Best Easy Method Puff Pastry Recipes

HOW TO MAKE EASY PUFF PASTRY RECIPE

Steps:

• 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 shortcrust 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 it to use at a later day.
• Note: Once you put the pastry in the fridge and it relaxes it will get a little wetter so factor that in.
• To use your pastry: Follow the instructions required by the recipe you are making. Always bake in a HOT oven for best results.

EASY HOMEMADE PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
• Cut the cold butter into 1/4-inch slices and add to the flour mixture, tossing to coat.
• Stir in the cold water until a thick dough forms.
• Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk-shape, and wrap in plastic wrap.
• Chill for 1 hour in the fridge, or 20 to 30 minutes in the freezer.
• Unwrap the dough, dust the work surface with flour, and roll the dough into a rough rectangle shape.
• Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter.
• Turn 90 degrees, roll and fold again.
• Repeat about 2 to 4 times, wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 2 hours or overnight.*

QUICKEST PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Cut 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter into 1/2 to 1/4-inch dice, place on a plate and refrigerate while preparing remaining ingredients.Measure water and add salt; stir to dissolve and set aside.
• Coarsely dice remaining 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter. Place flour in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade; add 4 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is absorbed -- about ten to twelve 1-second pulses.
• Add remaining butter and pulse once or twice to distribute. Add water and pulse 3 or 4 times, just until dough forms a rough ball. Do not over-process.
• Flour work surface and scrape dough from work bowl. Shape dough into a rough rectangle and place between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Press dough with rolling pin to flatten, then roll back and forth several times with rolling pin to make a 12 by 18 inch rectangle of dough.
• Peel away plastic wrap and invert dough to floured work surface. Peel away second piece of wrap. Fold dough in thirds in the width, folding the top third down and the bottom third up, to make a 6 by 18-inch rectangle, then roll up the dough from one of the 6-inch ends, making sure to roll end under dough. Press the dough into a square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour, or until firm.

PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Put the flour and a pinch of salt in the food processor. Turn it on and steadily pour in 150ml of water. When the dough comes together, cover it in cling film and chill for 20 mins.
• Lightly flour your surface and roll the dough into a 25cm circle. Put the butter in between two pieces of baking parchment and soften it by tapping it with a rolling pin. Cut the butter in half and repeat the process until the butter is pliable but still cold. Reshape to the size roughly of a postcard.
• Put the butter in the centre of the pastry and fold over the right and left sides of the circle, overlapping in the middle. Press the dough with your rolling pin to make it longer and then lightly mark into thirds. Fold the bottom third up to cover the middle third and the top third down. Seal the dough gently by pressing down on the edges with your rolling pin. Give the dough a quarter turn.
• Roll the dough out to a long rectangle (roughly 18 x 38cm), keeping the edges square and the sides straight. Mark the dough into thirds again, fold the bottom third up and the top third down. Seal the edges and give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat one more time, cover and chill for 20 mins.
• Repeat step four twice more, chilling each time. Chill for one hour before using. Watch our puff pastry video for a Good Food tutorial.

ROUGH-PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift 250g strong plain flour and 1 tsp fine sea salt into a large bowl. Roughly break 250g butter into small chunks, add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely. You need to see bits of butter.
• Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of 150ml cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed.
• Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle.
• Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don't overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
• Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length.
• Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.