Soften butter slightly but you still want it a little firm then form into a 6 x 6 inch and ~1/2 inch thick butter square. Placed in between 2 sheets of parchment paper them refrigerated until firm.
In a mixing bowl, add warm water, dry active yeast and sugar.
Stir and let sit for 2 minutes.
Add salt and stir again.
Add softened butter, milk, and stir.
Slowly add flour, one cup at a time until a non-sticky dough forms.
knead just enough to form a dough ball and bring dough together. We don’t want a huge gluten response here.
Roll dough out on a floured and non stick surface. Form a square roughly 12 x 12 inches.
Place butter square so it looks like a diamond in the middle of your dough square.
Fold in the corner to form a box.
Roll dough out to a rectangle roughly 14 by 16, then fold into 3 layers, each side folded in towards the center.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove plastic wrap and roll out again into roughly a 14 X 16 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds again, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes again.
repeat the same step again 2 more times.
Place chocolate chips into a heat proof bowl.
Heat cream up until it's steaming, microwave about 1 minute or bring to almost a boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and cover bowl for a minute so chocolate will melt. Stir until it's smooth and shiny.
Refrigerate chocolate mixture so it firms up.
Remove plastic wrap from the croissants and roll out into a 14 x 16 inch rectangle again.
Spread the chocolate mixture over the top of the dough and tri-fold again as you did before.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then repeat the folding process one more time and refrigerate another 30 minutes.
Cut into 10 long triangle wedges and make a slit in the center of the wide end.
Pull sides of the slit to the sides as you roll the croissant into it’s signature shape.
Place rolled croissants on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, loosely covered with plastic wrap.
Let rise for 90 minutes.
Mix up egg wash and brush the tops of the croissant with it.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Bake for ~20-24 minutes or until tops are golden brown and croissants look cooked.
Enjoy!