Skip to content

Rough puff pastry dough

  • 160 g White Wheat Flour
  • 1 t Granulated Sugar
  • 1/4 t Medium-Grain Salt
  • 160 g Unsalted Butter, cold, cubed
  • 120 ml Ice Water

Yields approx 450 g.

  1. Prepare dry mix. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Place the cold and cubed butter on top. Gently toss the flour and butter together with your hands, and then briefly rub the butter into the flour to begin combining them. At this point, the butter is still in large cubes/chunks.
  2. Make shaggy dough. Begin adding the ice water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms one large shaggy clump in your bowl. Use your hands to toss the mixture together after you add each tablespoon. You may start with two tablespoons before first tossing together. After about four tablespoons, when the dough has begun to hydrate, begin lightly squeezing or clumping the dough together with your hands to help bring it together. Mixture will still be very shaggy.
  3. Laminate dough. Pour the shaggy clump of dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. There will still be large chunks of butter at this point and that's a good thing. Begin patting the dough down with lightly floured hands until it's 2 cm thick rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds as if you were folding a business letter. Use your hands to gently flatten and smooth out any cracks in your dough.
  4. Cool once. Tightly wrap the laminated dough in plastic wrap, parchment paper, or aluminum foil, or place into any tightly sealed container. Cool dough for 2-24 hours in refrigerator.
  5. Rest 5 minutes at room temperature if the dough chilled for longer than about 3 hours; otherwise, continue to the next step immediately.
  6. Roll and fold. Lightly flour a work surface. The dough gets sticky, so make sure you have more flour nearby as you roll and fold. Use your hands to gently flatten the dough into a small square. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 3/2 cm thick rectangle. As you roll, it's best to flip the dough over once or twice to make sure it's not sticking to your work surface. Lightly flour your work surface as needed. Fold the rectangle into thirds as if it were a business letter. Turn it clockwise or counter clockwise and roll it out into a 3/2 cm thick rectangle again. Then, fold into thirds again. Turn it clockwise or counter clockwise. You'll repeat rolling and folding 4 more times for a total of 6 times.
  7. Cool twice. Tightly wrap the laminated dough in plastic wrap, parchment paper, or aluminum foil, or place into any tightly sealed container. Cool dough for 15 minutes - 24 hours in refrigerator.
!!! question "Why is cold butter necessary to prepare the dry mix?"
    You do not want to break down the butter. This step is only possible if the butter is very cold because if the butter is warm, you'll end up with paste. I do not recommend a food processor, pastry cutter, or mixer for this step because it will break down the butter too much.

!!! warning "What happens if the butter is too warm?"
    If the shaggy dough feels sticky and wet before adding six tablespoons water, the butter was likely too warm. You can continue with the recipe, but the dough will not be as flaky.

!!! tip "Freeze for reuse later."
    Instead of cooling the dough a second time, freeze it for up to one month. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator 24 hours before using again.

  1. McKenney, Sally. "Rough Puff Pastry." Sally's Baking Additions. 1 July 2021. ↩