Almond Halwa Croissants

Here's why I love these Almond Halwa Croissants for brunch:

• It's a great way to refresh and use any leftover croissants that you may have.
• They're an ideal Sunday breakfast, a fancy brunch item to treat your mom for Mother's Day, or served to the family for Christmas breakfast.
• The eggless almond filling gives you all the flavors of badam halwa using the cardamom, saffron, and rich ghee without having to make it stovetop.

You may know and associate the term halwa with Middle Eastern sweets. In South Asian context, halwa refers to a type of dessert where flour, lentils, or vegetables are simmered in a base of ghee and sugar until it's almost a pudding-like texture.

Some halwas to try are Suji ka Halwa (semolina-based), Gajar ka Halwa (carrots), and Kaddu ka Halwa (pumpkin).

This recipes uses all of the base ingredients of a badam (almond) halwa - almond flour, ghee, sugar, milk, saffron, and green cardamom. But, instead of cooking it on the stove into a pudding, the base ingredients are mixed into an almond cream.

To make things seamless, let's first prep a few items:

1. Bloom half of the saffron in 2 tablespoons of warm whole milk.
2. Slice the croissants in half lengthwise using a bread knife.
3. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
4. Make the saffron cardamom syrup. See the instructions below.

Note: Use a saucepan or a pan that's a bit wider than your croissant. Later on, we dip the croissant halves in the syrup.

Start off by making a saffron cardamom syrup, which is not your typical 1:1 of water to sugar for a simple syrup. Rather, we are using ½ cup of water and ¼ cup of sugar since the almond cream already has sugar added. We're just looking to rehydrate and soften the day old croissants a bit.

Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar. Stir the sugar until melted. Lightly crush the green cardamom pods, and then add them into the syrup. Rub the saffron in the palm of your hands to break it into smaller pieces. Do this over the pan so it falls directly into the syrup.

Bring the heat down to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the syrup from heat. Optionally, stir in rosewater at this point. Allow the syrup to cool and come to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, salt, ground green cardamom, and sugar. Then, add the saffron milk we bloomed earlier, the other 2 tablespoons of milk, and 6 tablespoons of softened ghee.

Vigorously whisk together the cream for 3 minutes to break apart any lumps of almond flour. If it's too thick, add another tablespoon of whole milk. The end result will be a textured thick yet spreadable almond cream mixture.

Transfer the almond cream to a piping bag.

Now that the saffron cardamom syrup has cooled, dip the inside of each croissant half in the syrup. It just needs to be a light, quick dip to rehydrate the croissant. You can also dip the top of the croissant if you choose to for extra flavor.

If you didn't use a wide enough saucepan, feel free to use a pastry brush to brush the syrup on.

Snip about an inch off the tip of the piping bag. Pipe ~3 tablespoons of filling on the bottom half of each croissant. Alternatively, use a butter knife to evenly spread the almond cream. If you'd like to add dry fruits, you can at this point.

Close each croissant and lightly press it together to make sure both sides adhere with the help of the cream in the middle.

Pipe an additional tablespoon of almond cream on the top.

Dip the top of each croissant into a bowl full of almond slices and place them on a half sheet pan. You can also add slivered pistachios at this point.

Bake the croissants in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until the sliced almonds are toasted and the almond cream has lightly browned. Remove the sheet pan from the oven.

Once they're room temperature, dust on your confectioners' sugar by shaking a fine mesh sieve filled with powdered sugar over the croissant. A duster with a lid is great to have on hand for these occasions!

I like adding a few edible rose petals for an extra pop of color as well.

These croissants are best enjoyed on the day they were baked.

However, I've been able to successfully store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds to revitalize them. The middle gets a little gooey and it's so delicious.

To freeze - Once the almond croissants are baked, cool them to room temperature. Wrap each individual croissant in cling wrap to prevent freezer burn. Store the wrapped croissants in a freezer bag. Mark the current date on the freezer bag. Keep them in the freezer for up to a month.

To defrost frozen almond croissants, leave them at room temperature overnight. I have also successfully warmed them up in 2 30-second intervals in the microwave.