How to Make Easy Puff Pastry Recipe (Bold Baking Basics)
Save RecipeHi Bold Bakers!
Knowing how to make great Pastry is baking 101. It is essential to me that you know how to make it well. So this week, I’m going to share with you my Mum’s recipe for an easy, shortcut Puff Pastry recipe, aka rough puff pastry, flakey pastry or blitz pastry.
Do you normally watch my videos? For this recipe you really should, and here’s why : Some of my recipes are more detailed than others and this Puff Pastry recipe being one of those recipes. I can explain to you in great detail the “why and how” of this recipe in the video so much better than in a blog post. There are tons of great tips in this video so I strongly suggest you watch it.
This recipe is fast to make without all the folding like traditional pastry but it still yields amazing results. How do I get away without resting and folding 100 times? The secret is grated frozen butter! The colder the butter the better. And nothing is colder than frozen so it works out well.
This simple steps of the grated butter makes sure you have tiny pieces of butter throughout your pastry without having to roll and fold for hours to get them. Why take the long road when the shorter (and smarter) road will get you to the same place?
Want more Bold Baking Basics? I’ll show you here.
Use my Puff Pastry to make 3 Savory Pop-Tarts! Watch the video above and get the recipe here.
- 2 ⅓ cups (11 ½ oz/ 325g) plain flour
- 14 tablespoons (7 oz/198g) butter, frozen
- Pinch salt
- 8-10 tablespoons chilled water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
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Place your butter in the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours but preferably overnight.
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In a jug mix together your water and lemon juice and set aside.
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In a large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Now I’m going to sound like a home eccomnoics book but you need everything to be cold to yield you great pastry so feel free to put the bowl of flour in the fridge to chill.
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On the larger side of a grater, grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mix. Stir the butter into the flour with a knife in with a knife. Frozen butter is my secret ingredient. The colder the butter the flakier the pastry. So remember, this is a shortcut short crust pastry, so we aren’t folding and doing that whole process. I’m all for process but if you get a great result with less work then I’m all for that.
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Add in the liquid, holding a little back just in case you don’t need it all. Using your hand bring your pastry together gently. You want to add just enough water to bring the pastry together. Too much water will not yield you a flakey dough.
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Bring the dough together to form a ball. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. You can refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze to use at a later day.
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Note: Once you put pastry in the fridge and it relaxes it will get a little wetter so factor that in.
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To use your pastry: Follow instructions required by the recipe you are making. Alway bake in a HOT oven for best results.
Meet Gemma
Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I’m passionate about sharing my years of experience to show you how to make game-changing baking recipes with over-the-top results! Join more than 1 Million other Bold Bakers in the community for new video recipes every week!
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Hi Gemma!
I used this to make apple turnovers, and the puff pastry turned out very well! However, the turnovers were a little bland. Would adding sugar to the puff pastry work? If so, how much? Any other suggestions?
Thank you so much!
Hi Aliza,
You could add a few tablespoons of sugar to the dry ingredients no problem.
Best,
Gemma.
This is such a good recipe.
My patties come out amazing. Thank you Gemma so very much.
Lots of love
Pam
I’ll tell my mum because it’s her recipe 🙂
Gemma.
Hi Gemma,
Will the puff pastry works if I use half amount of butter?
Thanks,
Kim
Hi Kim,
NO! this pastry is reliant on the butter. The cold butter releases steam as it heats and forms the flakes in the pastry. The fat/flour balance in any pastry is really important. The change in this is what changes the result. A tender pastry will always have a fat to flour ratio of at least 2:1, two of flour to one of butter. A puff pastry is different and the fat content is higher.
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma.
I made your puff pastry and OMG….it was amazing and so simple. My husband raved over it for days. I have never tried to make puff pastry before because it just looked to time consuming and a pain..lol
“AND THEN” I found yours…..I am so happy and grateful. I love love love watching your YouTube channel and I have learnt so much from you… Thank you for what you and your husband do. You make it so easy for us. 💕😋💕
Hi Jane,
Well I for one am delighted! this is one of those things that when you get it right you never get it wrong again, I am really happy that it worked well for you.
Happy husband happy life I say 😉
Gemma 🙂
Hey Gemma, which recipe should i follow to make croissants, this one or the chocolate croissant recipe?
Hi Nadia,
Use my chocolate croissant recipe to make regular croissant. It will work great.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gamma
How long do you put the pastry in for the oven?
it will tell you in the recipe you are making but it’s usually around 400oF until golden brown.
Gemma.
Hello I’ve been using this recipe and my cream horns turned out perfect for weeks. Now they all of a sudden started falling apart in the oven. The filet open or get giant holes. Do you know what’s causing this? I’ve checked my oven temp. I’ve booked the dough more, I’ve tried booking less, I’ve tried less water and I’ve tried less butter.
Gosh Kelly I really have no idea. That is so strange. I haven’t gotten this feed back from others either so I don’t really have a solution.
just make sure your dough is really chilled before using it.
Hope this is some sort of help,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma,
I made a « tarte tatin » with your easy puff pastry recipe!
Easy, perfect and delicious!!😋🍎
Many thanks!!
Good woman Noelia,
I love tatre tatin, a really delicious thing when ell made. sounds like you know your way around this!
Gemma 😉
Can I add sugar to this recipe to make it sweet? I have seen your video for sweet tarts. They are bit different.
Hi,
You can but honestly you don’t need too. This pastry can be used for both sweet and savory with no need of added sugar.
Best,
Gemma.