Store-bought puff pastry is over-rated, in my opinion. It's flaky, but without much flavor or character, so I thought that it was time for me to learn how to make puff pastry from scratch. Numerous Pinterest posts told me how easy it was, so I decided to find out for myself.
They were right. It IS easy. If you can roll out dough for sugar cookies, pie crust or cinnamon rolls, you can manage puff pastry. So here's the recipe I settled on, after a brief period of research and experimentation.
They were right. It IS easy. If you can roll out dough for sugar cookies, pie crust or cinnamon rolls, you can manage puff pastry. So here's the recipe I settled on, after a brief period of research and experimentation.
Homemade Puff Pastry
1 scant cup of flour (one cup minus 2 tablespoons)
¼ tsp. salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
¼ c. ice cold water
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the chilled butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour. (In a warm kitchen, you might refrigerate the bowl for 20 minutes before getting started.)
Add the ice cold water and mix quickly with a dough whisk or sturdy wooden spoon. Once it comes together in a rough mass, shape it into a ball.
Flour your work surface (wood works best in my experience) and flatten the dough slightly. Dust the dough and your rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough into a 12” x 8” rectangle. Using a lightly damp pastry brush, brush off the excess flour with a pastry brush. Fold the top third of the dough towards the center (like folding a letter), and brush off the excess flour again. Fold the bottom half up and press lightly.
Give the dough a quarter turn, and repeat the same steps at least 3 more times (I’ve done it up to five times for extra flaky results). The dough will become increasingly smooth with each turn. Wrap the dough in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour before using.
Give the dough a quarter turn, and repeat the same steps at least 3 more times (I’ve done it up to five times for extra flaky results). The dough will become increasingly smooth with each turn. Wrap the dough in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour before using.
All-purpose flour work just fine for this recipe, and if all you have is salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/8 tsp. Some recipes recommend using ice cold butter run through a cheese grater, which is fine except that I hate having to wash cheese graters!
This makes roughly the equivalent of a single sheet of boxed puff pastry. A nice small batch for just a few treats! Start to finish, you can have this done in 15-20 minutes, plus chilling time. Less time than a trip to the store and much better.
This makes roughly the equivalent of a single sheet of boxed puff pastry. A nice small batch for just a few treats! Start to finish, you can have this done in 15-20 minutes, plus chilling time. Less time than a trip to the store and much better.
So what to do with your homemade puff pastry dough? Here's a link to a BuzzFeed article to get you started. These Cheese Puffs are especially easy.
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