Description
This is a foolproof easy puff pastry recipe; the results are so worth the effort.
Ingredients
6 tbsp butter, frozen in stick form
6 tbsp butter, chilled in stick form
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Ice cold water
Instructions
- Fill a measuring cup or bowl with 2 cups of cold water and add a few ice cubes. Set it in the fridge to keep cold.
- Slice the chilled butter into thin square-shaped slices. Spread them in a single layer on a plate and place the plate in the refrigerator so the butter stays cold.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork or a whisk.
- Remove the rest of the butter from the freezer and wrap a paper towel around the bottom of it to use as a grip.
- Gripping the part of the stick of butter with the paper towel wrapped around it, use a vegetable peeler to carefully peel the exposed butter into the bowl with the flour mixture. The shards of butter do not need to be any one size or thickness; you can turn the stick around and peel the corners, other sides, etc.
- When you peel most of the exposed stick, carefully slide a little more out of the paper towel and peel what you can using the vegetable peeler. When the remaining piece of butter gets too small (aka dangerous) to peel, use a knife to thinly slice it as you did with the chilled butter.
- Toss the shaved butter into the flour mixture with your hands.
- Remove the plate of chilled butter and place the slices into the flour mixture. Toss together with your hands.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the cold water into the bowl with the flour and butter. Use your hands to scoop the mixture from the bottom and then press down onto it from the top. Repeat this scooping and pressing, adding more water by the tablespoon, until the dough starts to come together.
- Once the dough is clumping together into a very shaggy, dry-ish dough, turn it over onto a sheet of plastic wrap.
- Use your hands to press the dough into a rectangle as best as you can. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap it and place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough up and down vertically into a rectangle that’s three times as long as it is wide.
- Perform the first letter fold: take the bottom third of the dough and fold it up into the center.
- Take the top third of the dough and fold it up into the center of the dough so it rests on top of the previous fold. You should now have a smaller rectangle with three equal layers of dough.
- Turn the rectangle of dough so the exposed edge of the top fold is on the right side.
- Again, roll the dough up and down vertically so it flattens once again into a rectangle that’s three times as long as it is wide.
- Perform the same letter fold: Take the bottom third of the dough and fold it up into the center. Take the top third of the dough and fold it up into the center of the dough so it rests on top of the previous fold.
- Again, turn the rectangle of dough so the exposed edge of the top fold is on the right side.
- For the last time, roll the dough up and down vertically so it flattens into a rectangle that’s three times as long as it is wide.
- Perform the last letter fold: Take the bottom third of the dough and fold it up into the center. Take the top third of the dough and fold it up into the center of the dough so it rests on top of the previous fold.
- Make a “+” sign with two pieces of plastic wrap and place the dough in the middle. Wrap this smaller rectangle of dough loosely in plastic wrap on all sides and roll it out into a square or rectangle about ½-1 inch thick. Rolling it should push it into the corners of the plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours before using it. If you’re not going to use the dough within 24 hours, you can freeze it to use later. If frozen, let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before use.