How to make puff pastry from scratch in just 15 minutes.
If there's one way I try to simplify my life, it's by running less errands. For me, that means making things at home instead of heading to the store for a quick-fix. Have you ever wanted to learn how to make puff pastry instead of buying it at the store? Today is your day!
This recipe makes one sheet of perfect puff pastry for you to use in any recipe you like!
The Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour. We need 1 cup (or 125 grams) of regular, plain bleached all-purpose flour. It's truly best to measure flour by weight in a pastry recipe, but if you don't have a scale, fluff the flour, scoop it into the cup and then use a knife to level off the surface of the flour.
- Salt. Use fine sea salt for this recipe, since we're using unsalted butter.
- Butter. This is the time to break out the fancy, high-fat European style butter that contains less water than regular American style butter. We need 10 tablespoons, or 5 ounces. This recipe still works with regular butter, however.
- Water. We're using a small amount of ice cold water to bring the pastry together. In a glass measuring cup, add ¾-1 cup of water plus a handful of ice cubes. Remove ice cubes after 10 minutes, and measure out ⅓ cup of ice cold water for the recipe.
The Directions
Add 1 cup of flour (125 grams) and ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt to your bowl. Stir gently. Add the 10 tablespoons (5 ounces) of COLD butter chopped into pieces, and then begin to work the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingertips. If you're using your fingertips, pinch the butter and smear it through the flour lightly. The fastest way to incorporate butter for homemade puff pastry is by using your fingers.
When it's fully incorporated, pour in ⅓ cup of cold ice water (don't let the ice cubes fall in)!
Gather your mixture into a rough ball and press it into a square shape on a well-floured cutting board or other work surface. Use plenty of flour to avoid sticking, but also be mindful about adding too much flour to your dough.
Now we start rolling! I use a French rolling pin for this <---link to the exact one I use.
Since your dough is in a rough square shape, begin by rolling it away from you into a long rectangle shape. Then, fold it up like a letter: fold the bottom third up to the middle and then the top third over the middle.
Give the dough a quarter turn and repeat. So, you roll out the dough, fold it like a letter, and turn at least 5 times. You’ll notice the dough becomes easier and easier to work with. This is how you know you're doing it right!
You made it! Now, wrap your dough baby in plastic wrap and stash it in the fridge. Or, the freezer, but remember to follow my rules for defrosting below.
This recipe comes from Clotilde, and I immediately trust her because she's French. In fact, I trust the French with all baking things.
I've answered some common questions that I get on my 15 minute puff pastry recipe below:
Questions about How to Make Puff Pastry:
I rely on puff pastry for so many things: puff pastry donuts, appetizers like ham and cheese puff pastry squares, chicken pot pie, breakfast apple turnovers, and quite possibly my favorite: apple tarte tatin. (Seriously, if you love apple pie but haven't had the MUCH easier French version called Tarte Tatin, you have to make it!) You can also make quick fruit tarts, like Raspberry Galette, or a Strawberry Crostata in the summer. If you can't find phyllo dough, you can use this dough to make my Skillet Spanakopita.
I tend to use unsalted butter for my baking needs. This way, I can add salt to my taste. I will always give you an exact amount of salt to use, but feel free to add more if you're making a savory recipe, or less if you're making a sweet recipe.
Honestly, the best way to make it is to do it the day before and let it rest in the fridge. This way, you still get the convenience factor of grabbing a sheet from the fridge and baking! You can also make this recipe and stash it in the freezer. If you wish to freeze it, fold it length-wise along the longest edge so that it mimics the puff pastry you buy in the store. Then, defrost it overnight in the fridge, and let it rest on the counter for 15 minutes before attempting to use it.
In a word, YES. I will receive a lot of arguments for cheap butter, but I just don't buy it. Higher-quality butter has a slightly higher percentage fat and a better flavor that is unmistakable. If you don't believe me, make one batch with regular grocery store butter and one with a European-style butter. You WILL taste the difference. Sorry that I just increased your grocery bill :)
Yes, absolutely! I would love for you to stock your freezer and fridge with this homemade puff pastry from scratch. I will caution you to stop at doubling it, don't triple it. When you double it, be sure to divide it in half before you begin your rolling sessions.
Puff Pastry Recipe
How to make puff pastry from scratch in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 10 tablespoons high-quality unsalted butter (5 ounces), cold
- ⅓ cup ice cold water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the flour and salt. Stir to mix.
- Next, cube the butter and then add it to the flour bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dough. It will be very crumbly, and you're done when the butter is in uniform pieces all about the size of peas.
- Next, make a hole in the center of the dough and pour in all of the water. Using a fork, stir to combine the dough.
- Flour a cutting board, and add the dough. Pat it into a rough square. You will still see chunks of butter and it will seem too dry, but do not add extra water. The dough will come together with each roll.
- Flour the rolling pin, and roll the dough out in front of you into a rectangle about 10" long. No need to be too precise here.
- Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle of the dough. Fold the upper third of the dough on top of the middle too. Rotate the dough one-quarter turn, and repeat. Use additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Roll out, fold, and turn the dough at least 6 or 7 times.
- When done, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour, or overnight. Dough may be frozen, too.
- Roll out with flour for desired puff pastry use.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
1Serving Size:
1 recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 1473Total Fat: 116gSaturated Fat: 72gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 38gCholesterol: 305mgSodium: 557mgCarbohydrates: 95gFiber: 3gSugar: 0gProtein: 14g
awo says
Am going to try this as a topper on a chicken pot pie. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Hope says
Growing up in NZ, I had made similar pastry in home ec class that I loved. It's been so long I had forgotten about it but I recently started baking, and wanted to find a good pastry recipe. I will definitely give this a try! Thank you ♡♡♡
Alina says
hi! i was wondering if you can use this dough immediately after you make it. i want to try making strawberry turnovers, so if i make this dough, once i am done, can i cut it into squares to use for my recipe right away? or does it have to be in the refrigerator for a certain amount of time? thanks so much!
Christina Lane says
I do recommend a brief refrigeration to set the butter.
Brenda says
At what temperature and how long do i cook this?
Anne Olson says
Christina,
I made this puff pastry! Yes!
I use your blog for a lot of recipes that are scale down for two people and I was glad to find the recipe for a rough puff pastry on here too.
I’ve never made any kind of laminated dough before and I was intimidated about doing so but this turned out really wonderfully!
I did not have the high-quality butter in my house so I made it with regular butter and I am looking forward to making it with the other kind of butter. I have a little bit of the puff pastry I made today in the freezer and I’m going to compare them side-by-side when I make the recipe with high-quality less water butter.
I know I got my dough to warm at times so I’m going try to improve on that next time. But even with all the things I didn’t do right it rose from one quarter inch rolled height to a baked 1 1/4 inch height. (I made a round top for my chicken pot pie and baked it separately on a cookie sheet.) The only thing that surprised and amused me was the 10” circle I cut shrunk to 5” after baking ha ha ha.
But it rose to four times the height. The circle I rolled out hooked into a oval and I’m sure it’s because it wasn’t rolled quite the same? This is really fun to do and thank you so much.
Madeleine Hare says
If you are using it to wrap pre-cooked sausage pieces in for a party, at what temperature should it be baked? I’m looking forward to trying this! With the price of pre-made pastry sky high at the store, this will be much less expensive. I like that I can do it the day before the party. Thank you!