How to Make Homemade Puff Pastry

Prep: 36 hrs 10 mins

Cook: 0 mins

Total: 36 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 32 servings

This homemade puff pastry recipe is for purists who insist on the best possible ingredients for their baked goods. Making your own puff pastry from scratch is not difficult, but it is a time-consuming and painstaking process. Plan on three days to make this puff pastry, as the first and last steps require overnight refrigeration.

Once you read through the instructions, you may decide to simply use the prepared puff pastry from the freezer case at the market. But, you really owe it to yourself to attempt to make puff pastry from scratch at least once in your life.

Recipe reprinted with permission from On Cooking: Techniques from Expert Chefs by Sarah R. Labensky & Alan M. Hause (Prentice Hall Trade).

Ingredients

13 ounces/390 grams all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons/7 milliliters salt
3 ounces/90 grams unsalted butter (cold)
7 fluid ounces/210 milliliters water (cold)
10 ounces/300 grams unsalted butter (softened)

Steps to Make It

There are two methods to form the détrempe (or dough): by hand or using a food processor. Both are equally effective. It just depends on whichever you’d like to choose.

Gather the ingredients.

By Hand

To form the détrempe by hand, sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
Cut the cold butter into small pieces and then cut the pieces into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Make a well in the center of the mixture and add all the water at once.
Using a rubber spatula or your fingers, gradually draw the flour into the water.
Mix until all the flour is incorporated. Do not knead. The détrempe should be sticky and shaggy-looking.

In the Food Processor

The détrempe can be made in a food processor. To do so, combine the flour, salt, and pieces of cold butter in a food processor bowl fitted with the metal blade.
Process until a coarse meal is formed.
With the processor running, slowly add the water.
Turn the machine off as soon as the dough comes together to form a ball. Proceed with the remainder of the recipe.

Make the Puff Pastry

Turn the détrempe out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few times by hand, rounding it into a ball.
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and chill overnight.
To roll in the butter, first prepare the softened butter by placing it between two sheets of plastic wrap.
Use a rolling pin to roll the softened butter into a rectangle, approximately 5 x 8 inches. It is important that the détrempe and butter be of almost equal consistency. If necessary, allow the détrempe to sit at room temperature to soften or chill the butter briefly to harden.
On a lightly floured board, roll the détrempe into a rectangle approximately 12 x 15 inches. Lift and rotate the dough as necessary to prevent sticking.
Use a dry pastry brush to brush away any flour from the dough’s surface. Loose flour can cause gray streaks and can prevent the puff pastry from rising properly when baked.
Peel one piece of plastic wrap from the butter. Position the butter in the center of the rectangle and remove the remaining plastic.
Fold the four edges of the détrempe over the butter enclosing it completely. Stretch the dough if necessary; it is important that none of the butter be exposed.
With the folded side facing up, press the dough several times with a rolling pin, using a rocking motion to create ridges in the dough.
Place the rolling pin in each ridge and slowly roll back and forth to widen the ridge.
Repeat until all the ridges are doubled in size.
Using the ridges as a starting point, roll the dough out into a smooth, even rectangle of approximately 8 x 24 inches. Be careful to keep the corners of the dough as right angles.
Use a dry pastry brush to remove any loose flour from the dough's surface.
Fold the dough in thirds, like a business letter. If one end is damaged or in worse condition, fold it in first; otherwise, start at the bottom. This completes the first turn.
Rotate the block of dough 90 degrees so that the folded edge is on your left and the dough faces you like a book.
Roll out the dough again, repeating the ridging technique. Once again, the dough should be in a smooth, even rectangle of approximately 8 x 24 inches.
Fold the dough in thirds again, completing the second turn.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Repeat the rolling and folding technique until the dough has had a total of five turns. Do not perform more than two turns without a resting and chilling period.
Cover the dough completely and chill overnight before shaping and baking.
Puff pastry sheets may be frozen.

Kitchen Notes

To freeze, fold the finished rectangles in thirds and wrap tightly before freezing. Defrost in the refrigerator before using.
It is not necessary to work with the entire block of dough when making bouchées (small puff pastry cases that can be filled with savory or sweet fillings), cookies, or the like. Cut the block into thirds or quarters and work with one of these portions at a time, keeping the rest chilled until needed.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories	129
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g	14%
Saturated Fat 6g	31%
Cholesterol 25mg	8%
Sodium 273mg	12%
Total Carbohydrate 7g	3%
Dietary Fiber 1g	3%
Protein 1g
Calcium 25mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.