Puff Pastry, feuilletage or pâte feuillettée in French, is a light, flaky pastry of a laminated dough made with layers of butter and dough. It is the base for desserts like napoleons, pastries like Quesitos or fruit turnovers, and savory recipes like beef wellington and cheese straws. In this tutorial, I’ll teach you everything you need to know to achieve success when making your dough.
This article was originally published in October 2019. I’ve updated the recipe to include metric measurements and snazzy new pictures.
What is Puff Pastry?
My most stressful class in culinary school was Classical Pastries. Chef Jan Bandula was the instructor, and he was also a Certified Master Pastry Chef. And he was European. Failure was not an option in any of his courses. But Chef Bandula also wanted us to win. He never made us feel like idiots if our bread didn’t rise or our chocolate didn’t set up. Because of him, I veered off of the culinary course I began culinary school on and navigated straight to the pastry shop. One of the recipes I learned in Chef Bandula’s class, which I still hold dear to my heart, is Puff Pastry.
The two components of puff pastry are the détrempe and the beurrage. A mixture of flour, butter, and water make up the détrempe. The beurrage is simply butter mashed together with flour, an acid (lemon juice), and salt. The butter mixture is wrapped inside the dough, and the two become one. You end up with a dough with at least 513 layers of fat and dough. In the end, your pastries have dozens of layers of flaky, crisp, buttery goodness.
Where does Puff Pastry come from?
Puff pastry is a French invention. The classic French preparation of this recipe results in a pastry of 1,500 layers. This obscene amount of flakiness is where the French pastry, napoleons, gets its name mille-feuille, which means “a thousand leaves.”
Why make Puff Pastry from scratch?
Before beginning this recipe, you need to know that it requires time. The preparation and folding are not difficult, nor does this recipe require advanced pastry skills. Most people avoid making puff pastry at home because it requires a couple of hours to make from start to finish. But, most of that time is the required chilling time that the dough must undergo to make the puff pastry properly. If you don’t count the chilling periods, making the puff pastry takes less than an hour.
Making puff pastry from scratch is as easy as making pie dough. Homemade puff pastry also tastes butterier than store-bought dough. You probably have all of the ingredients to make puff pastry in your kitchen. In short, making puff pastry dough from scratch is worth it because it tastes better, you already have everything you need, and just because you can.
What ingredients are in Puff Pastry?
You only need 6 ingredients to make puff pastry. One of those is cold water, so, technically, you only need 5.
Breaking this recipe down into the two parts of the détrempe and the beurrage, I start with the beurrage because it needs to chill as long as the détrempe and it’s messier. You need unsalted butter, bread flour, lemon juice, and kosher salt to make the butter layer for the puff pastry. The only piece of equipment you need is a mixing bowl. Maybe a knife to cut the butter into small pieces, but that’s it.
Can I use a different fat to make Puff Pastry?
You shouldn’t make puff pastry with any fat other than butter. Plenty of fats are marketed as the “best thing” for puff pastry, but they’re lying. I would never lie to you. Forget the calorie count in this recipe. That’s not what we’re here to do. Puff pastry has a significant calorie count because it’s a butter-layered dough. Butter is the only fat worthy of this decadent pastry. It melts in your mouth, leaves layers as crisp as fallen fall leaves, and tastes sublime.
Classic European puff pastry is made by hand. Use the warmth of your hands to mash the room temperature butter into a smooth paste. Break up the bigger chunks until the butter resembles peanut butter.
Add the bread flour, lemon juice, and salt to the paste in the bowl. Adding the bread flour creates a loose dough that is closer to the consistency of the dough layer than butter alone. Additionally, the lemon juice gives the butter some pliability to make it “stretch” along with the détrempe.
Use your hands to mash the flour and the rest of the ingredients into the butter. Once you have a smooth paste, you can form it to chill.
This stage can be done in a stand mixer, mixing on the lowest speed. I prefer to do it by hand to cut down on the dishes, save electricity, and not overwork the butter to the point it heats up.
How long do I need to chill the beurrage?
The butter layer for the puff pastry needs to chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to firm up.
