Puff Pastry Dough

Why not make your own. The flavour is so much better and using fresh really does puff better. Its labor intensive but so worth the work

4 cups sifted flour
2 1/4 cups cold unsalted butter
2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup cold water



Make the dough:
Sift flour in a large bowl, making a well in the middle. Into the middle put the salt and the water. Mix and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. It will take at least 5 minutes. Form into a ball and let it stand for 1 hour covered in the refrigerator.

Add the butter:
Roll out the dough into a sheet about 7 inches square and of even thickness throughout. Put the butter in the middle of the dough. (The butter needs to b e sliced as thinly.)Fold the ends of the dough over the butter in this order: Fold topside, then bottom, then left and right. Now the butter should be totally enclosed by the dough.

Turning:
Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured table in such a way as to obtain a rectangle of 25 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 1/2 inch thick. Keep the corner square. Work briskly, rolling away from you and keeps the dough moving on the floured surface. Fold the rectangle into three; give it a quarter-turn to the right. Roll the dough out again into a rectangle of the same size of the previous one. Again fold the dough into three and turn to the right. Wrap and chill one hour. Now your dough has two turns.

Repeat the sequence (Turn, Roll, Fold) two times, resting the dough in the fridge 2 hours between each sequence and turn. Remember to keep all the time the corners square. Each time you start a new turn the seams should be on left and right. After the sixth turn, chill again for two hours and your dough will be ready to use

I agree. I don't like the commercial variety and there are even mock versions that come out fantastically. I might not use it for croissants but for French apple tartlets or even certain cookies--no one would know the difference.

Thanks-A-Bunch, Bam. instead of going to the store and purchasing the dough already maid, i can now start making it myself.

BamsBBQ said:

Roll out the dough into a sheet about 7 inches square and of even thickness throughout.

Click to expand...

Here's my problem - how do you roll out dough of even thickness? Does it just take a lot of practice? Because I make a lot of cut-out sugar cookies throughout the year and they are never of even thickness. I end up cutting them all out and then putting the thicker ones on one cookie sheet and the thinner ones on another. Is there a secret y'all can share?

>>secret

Alton Brown has the trick.

go the hardware / home center - you can buy wooden dowels in many diameters / thickness.

get two, lay them down less than the length of your rolling pin - roll away.

eventually you can toss them as you'll get the hang of how thin is thin.

That's brilliant, Chowder! Thank you so much for this. (And another good excuse to hang out at the hardware store.)