain au chocolat, or '[chocolate] [bread]', is a staple of [The French|French] [bakeries]. Essentially, it's a buttery [croissant] wrapped around a center of dark chocolate. Usually it's eaten as a treat at [breakfast] or as a snack.

It's remarkably easy to make, especially if you use pre-packaged puff pastry [dough] instead of making your own dough. I've seen [recipe|recipes] recommending [bittersweet], [dark chocolate|dark] and [milk chocolate] variably; I personally prefer the darker chocolates. The [quality] of the chocolate matters, too. Try to get the best chocolate you can, within reason.

Ingredients

1 sheet (from a 17.3 [ounce] package) frozen [puff pastry], thawed
2 - 3.5 ounce bars of dark chocolate
For the glaze: 1 egg [beaten] with 1 tablespoon water
white [granulated] sugar

Line your baking sheet with [parchment] paper; greasing the pan doesn't work as well.

Unfold the thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Cut it into 12 [square|squares].

Cut the chocolate bars into six 2 x 3/4-[inch] pieces.

Lay one dark chocolate piece on the edge of a pastry square and roll up the dough tightly, completely [enclose|enclosing] the chocolate. This will create a long, thin [pastry] [tube] filled with chocolate. Repeat this with the remaining pastry squares.

Place the rolls on your parchment-covered baking sheet, [seam] side facing down. This will keep the pain au chocolat from opening as it [bake|bakes]. (It can also be made a day ahead to this point. Cover it with [plastic wrap] and [refrigerate] it.)

Preheat the oven to 400 [degree|degrees] [Fahrenheit]. Brush the tops of the pastry tubes with the egg wash and [sprinkle] with sugar. Bake in your hot oven for about fifteen [minute|minutes] or until the pastry is golden brown. Pain au chocolat is tasty served either warm from the oven or at [room temperature].

My recipe is self-adapted from Debra F. Weber's recipe on About.com.

pain au chocolat (thing)