Lay out a couple of sheets of plastic film on your countertop. I overlap two 20-inch pieces of plastic wrap for this. Next, use an offset spatula to smooth the beurrage into a 10-inch square about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Wrap the butter square in the plastic wrap and carefully transfer it to the fridge to chill.
You want the butter square to be firm enough to handle without bending but not so firm that it breaks when you press a finger into it. The butter and dough layers need to be the same consistency when you fold them together.
You can freeze the butter layer for puff pastry, but you need to thaw it completely and bring it to the same consistency before folding it into the dough.
What do I need to make the Détrempe?
You need bread flour, cake flour, unsalted butter, kosher salt, and ice cold water for the dough portion of this recipe.
The equipment you need for this stage is a mixing bowl, a sharp knife (or bench scraper), and, eventually, a rolling pin.
Do I have to use two types of flour?
Puff pastry is mixed exactly like pie dough is. The reason you use two types of flour to make puff pastry is to give the dough a balance of proteins. Cake flour is a soft flour, meaning it doesn’t have a high protein content. Bread flour, on the other hand is a hard flour. It has a higher percentage of protein than most other flours. If you were to make puff pastry with only bread flour, you’d fight against it and the end result would be an inferior product in height and texture. Cake flour cuts the bread flour to make it more friendly to the folding process it’s about to undergo.
Sift together the two flours onto a clean work surface. Use your fingers to toss in the kosher salt.
What’s the difference between Puff Pastry and pie dough?
Take the butter and cut or tear it into 1/4-inch pieces. Use your fingers to cut the butter into the flours until the mixture looks coarse and sandy, like coarse-cut cornmeal. If you have a food processor, you can also use it instead of your hands to do this, but I find it warms the butter too much and makes the détrempe gummy.
Gather the mixture into a pile, then use the bottom of a measuring cup to form a well in the center of the pile.
Pour the ice-cold water into the well and use your hand or a bench scraper to fold the flour into the water.
Knead everything together just until the mixture forms a soft dough. Don’t overmix the dough because you don’t want to develop too much gluten. Producing excess gluten through mixing will cause the finished dough to shrink back while you try to roll out the puff pastry later.
Gently form the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly. Use a very sharp knife or a bench scraper to form a cross into the ball of dough only 3/4s of the way deep. So, don’t cut all the way through the ball.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 20 minutes to give the dough ample time to relax.
You can freeze the puff pastry dough at this point, but you’ll have to thaw it and bring it to the proper consistency before proceeding.
What is laminated dough?
You haven’t made puff pastry yet. That only happens when you combine the beurrage and the détrempe. Puff pastry is a laminated dough. Some other examples of laminated dough are croissants and danishes. A laminated dough is one in which fat and dough are folded over one another to create multiple layers. Some laminated doughs have added leaveners to help the dough rise, but puff pastry relies solely on steam for its height. The water in the layers of butter quickly evaporates in the very hot oven, disappearing and leaving in its place empty pockets. Those pockets between the crisp layers of dough give the puff pastry its flaky texture.
Puff pastry is made with three four-fold turns of dough. Folding in the butter layer does not count as a turn or fold when making puff pastry.
On a floured surface, use your finger to pull at the corners you made in the ball of dough earlier. This will form your ball into a rough square of dough.
Use a heavy rolling pin to roll your dough out into a square of about 18 to 20-inches. Roll the edges of the dough thinner than the center to compensate for any potential overlap. Measurements don’t have to be exact, but you want to roll it out, so it’s between 1/4 to 1/2″ thick. Try to make or keep the corners as square as possible.
How many times do I have to fold the Puff Pastry?
Lay the butter square onto the center of the dough so that 4 triangles are protruding from its edges.
Fold the dough over the square of butter to enclose it. Ideally, the points of the dough will meet in the center of the butter square, but it’s okay if they overlap slightly.
Transfer the dough-butter package to a sheetpan and cover it lightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to give the gluten in the dough a chance to relax.
After 15 minutes, uncover the dough and roll it into a rectangle about 20-inches (50 cm) long by 15-inches (38 cm) wide. The dough will be about 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick.
