Puff Pastry Dough Recipe

Puff pastry dough (pâte feuilletée) for a variety of pastry recipes.

This recipe yields dough for about 12 pastries.

Ingredients

Dough:

• All-purpose flour, 500 g
• Instant dry yeast, 5 g
• Salt, 10 g
• Milk (whole, room temperature), 150 ml
• Water (room temperature), 130 ml
• Granulated sugar, 50 g
• Egg (room temperature), 1 medium
• Unsalted butter (room temperature), 20 g

Laminating:

• Unsalted butter (cold), 200 g

Directions

Dough:

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt, then add the yeast and mix well
2. Add the milk, water and egg to the flour mixture and mix with the dough hook attachment of the stand mixer at speed 1 until all ingredients combine into a ball
3. Knead the dough at speed 2 for 3-5 minutes until smooth
4. Add the butter (20 g) and continue to knead for another 3-5 minutes until the dough is soft and supple but not sticky
5. The internal dough temperature should register about 25 C on an instant-read thermometer
6. Cover with cling film and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size

Butter for laminating:

1. While the dough is rising, prepare the butter for laminating (200 g)
2. Place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic film
3. With a rolling pin, lightly pound and roll out the butter into a thin rectangular shape of about 16 cm by 16 cm
4. Put the butter in the refrigerator and leave to chill

Folding the laminating butter into the dough:

1. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press to release most of the air
2. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with cling film, and leave to rest for about 20 minutes
3. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape of about 20 cm by 40 cm
4. Place the chilled butter in the middle of the dough rectangle
5. Fold both sides of the dough over the butter and press the edges to seal (the butter should be fully enclosed by the dough)
6. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangular shape of about 20 cm by 40 cm

Laminating:

1. Fold both sides of the dough toward the center and press the edges to seal
2. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangular shape of about 20 cm by 40 cm
3. Repeat the 2 previous steps
4. Place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic film and put in the refrigerator to chill for about 1 hour
5. Repeat the 4 previous steps 3 times to create a laminated dough of alternating layers of dough and butter
6. When the dough is baked, the layers of dough separate and form the typical light and flaky texture of croissants, pains au chocolat, and other viennoiseries

How to serve

Use puff pastry dough to bake croissants and other pastries.