Quick puff pastry dough (video-recipe)

Puff pastry is one of the most labor-intensive thing that you can make in the kitchen, just like croissant dough, and most of us find it much easier to pick a packet of puff pastry sheet at the store.

However, you may change your mind after checking the ingredients of industrial puff pastry sheets: saturated fats, coloring agents, preservatives, etc. All kinds of unhealthy ingredients except real butter (not shortcut or other substitutes), which is the basis of a good puff pastry dough…

While it’s true that making traditional puff pastry dough is labor-intensive and requires advanced baking skills, I’ll show you how you can make a surprisingly easy and flaky puff pastry from scratch in just about two hours. You have read correctly: two hours for the whole process (mixing, resting and laminating)!

You can use this quick puff pastry recipe to make all kinds of sweet pies and savory tarts, for example this exquisite apricot and almond cream tartlets.

So let’s get started!

Ingredients

250 g pastry flour
200 g butter
125 ml water
10 g sugar
3 g salt
Optional: a few drops of white vinegar

Step by step recipe of quick puff pastry

Previous considerations

1. All ingredients (flour included) and all utensils (mixing bowl, rolling pin, etc.) must be cold especially in summer time. Ideally, weigh all the ingredients the day before and leave them in the fridge. Do the same with the utensils.
2. Although you’ll see that the laminating does not require much precision, you should read beforehand all my advices regarding laminating in my croissants recipe (available here).

Video-recipe

[Note: this video has English subtitles. You can turn them on by clicking the Settings wheel in the lower part of the screen.]

See how easy it is?

Use this quick puff pastry recipe to make a delicious thin apple pie.

Or some irresistible cheese & cinnamon cakes…

The possibilities are endless!

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Tips

• If you want to make puff pastry dough and freeze it, I suggest to add a few drops of white wine vinegar(when adding the water), since the dough tends to get a little dark over time. Like any homemade product, it’s better to use your puff pastry quickly so that it keeps its flavor and texture. I have frozen mine for about a month (well wrapped in cling film and inside a sealed freezer bag) without any problem. To defrost it, remove it from the freezer the day before and let it defrost slowly in the refrigerator until the next day. Do not leave it at room temperature.
• If you are going to prepare pies or tarts with a liquid filling (for example, a quiche), I suggest you to «seal» the puff pastry once you have extended it the mold so that it does not get soaked before baking and it is very crispy. To do this, use a brush and just smear the entire surface with egg white and let it dry (inside the refrigerator). The egg white will form a fine «liquid-proof» crust to that the filling does not melt with the dough.
• Once baked, store puff pastry at room temperature wrapped in a cotton or linen cloth, or inside a wooden box with a lid.