Use a knife to make a knick in the center of the rectangle on one of the long edges. Fold the two short ends into the center of the dough to meet at the mark. Next, take one of the short edges and fold it in half, like closing a book.
This is your first of three 4-folds.
Why is it hard to roll out the Puff Pastry?
After the first turn is completed, return the “book of dough” to the sheetpan and cover it with the plastic film. Chill the dough for 25-30 minutes to give the gluten a chance to relax.
Turn the dough 90 degrees so the length becomes the width, or so the short ends are on the left and right. You’re going to turn your dough this way after every fold to ensure your puff pastry layers are consistent and rolled in every direction.
Roll the dough out lengthwise into a rectangle with the same dimensions as the first rectangle. Keep those corners as square as you can. Don’t press down when rolling. Instead, roll evenly and smoothly. Also, try not to run over and down the edges of the dough. This keeps the layers of dough from sticking together.
This is your second 4-fold turn. Give the dough a chance to rest another 25-30 minutes before repeating these steps once more for a total of three 4-fold turns.
If you find that the dough is too hard to roll out, it’s most likely because it was overmixed during the making of the détrempe. Giving it more rest time may help, but you might have to leave it overnight to give the gluten a while to rest.
What’s the difference between Puff Pastry and Blitz Puff Pastry?
A quick note on the difference between the two.
Blitz puff pastry differs from puff pastry in that it does not contain a butter layer. Instead, more butter is cut into the flour, and the resulting dough is folded over, rolled out, and folded over again. My Buttermilk Biscuits recipe uses this technique.
Once the dough is finished, divide it into 4 pieces of equal (or as close to equal) weights. I usually get 3 1-pound 9-ounce bricks and one that is heavier. You can eyeball it, though. Wrap each piece of puff pastry in a layer of plastic wrap and store them in a covered container or food storage bag for up to 4 days.
What do I use Puff Pastry for?
Puff pastry can be used to make most of your favorite breakfast pastries, like:
And so many other recipes. You can use one piece of puff pastry for most recipes that call for a package (or box) of store-bought dough.
How thin do I roll the dough?
When rolling out puff pastry dough for your recipes, it’s important to roll it thinly- or about 1/4-inch thick. You’re going to be shocked at how much it rises once it’s baked. The reason why it’s important is that the dough will only rise so high in the hot oven before it starts to burn. The thicker you roll it, the more time it needs to rise.
Also, always bake the puff pastry in a very hot oven, at least 400°F (205°C). A blast of high heat encourages the dough to shoot up as that water in the butter evaporates and leaves those layers I told you about earlier. If you bake it at too low a temperature, you risk less-than-stellar layers.
Why does my Puff Pastry bake up soggy?
High heat is a must for baking puff pastry because it prevents the dough from becoming soggy as it bakes. If you don’t hit it with high heat, the butter melts into the dough instead of leaving that void between the layers.
Check that you’re baking at the proper temp of at least 400°F (205°C). Also, make sure you’re cutting your dough with a very sharp knife to prevent the layers of puff pastry from sticking together while baking. Finally, never bake the dough while it’s warm. If the butter is already soft, it will melt into the dough. It’s better to chill the dough than bake it while it’s warm.
How long can I store Puff Pastry in the fridge?
You can store prepared puff pastry dough in the fridge for four days. Don’t store it any longer than that, or the flour in the dough will start to ferment and turn gray.
Can I freeze Puff Pastry?
The best way to store puff pastry is in the freezer. Wrap your pieces of dough in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer-safe storage bag. Store the puff pastry in the freezer for 6 months. Remember to thaw the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to warm up slightly on the countertop before rolling it out.
You’re going to see that making your own Puff Pastry at home isn’t nearly as hard as you thought. Be sure to pin this recipe to your bread or pastry board, and don’t forget to share it with your friends and family!
Puff Pastry
Equipment
- rolling pin
- half sheet pan
Ingredients
Butter Mixture (for folding in)
- 3 cups (6 sticks or 680 grams) unsalted butter diced, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) bread flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
Dough Base
- 4 1/2 cups (680 grams) bread flour plus more for dusting the work surface
- 2 cups (145 grams) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter diced, very cold
- 2- 2 1/4 cups (500-560 milliliters) ice water
Instructions
Make the Beurrage (Butter Layer)
- In a large mixing bowl, use the heat from your hands to soften and mash the unsalted butter into a thick, peanut butter-like paste. Add the bread flour, lemon juice, and salt to the paste in the bowl. Use your hands to mash these ingredients into the butter to create a smooth, thick paste.
- Lay out a couple of sheets of plastic film on your countertop overlapping them. Next, use an offset spatula to smooth the beurrage into a 10-inch square about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick. Wrap the butter square in the plastic wrap and carefully transfer it to the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes*.
Prepare the Détrempe (Dough Layer)
- Sift together the two flours onto a clean work surface. Use your fingers to toss in the kosher salt.
- Use your fingers to cut the cold butter into the flours until the mixture looks coarse and sandy, like coarse-cut cornmeal.Gather the mixture into a pile, then use the bottom of a measuring cup to form a well in the center of the pile.
- Pour the ice-cold water into the well and use your hand or a bench scraper to fold the flour into the water.Knead everything together just until the mixture forms a soft dough. Don't overmix the dough because you don't want to develop too much gluten.
- Gently form the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly. Use a very sharp knife or a bench scraper to form a cross into the ball of dough only 3/4s of the way deep, but not all the way through the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 20 minutes to relax the dough.
Encase the Butter Layer in the Dough
- On a floured surface, use your finger to pull at the corners you made in the ball of dough earlier. This will form your ball into a rough square of dough.Use a heavy rolling pin to roll your dough out into a square of about 18 to 20-inches. Roll the edges of the dough thinner than the center to compensate for any potential overlap. The measurements don't have to be exact, but you want to roll it out so it's between 1/4 to 1/2" thick. Try to keep the corners as square as possible.
- Lay the butter square onto the center of the dough so that 4 triangles are protruding from its edges. Fold the dough over the square of butter to enclose it. Ideally, the points of the dough will meet in the center of the butter square, but it's okay if they overlap slightly.
- Transfer the dough-butter package to a sheetpan and cover it lightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to give the gluten in the dough a chance to relax.
Complete Three Four-Fold Turns of the Dough
- After 15 minutes, uncover the dough and roll it into a rectangle about 20-inches (50 cm) long by 15-inches (38 cm) wide. The dough will be about 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick. Don't press down when rolling out the dough. Instead, roll evenly and smoothly. Also, try not to run over and down the edges of the dough. This keeps the layers of dough from sticking together.
- Use a knife to make a knick in the center of the rectangle on one of the long edges. Fold the two short ends into the center of the dough to meet at the mark. Next, take one of the short edges and fold it in half, like closing a book.
- This is your first of three 4-folds. Use the knuckle of a bent finger to press a divot into the end of the "book" to keep track of the turns completed. After the first turn is completed, return the "book of dough" to the sheetpan and cover it with the plastic film. Chill the dough for 25-30 minutes to give the gluten a chance to relax.
- Turn the dough 90 degrees so the length becomes the width, or so the short ends are on the left and right. Turn the dough this way after every fold to ensure the puff pastry layers are consistent and rolled in every direction.
- Roll the dough out lengthwise into a rectangle with the same dimensions as the first rectangle, keeping the corners as square as you can. This is your second 4-fold turn. Give the dough a chance to rest another 25-30 minutes before repeating these steps once more for a total of three 4-fold turns.
Divide the Dough and Wrap to Use in Recipes
- Once the dough is finished, divide it into 4 pieces of equal (or as close to equal) weights. Ideally, you can get 3-1lb 9oz (or 700 grams) bricks and one that is heavier. You can eyeball it, though or even decrease the weights of each to get more portions of dough.
- Wrap each piece of puff pastry in a layer of plastic wrap and store them in a covered container or food storage bag for up to 4 days.
- You can use one piece of puff pastry for most recipes that call for a package (or box) of store-bought dough.
Notes
Swaps and Substitutions:
- Replaced the lemon juice with lime juice, white distilled vinegar, or vodka.
- Replace the bread flour with 4 1/2 cups (675 grams) of all-purpose flour.
- The butter stage can be done in a stand mixer, mixing on the lowest speed.
- If you have a food processor, you can also use it instead of your hands to cut the fat into the flour, but I find it warms the butter too much and makes the détrempe gummy.
Tips and Techniques:
- *You want the butter square to be firm enough to handle without bending but not so firm that it breaks when you press a finger into it. The butter and dough layers need to be the same consistency when you fold them together.
- Folding in the butter layer does not count as a turn or fold when making puff pastry.
- If you find that the dough is too hard to roll out, it's most likely because it was overmixed during the making of the détrempe. Giving it more rest time may help, but you might have to leave it overnight to give the gluten a while to rest.
- When rolling out puff pastry dough for your recipes, it's important to roll it thinly- or about 1/4-inch thick.
- Bake the puff pastry at the proper temp of at least 400°F (205°C).
- Make sure you're cutting your dough with a very sharp knife to prevent the layers of puff pastry from sticking together while baking.
- Never bake the dough while it's warm or it will melt into the dough. It's better to chill the dough than to bake it while it's warm.
Storage Instructions:
- You can store prepared puff pastry dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge for four days. Don't store it any longer than that, or the flour in the dough will start to ferment and turn gray.
Freezer Storage:
The best way to store puff pastry is in the freezer:- Wrap your pieces of dough in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer-safe storage bag.
- Store the puff pastry in the freezer for 6 months.
- Thaw the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to warm up slightly on the countertop before rolling it out.
Omg those layers! This is such a thorough tutorial. Thanks for sharing this–just in time for the holidays.
It’s my pleasure, Jazz!
I love how you broke down the steps and made this easy! I’m going to need to try a low-carb version of this! Beautiful Job!
Good luck experimenting, Mila!
Love your instructions so detailed!! Perfect recipe!!
I’m so glad you think so, Katrina!
This pastry looks delicious and the recipe seems easy enough for even me to follow. I often wondered how this light and fluffy pastry was made and you explained it perfectly. Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Vanessa! I hope you give it a go!
I keep meaning to buy puff pastry from the frozen food section my grocery store, because I always heard to not even bother to learn how to make it. I agree with other comments, you make it look easy. I am not one to buy prepared baked items, unless I just can’t make it. Now that excuse is gone. Thanks for the recipe!
It really IS easy, Cynthia. It just takes a little more time than unwrapping the store-bought stuff.
Omg, once i tried to make it and it was total disaster… Your skils are great, maybe i should try it again xoxo
You definitely should, Ivana! I hope you give it another shot.
I am drooling. I just love puff pastries. I will have to try and make this on my own. Normally I buy it already made.
I always make a lot so I don’t have to resort to the store bought stuff, Amber.
This looks amazing! I think I can make this! LOL! No seriously looking at the picture I would imagine it to be complex but I think I can handle this and I know my family would love this!
You absolutely can handle it, Carissa!! I know you can!
Those look so fluffy and flaky! Delicious! I can’t wait to try this!
You’re going to love them, Charlene!
I’ve never tried making puff pastry from scratch because it always looked super hard. Your recipe makes me want to give it a try!
Please go for it, LaKita! It’s so much easier than it seems.
Wow that looks so perfect! I’ve tried this once before and failed lol but maybe I’ll give it another shot!
Let me know if you have any questions that come up! I’m sure you’ll be successful with this one, though!
I love baking and this looks like something I need to try out! I love pastries so this would be perfect and it looks a lot easier than I thought it would be. Your idea to use it for making apple dumplings sounds amazing!
I’m working on a recipe for them, so check back in a couple of days!
That sounds so easy to make, and you can do so much with it!
You really can, Paula! That’s why I always keep some in the freezer.
I have heard horror stories about making puff pastry! Your process shots and directions make it seem more achievable than one might think! The finished pastry looks airy and delicious.
This post just confirmed the fact that I am wholeheartedly addicted to pastries. It’s really bad. You made this look so easy.
It really IS easy, Renia! It just takes a little time with the rolling and folding, but I broke that up between catching up on work emails and refereeing my kids fights.