Name: Homemade Puff Pastry (Standard)
Prep time: 1 h 12 min
Cook time: 1 h 48 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 1 pound
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour; 1 tsp Salt; 1 cup Cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes; 1/2 cup Ice water; 1 cup Cold unsalted butter, softened slightly but still firm

Recipe tier

A foundational puff pastry recipe, perfect for beginners. This version uses readily available ingredients and straightforward techniques to achieve flaky layers.

Total 3h

Serves 1 pound

Steps 9

Ingredients 5

Soundtrack the cook

Dinner party · 181 minutes

Music paced for prep, cooking, plating, and the reset after dinner.

Prep 72m Cook 108m Plate 5m Reset 10m

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Détrempe (Dough)
2 cups 320 g All-purpose flour
1 tsp 6 g Salt
1 cup 240 mL Cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
cup 120 mL Ice water
Beurrage (Butter Block)
1 cup 227 g Cold unsalted butter, softened slightly but still firm

Equipment

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Instructions

🎙️ Cook with voice coach

Make the Détrempe: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and work them into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.
Gradually add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix. It should be shaggy. Form the dough into a rough rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Prepare the Beurrage: Place the slightly softened butter between two sheets of parchment paper. Pound it with a rolling pin to soften and flatten it into a rough 6x8 inch rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Encase the Butter: Lightly flour your work surface and the détrempe. Roll out the détrempe into a rectangle about twice the size of the butter block (approximately 12x8 inches).
Place the chilled butter block onto the center of the détrempe. Fold the edges of the détrempe over the butter, like an envelope, sealing the butter completely inside. Pinch the seams to ensure no butter can escape.
First Turn: Lightly flour the work surface and the dough package. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 8x20 inches. Brush off any excess flour.
Fold the dough into thirds, like folding a letter. This is your first single fold. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Subsequent Turns: Repeat the rolling and folding process (rolling into a long rectangle and folding into thirds) a total of 5 more times, refrigerating for 30 minutes between each turn. After the final turn, refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before using, or freeze for later.
To use, roll the chilled puff pastry to your desired thickness and cut to shape.