How To Make Easy Puff Pastry
Save RecipeMy Mum’s recipe for an easy, shortcut Puff Pastry is so fast to make without all the folding like a traditional pastry, but it still yields amazing results.
Hi 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, but the video is so much better than 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 a 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.
Do I need to fold puff pastry?
My pastry is a hybrid of puff AND rough puff pastry. If you read the comments below, you will see people love my recipe because it is much faster to make and it doesn’t require folding and resting to create the layers. Instead I grate in frozen butters to give you the same effect. Same results, but the technique is simpler and saves time.
The 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?
What to do with leftover puff pastry?
Great question! Because the beauty of puff pastry is all its lovely layers, there is a rule that you don’t ‘re-role’ puff pastry as it throws off its structure. This pastry, however, is a tad different because we don’t fold it like a book, so there isn’t as much of the same fear.
A good way to use up leftover odd and ends is to make Palmiers, or do what my mum used to do, which was cut the pastry length ways, twist it, and sprinkle some cheese over it. She called them Cheese Straws (TM).
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My Mum's recipe for an easy, shortcut Puff Pastry is so fast to make without all the folding like a traditional pastry, but it still yields amazing results.
- 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
Place your butter in the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
In a jug, mix together your water and lemon juice and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Now I’m going to sound like a home economics book, but you need everything to be cold to yield great pastry, so feel free to put the bowl of flour in the fridge to chill.
On the larger side of a grater, grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mix. Stir the butter into the flour 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 too.
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.
- 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.
- Note: Once you put pastry in the fridge and it relaxes it will get a little wetter so factor that in.
- 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, is it important to put water in the mixture? I forgot to put water in my mixture, will it affect the pastry? As the butter and flour already hold it together
Hi Lelia,
If the butter is holding this pastry together then you will get a shortcrust pastry, not a puff pastry. This tells me that it is over mixed, possible in a mixer. This will make a really lovely tender pastry, difficult to roll and handle, but very good after it is chilled.
When the butter is grated for the puff pastry then you really must just incorporate the flakes into the flour, just barely covering the flakes in flour, and mixing with the water to bind. As the butter melts in the bake it creates steam which in turn makes the flakes.
Use this one as it is, it will be good,
Gemma 🙂
Gemma many thanks for the recipe which undoubtedly works – just not in my case. I’ve tried two batches, followed the recipe and video carefully but my outcome is just a flat inflakey result. I’m totally puzzled. Is there any specific handling required of the dough after refrigeration? My dough has been intentionally on the dryer side when mixing the water but the bowl is clean when done. Any insights would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for the website.
Hi Brad,
it sounds like you blended the butter too much. The idea here is to work fast, the butter should be coated with the flour and mixed through, not into the flour. The flakes of butter generate steam when melting as it bakes, and this is what creates the little puffs/flakes.
So, cold as possible, fast as possible, do not over wet, and top tip, mix with a table knife/dinner knife. This allows you to keep control of the dough without warming it, and will also help to judge when it is wet enough.
I hope this is of help, it is worth persisting with this one,
Gemma 🙂
Great tip on puff pastry. Am goin to use it for a comombert appetizer. For now I froze the dough which turned out perfectly, just enough to bind for a ball form. Super easy indeed. Many thanks. Wolfgang
Delighted to hear that Wolfgang!!!
Thanks for trying it out 🙂
Gemma.
Hi jemma
Is it a must to add lemon juice what can I use if I don’t have that
Hi,
If you don’t have it you can leave it out. It softens the flour but it won’t make or break the recipe.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi, I’m a baker and used to bake at an all scratch bakery. I was responsible for making croissant, puff pastry and Danish doughs. I used the traditional method of rolling and turning the puff pastry dough with layers of softened butter. However, my recipe called for sugar along with salt. Can sugar be added to this recipe if not being used for savory dishes?
Thanks!
Hi there, yes you can, that would be lovely!
Hi – I have a recipe that calls for 1-3/4 pounds puff pastry. Can you please tell me how much this recipe yields? (Super new to baking so sorry if this is a silly question!)
Hi there, for that much i would double this recipe 😀 enjoy!
Hi Gemma
Wanna ask… my top pastry is cooked and not my bottom part. Not sure what went wrong. I was using this recipe to bake ham & egg pie….but overall this is a keeper. Very flaky
Thanks
That very odd! Which rack in the oven did you bake on?
Hi Gemma,
I put all the flour and butter overnight in the fridge and it really helps with all the rolling. I came from a very hot country. Not sure you have heard if it , Brunei Darussalam. I made this today using the ham & cheese pie recipe. The top part of my pie is cooked but not the bottom part. Is it because I butter the casserole dish? Or is it because its too thick? I transferred the pie into a masterclass baking tray and slowly … finally… the bottom pie is cooked….
But overall the recipe is really good. And this is my second time I used this recipe….
First time I made chicken pot pie
Wow, great job on these recipes, next time send us a photo!
Hi Gemma,
How many sheets of puff pastry can I get from this recipe? How thin do I have to roll out the dough?
Hi, this is more of a rough puff dough so it makes a thick layer of puff pastry not several sheets that are rolled then layered.
What are the measurements of each ingredients used?
Hi! Here’s the recipe 😀 – https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/easy-puff-pastry-recipe/
Hi Gemma,
Can I cut the butter in small pieces and freeze it instead of grating the whole stick ?
Hi there, yes you can but i still suggest you grate it as the effect of the grated butter is really what created the light fluffy and buttery texture. Enjoy!