rough puff

Flaky pastry, blitz pastry, or rough puff - whatever you want to call it, this buttery, flaky, but not quite authentic puff pastry is the perfect homemade substitution for all your pastry delights. It takes a fraction of the time and effort of traditional puff pastry, but with a taste so good you'll be back for more.

Rough Puff Pastry

all-purpose flour, 1 cup

salt,

unsalted butter, 10 TSBP

water, ice cold

Measure flour and salt into the bowl of...

Measure flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse twice to combine.

Cut the butter into cubes and place into...

Cut the butter into cubes and place into the food processor. Pulse 25 - 30 times, or until butter is in small chunks and resembles wet sand.

While pulsing an additional 8 - 10 times...

While pulsing an additional 8 - 10 times slowly pour in the water. The dough should still be crumbly, but should start to come together.

Dump the dough out onto a clean work...

Dump the dough out onto a clean work surface and press together until it becomes a dough ball. 

Lightly flour the work surface, then shape the...

Lightly flour the work surface, then shape the dough into a long rectangle. Roll it out into a longer rectangle until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the top 1/3 down towards the middle, then fold the bottom 1/3 up towards the middle to create an envelope type shape. Turn it 90 degrees so that the openings are at the top and bottom. This completes 1 roll out.

Check your work surface and add more flour...

Check your work surface and add more flour if necessary. Roll the dough into a long rectangle again, until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the top 1/3 down towards the middle, then fold the bottom 1/3 up towards the middle to create an envelope type shape. Turn it 90 degrees so that the openings are at the top and bottom. This completes 2 roll outs.

Repeat until you have completed 6 total roll...

Repeat until you have completed 6 total roll outs. *See notes about chilling dough as necessary throughout the process.*

Cover the dough with a damp towel and...

Cover the dough with a damp towel and refrigerate for at least one hour prior to using. **See notes about longer storage times.**

Rough Puff Pastry, also known as Blitz Puff Pastry is a more streamlined and less fussy version of the classic French pastry dough. Used for so many different desserts, this layered flaky and buttery pastry is easier to make than you think! This extensive tutorial walks through all the steps on how to make this shortcut rough puff with step-by-step photos, video and lots of tips! Be sure to read through the entire post if you are new or new-ish at making rough puff.

(480 grams) all-purpose flour (see note)

salt

(13 grams) granulated sugar

(450 grams) unsalted European butter

(227 grams) ice water

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and salt on low speed.

Dice the cold butter into large chunks (one stick should be cut into 8 pieces). Add in the butter, and turn the mixer on low (cover the bowl with a towel if flour starts to spill out). Let the paddle cut the butter into the flour for about 1 minute. There should still be large chunks of butter, with most of them being the size of a walnut, in the flour.

With the mixer running, slowly stream 3/4 cup cold water into the dough. Mix until most of the dough comes together around the paddle. If there are any dry patches, stream the remaining 1/4 cup water in, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough is fully hydrated with no dry patches. Shut off the mixer. Scrape together the dough and transfer it to a work surface. The dough should hold together easily when it is picked up. Quickly shape the dough in a rough 10x8” rectangle and wrap in plastic. 

Transfer to the refrigerator and let it rest for 1-2 hours, or until the dough is about 50 degrees. If your kitchen is hotter, it may take longer for the dough to cool down.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough, dusting with flour if necessary, until 14 inches long, and 10 inches wide. The dough will be quite rough at this point, with butter pieces potentially sticking out of the sides. Brush off any flour with a dry pastry brush from the surface of the dough.

Grab the top short side of the dough rectangle and fold the dough ⅓ of the way down. Repeat with the bottom short side like a business letter. This is a simple turn. Gently press down on the layers with a rolling pin so the layers stick together.

Rotate the dough rectangle clockwise 90 degrees so the longer edge is now vertical and facing your right (reference the video or step-by-step photos to see this in action). Repeat the process as before to make 1 more simple turn.

Repeat the folding steps a third time, stopping before folding the dough into thirds. Clean up the edges of the dough using a pastry wheel or a long, sharp knife. The goal after this third fold is to create a straight even rectangle of dough. Finish the turn by folding the dough into a business letter, as done before.

Wrap tightly in plastic again and freeze for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Repeat this process two more times (removing the dough from the refrigerator, completing two turns, chilling the dough again as instructed, and then repeating with two final turns) for a total of 5 turns.

Cut the dough in half and wrap each piece of finished puff pastry blocks in plastic wrap and let it rest for a total of 2 hours. After this point it is now ready to use.

When ready to use, roll out one block of pastry to a thickness of about ¼” to ⅛”, and use as desired or directed in a recipe. See notes in the post for more information about how to store it, freeze it, use it and bake it!

I love this method so much. I have made a batch each week for the past month and I find it so therapeutic! I didn’t mind putting the butter block in the quart bag the first three times but I just tried just laying in parchment paper and using the baggy to keep the size seemed to work too! thank you for this beautiful detailed recipe!

Have made this once and it turned out beautifully! I can’t buy all butter pastry in the small town I live in here in NZ, so this will become my go to. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, and all the extra details as well.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1655257272/zm0zjmh5u9ylyary6yg3.mp4

Rough Puff Pastry, also known as Blitz Puff Pastry is a more streamlined and less fussy version of the classic French pastry dough.

Top 3 rough puff recipes from across the web

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Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry

Top 3 rough puff recipes from across the web

The most viewed rough puff recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry

Rough Puff Pastry

The most viewed rough puff recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine