A Healthy Puff Pastry Recipe – Perfect Taste/Texture – The Classic Puff Pastry Recipe
Make Perfect Puff Pasty with the Classic Puff Recipe. It’s Easier Than You Think and it’s Made With Only Healthy Ingredients
I love Puff Pastry- really love it. There are so many things you can do with it. Whether you choose a savory or sweet confection, surrounding your filling with a great Puff Pastry elevates your concoctions. You could purchase Puff Pastry in a box in the freezer section of the grocery but the ingredients are frightening. You could make a super easy, fast Puff Pastry and the final product is almost a real Puff Pastry. Or, you could make the recipe here and have a perfect Puff Pastry product! Here it is, the Classic Puff Pastry Recipe.
For a less traditional puff pastry, a little less flaky but much faster to make, click here for our Quick and Easy Puff Pastry Recipe.
To compare the two recipes, click here.
It takes a little extra time but it’s worth it.
Ingredients – Dough
- Dough
- 1 pound flour (bread flour or all purpose)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 sticks of cold (refrigerated) unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 Cup water ice cold water (substitute milk or cream for a richer dough)
Ingredients Butter Block (Beurrage)
- 3 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 Cup flour
Instructions
20 to 25 minutes before making dough:
Cut the butter into half inch cubes, place in refrigerator until you are ready to use.
Place ice cubes in 2 cups of water (you will measure as you pull water out of this).
At assembly time;
Measure flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, mix with fork or whisk.
Pour butter cubes into flour/salt/sugar mixture. Use one of the following methods to combine:
- 1) Place in food processor bowl and pulse until butter consists of little flour covered balls
- 2) Use a traditional wire pastry blender to combine the butter and flour mixture until the butter consists of small flour covered balls.
- 3) Pinch the butter between your fingers until the butter consists of small flour covered balls (see video)
Add cold water to dough, a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork until you create a shaggy dough. The exact amount depends on the humidity of your work area and how much your butter has melted. Start with 3 tablespoons of water, then slowly add more, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a shaggy mixture (see pictures and video).
Gently knead dough into a ball (knead only until a ball is created (about 2 minutes), do not wait for a smooth dough).
Pat the dough into a square that’s approximately 1 inch deep. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Don’t overwork the dough while rolling. You should still see butter streaks in the dough.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it about 3/8″ thick.
After dough and butter block are chilled, remove from refrigerator. Make sure both are chilled but not hard. If either is very hard, leave it out before attaching the butter block and dough.
Roll the dough to approxiately 14″ x 7″, and the butter is 7″ x 6″. Place the butter on one end of the dough, leaving an edge of dough on 3 edges. Fold the dough end over the butter end. Seal the edges all around.
Cover with the plastic wrap and place back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Remove the dough/butter piece from the refrigerator. Press across the top to adhere the layers together without mixing the butter to the dough.
Roll the dough out to about 20″ x 20″ (the exact size is not important).
Lift an edge on one of the short sides of the rectangle. Fold it over so the folded side covers about a third of the rectangle.
Lift the opposite edge and fold to cover the rectangle (see video).
Lift one of the unfolded sides and fold it so it covers 1/3 of the rectangle.
Fold the final 4th side over the rectangle.
Wrap in plastic and chill for 15 to 20 minutes
Repeat the steps above from “Remove the dough/butter piece from the refrigerator.” till the wrap in plastic and chill step 4 more times, leaving the dough in the refrigerator from 15 to 30 minutes each time.
If the room is cool, you can probably do 2 fold and rolls between refrigerator rests.
After the dough has been folded 6 times total, you’re ready to use your Puff pastry dough.
Place dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour to 24 hours. (You can also freeze the dough at this point).
When ready to use, roll our the dough and add your filling.
The Classic Puff Pastry takes a little more time than the Quick and Easy Puff Pastry, but it makes such a lovely confection, it’s well worth it. Most of the extra time is “rest time” so your dough is busy working in the refrigerator while you’re doing something else.
Watch the blog for ways to use your Puff Pastry!
2 responses to “A Healthy Puff Pastry Recipe – Perfect Taste/Texture – The Classic Puff Pastry Recipe”
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[…] For a more traditional puff pastry with noticable flakey layers, click here for our Classic Puff Pastry Recipe. […]
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[…] Puff Pastry, Type 2- the Traditional Method. Layer slices of butter between layers of dough, folding the layers multiple times, refrigerating the dough between folds so the butter does not integrate into the flour mixture. This produces a nuanced, layered puff pastry. Go to the Classic Puff Pastry Recipe […]
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