Homemade Puff Pastry Recipe

Learn how to make this amazing homemade puff pastry recipe with delicious flaky layers of butter and dough for all your baking recipes. You will be blown away at just how easy this is to make.

Making anything from scratch usually requires a little more time, especially when it comes to baking. Try using this puff pastry recipe with my Beef Wellington or Peach Tart.

Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is a rich, delicate, multilettered dough known in French as Pâte Feuilletée. You make it by placing flattened butter between layers of dough rolled out, folded into thirds, and chilled. This process is repeated anywhere from 3 to 8 times, creating a pastry comprised of hundreds of layers of dough and butter.

There are technically 4 types of puff pastry including half, three-quarter, full, and inverted. This has to do with the ratio of fat to flour. When you bake puff pastry, the moisture in the butter creates steam causing the dough to puff and separate into flaky layers. There are many ways to use puff pastry, whether it’s in a tart, used in making croissants, or as a crust around or on something. 

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Flour – I used all-purpose flour in this recipe.
• Water – You will need some cool or room-temperature water.
• Butter – Always use unsalted butter in cooking and baking to control the salt content.
• Salt – I use sea salt in all my cooking and baking.

How to Make Puff Pastry from Scratch

Combine the 3 1/3 cups of flour with the ½ stick of butter into a standing mixer bowl with the paddle attachment

Whip on low speed for 5 minutes until combined. The butter should be cut completely into the flour.

Next, add the salt to the water and dissolve by whisking together.

Slowly pour the salted water into the flour-butter mixture just until mixed on low speed just until mixed.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper and place it into the refrigerator for 20 minutes to be easy to work with. The dough will be very sticky coming straight out of the mixing bowl.

Add the remaining butter and flour to a standing mixer bowl.

With the paddle attachment, whip the mixture on low speed for 5 minutes or until smooth. Do not over mix as you do not want the butter to get too hot, or it won’t be easy to roll out. 

Place the chilled dough onto a floured surface and dust the top of the dough with flour.

Roll it out until it is a long rectangle, about 12” x 24”

On another part of your clean surface dusted with flour, add the whipped butter and dust the top with flour.

Roll out the butter to 2/3 the size of the dough.

Place the butter on the left side of the dough.

Fold right to left, placing the dough over the butter.

Then left over right, covering everything.

Turn the folded dough 90°.

Roll it out to the original size of 12” by 24”.

Fold the right and left to the center so that they are touching

Next, fold left over right and chill for 20 minutes.

Repeat the process at least 1 more time and up to 7 more times by folding the left and right sides to the center and then folding them again in half. Remember to chill the dough for 20 minutes in between folds. 

Store or use the puff pastry dough.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this puff pastry dough up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: Wrap it in parchment paper and plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days. This will freeze well-wrapped in parchment paper and plastic wrap for up to 6 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator until soft and pliable.

Chef Notes + Tips

• You can use bread flour in this recipe. However, you will need to increase the amount of hydration by 3% to 5%.
• Puff pastry is not the same as phyllo dough.
• An alternative to puff pastry is shortcrust dough.

More Dough Recipes

• Pasta Dough
• Pizza Dough
• Pie Dough

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Homemade Puff Pastry Recipe

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5 from 5 votes

Learn how to make this amazing homemade puff pastry recipe with delicious flaky layers of butter and dough for all your baking recipes.

Servings: 3 Puff Pastry Sheets

Prep Time: 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour + ½ cup
• ½ stick softened unsalted butter + 4 sticks of cold unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 2/3 cup cold water

Instructions

• Combine the 3 1/3 cups of flour with the ½ stick of butter in a standing mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Whip on low speed for 5 minutes until combined. The butter should be cut completely into the flour.
• Next, add the salt into the water and dissolve by whisking together and slowly pour the salted water into the flour-butter mixture just until mixed on low speed.
• Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper and place it into the refrigerator for 20 minutes to be easy to work with. The dough will be very sticky coming straight out of the mixing bowl.
• Add the remaining 4 sticks of butter and ½ cup of flour to a standing mixer bowl.
• With the paddle attachment, whip the mixture on low speed for 5 minutes or until smooth. Do not over mix as you do not want the butter to get too hot or else it will be difficult to roll out.
• Place the chilled dough onto a floured surface and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll it out until it is a long rectangle, about 12” x 24”
• On another part of your clean surface dusted with flour, add the whipped butter and dust the top with flour. Roll out the butter to 2/3 the size of the dough.
• Place the butter on the left side of the dough. Fold right to left placing the dough over the butter. Then left over right, covering everything.
• Turn the folded dough 90°. Roll it out to the original size of 12” by 24”.
• Fold the right and left to the center so that they are touching. Next, fold left over right and chill for 20 minutes, wrapped in parchment paper.
• Repeat the process at least one more time and up to 7 more times by folding the left and right sides to the center and then folding again in half. You can repeat this process twice before it needs to be chilled for 20 minutes.
• Store or use the puff pastry dough.

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make this puff pastry dough up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: Wrap it in parchment paper and plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days. This will freeze well-wrapped in parchment paper and plastic wrap for up to 6 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator until soft and pliable.

You can use bread flour in this recipe. However, you will need to increase the amount of hydration by 3% to 5%.

Puff pastry is not the same as phyllo dough.

An alternative to puff pastry is shortcrust dough.

Course: bread, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Author: Chef Billy Parisi