Rough Puff Pastry
folded butter pastry for sweet or savory baking
Ingredients
- 250 g all purpose flour
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 135 g water
- 5 g salt
Method
- Prepare: Cut the cold butter into ½ in / 1.3 cm cubes. Chill the butter, flour, and mixing bowl if the kitchen is warm. Choose either mixing method below.
- Food processor: Pulse the flour and salt to combine. Add the butter and pulse in short bursts until the pieces range from pea-size to small beans; stop before the mixture becomes fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl. Toss in most of the ice-cold water with a fork, then add the remainder gradually until a squeezed handful holds together. Leave visible butter pieces; do not process into a smooth dough.
- Hand-cutting: Stir the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the pieces range from pea-size to small beans, leaving some larger, flat pieces. Toss in most of the ice-cold water with a fork, then add the remainder gradually until a squeezed handful holds together. Avoid rubbing the butter completely into the flour.
- Rest: Press the dough together without kneading. If dry flour will not hold together, sprinkle on a little more cold water. Form a rectangle, wrap, and refrigerate 1 h.
- Fold:
- 1. Lightly flour the counter and roll the dough into a rectangle about three times as long as it is wide, ~6×18 in / 15×46 cm for the default batch. Keep the edges square and patch cracks by pressing them together.
- 2. Brush off loose flour. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down over it, like a letter. Turn the dough a quarter turn, then roll and fold once more. Wrap and refrigerate 1 h.
- 3. Repeat the roll-and-fold twice more, for four letter folds total. Chill sooner whenever butter softens or smears, or the dough springs back. Wrap and refrigerate at least 1 h before the final roll.
- Roll and bake: Roll to ~0.16 in / 0.4 cm (4 mm) thick; the default batch makes the sheet sizes listed in Notes. Cut straight down with a sharp knife without dragging it through the edges. Shape or fill as needed, then refrigerate 30 min. Bake according to the recipe using the pastry; for small unfilled pieces, start at 400°F / 200°C and check after 15 min, continuing until risen, browned, and dry through the center.
- Store: Refrigerate the wrapped dough for up to 24 h, or freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.
Notes
At the default 250 g flour batch, yield is ~640 g raw dough: one untrimmed sheet ~12×18 in / 30.5×45.7 cm at ~0.16 in / 0.4 cm (4 mm) thick, or two sheets ~9×12 in / 22.9×30.5 cm at the same thickness. Dimensions are approximate and refer to raw pastry; trimming and baking reduce the finished size. When scaling, keep the thickness and change the sheet area or number of sheets.
Source and attribution
Adapted from Breville Test Kitchen; hand method informed by King Arthur Baking