Description
This Homemade Puff Pastry recipe provides a classic, flaky, buttery dough perfect for both sweet and savory dishes. Made from simple pantry ingredients and requiring only basic techniques, this puff pastry is ideal for bakers seeking to create elegant pastries, tarts, or pies from scratch. The vinegar helps tenderize the dough, resulting in a tender yet crisp texture after baking.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup cold water (plus more if needed)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar (optional, but helps with the dough’s texture)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and salt thoroughly to ensure even seasoning throughout the dough.
- Cut in Butter: Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, quickly work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.
- Add Liquids: Mix the cold water and white vinegar together. Gradually add this liquid mixture to the flour and butter, stirring gently with a fork until the dough begins to come together. Add a little more water if the dough feels too dry but avoid overhydrating.
- Form Dough: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead just until it forms a cohesive ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough to keep the butter cold and create flakiness.
- Chill Dough: Flatten the dough into a rough rectangle. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling out. This chilling step allows the gluten to relax and the butter to firm up, essential for creating puff layers.
Notes
- Keep all ingredients as cold as possible to ensure the butter stays solid and creates flaky layers.
- Do not overwork the dough to maintain tenderness and puffiness.
- Use the dough within 2 days or freeze it for up to 1 month.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to prevent sticking.
- Rest the dough between folds if continuing with traditional puff pastry folding methods to increase layers.
