Learn how to make an easy homemade puff pastry dough from scratch (aka rough puff pastry) with step by step instructions in a video. It’s a healthier alternative than store bought puff pastry dough – easy to make ahead and freeze it. This healthy puff pastry dough recipe can be used with different fillings, sweet or savory, to make delicious desserts, appetizers, breakfast, brunch and tasty meals for a large group of friends, families and holiday parties.
Make Easy Healthy Puff Pastry At Home
This recipe for healthy rough pastry is tried and tested for hundreds of time. This is a recipe my mother often did in my childhood every time when we had guests, we all loved these absolutely mouth-watering pastries.
This healthy puff pastry dough can be used in so many recipes, it can be rolled, stuffed, and layered with all kinds of ingredients. The recipe can be used in desserts, lunch and dinner meals, as a snack (in lunch boxes) or appetizers for a crowd.
With frozen puff pastry dough sheets readily available at the store, you might wonder why anyone would ever bother making it from scratch. Well, for me at least: homemade puff pastry dough made from scratch with healthier ingredients (preferably organic) tastes better and feels better.
Have you ever looked what puff pastry is actually made of?
Related: Oat Crumble Topping For Any Warm Baked Filing
Homemade Puff Pastry Is Healthier And Tastier
Most of the puff pastry dough sheets that are sold in stores contain enriched and/or bleached flour (never organic), some nasty cheap vegetable oils (palm, soybean, hydrogenated cottonseed), high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and preservatives.
And even if you don’t care about ingredients, you will never get that wonderful buttery flavor from a ready-made version, because there is no real butter in them!
Last time I purchased (a 14 ounce) box of puff pastry dough, I paid more than $14 for it! It was the highest quality puff pastry available that had real butter. But really, that much for a single sheet?
Plus it wasn’t even made with organic flour. So it certainly contains glyphosate – the known cancer causing herbicide that is used on conventional crops. Actually I couldn’t find a single brand of puff pastry dough that is labeled organic.
How To Make Easy Healthy Puff Pastry Dough (Rough Pastry)
The three primary ingredients of pastry are fat, flour and water. First you start by combining the dough ingredients in a big bowl until you form a soft dough.
There are a few ways to shorten the process of making homemade puff pastry dough, my version consists of rolling the dough first.
Then you spread the grated cold butter all over it and roll it (see video below). You gather everything into a ball and immediately refrigerate it. By the time you finish rolling each ball, the first ones are already ready to use. But I like to wait and finish baking the next day.
This shortcut of making homemade puff pastry dough is really amazing and requires less labor and waiting time.
Video: Watch How To Make Healthy Homemade Puff Pastry Dough (Rough Pastry)
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Storing And Using
The rough pastry dough is easier to make than the traditional puff pastry dough and still produces tender buttery layers. Once the puff pastry is made, it can be used after an hour in the fridge or the next day. It can also be frozen just like store-bought pastry.
Try use it within 3-4 days if you keep it refrigerated.
What Can You Make With This Healthy Homemade Puff Pastry Dough
You can use this rough puff pastry dough for sweet or savory recipes. Make the filling to your liking ad bake as a regular puff pastry dough.
Below are my favorite puff pastry dough recipes.
Apple Turnovers From Scratch With Homemade Puff Pastry
These apple turnovers start with my healthy homemade puff pastry dough and a delicious apple cinnamon filling, just like an apple pie.
Instead of filling the apple turnovers with sliced or chopped apples, I shredded the apples in order to create a more cohesive filling that does not fall apart when you bite into the turnovers.
Related: Apple Pie With Crumb Topping (Dairy Free / Vegan)
Then combine the grated apples, sugar, cinnamon and some lemon juice (optional) and it’s ready to be folded into the pastry dough. See the process in the video (recipe card).
Puff Pastry Cheese Rolls
With the same homemade puff pastry dough you can make flaky, buttery puff pastry cheese rolls – miniature cheese rolls pies that are great as appetizer for a large crowd, great for picnic, as a snack or even breakfast and lunch boxes. They are equally delicious when served either hot or cold.
The best cheese to use for making these puff pastry cheese rolls, in my opinion, is the farmer’s cheese. Not only it’s healthier (because it’s fermented and has probiotics) but it also has a fresh, sweet and sour taste that pairs very well with herbs like scallions and dill.
See video bellow how to make them!
More Delicious Recipes You Might Like
If you made this easy healthy puff pastry dough recipe please let me know how it went in the comments below!
Easy Healthy Homemade Puff Pastry From Scratch (Rough Puff Pastry) And Fillings
Ingredients
- 2 (8 oz) glasses of water
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp of unflavored oil, - avocado is my choice
- 4 eggs, - organic
- ½ tsp Celtic sea salt
- 3¾ cups of all purpose flour (preferably organic) - plus 1-2 cups more for kneading
- 8 sticks of butter, 4 oz each, - organic, unsalted
Cheese Filling
- 1 pound farmer’s cheese
- 1 egg
- 8-10 springs fresh dill
- 3-4 scallions
- ½ tsp salt
Apple Filling
- 4 medium sweet and sour apples - shredded
- 4 tbsp cane sugar - or your preferred sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon - optional
- 1 tsp lemon juice - optional
6-7 tbsp of oil – for greasing the table
Instructions
- The night before, stick your butter in the freezer, or at least 3 hours ahead of time, that’s fine, too.
- Mix all ingredients, add flour slowly at the end and knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. The dough should be slightly sticky and soft. If you’ve been kneading 10 minutes and it’s still too sticky then a dusting or two might be required.
- Cut into fist sized balls and knead each one into a tight, smooth ball. Cover the balls with a plastic wrap or towel while working to prevent drying. On a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll each piece of dough as thin as possible (like paper thin). You will need approximately 2 more cups of flour for that.
- Spread grated frozen butter over each sheet. Then roll and place it in a sealed bag in the fridge. Let it rest at least 2 hours or overnight.
- When ready, grease the table with oil and roll each piece into a thin rectangle, it should stretch easily.
- Spread the filling in a thin layer evenly over the 1/4 of the surface of the dough.
- Gently grab the dough and roll it up into a tight spiral (cheese feeling), or fold it over (apple turnovers). See video.
- Lift up the rolled dough, seam side down, and place it diagonally onto a sheet pan.
- Bake at 390 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Brush with egg for a more golden color. Let it cool before serving.
Video
Notes
Tips For Working With Puff Pastry Dough
The recipe makes a double batch of puff pastry, because I freeze half for easy use in future recipes. Feel free to halve the recipe if you only need one batch though. If you freeze the puff pastry dough, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and be sure it’s pliable before working with it. When left at room temperature the butter in the dough will soften and melt. This leaves the dough sticky and really hard to work with.Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
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Barbara
Thursday 6th of April 2023
Can I make ahead? Freeze? Before baking? After baking?
HealthyTasteOfLife
Friday 14th of April 2023
Yes you can make the dough ahead, and freeze it up to 3 months. You can wrap each piece of dough individually or store in a ziplock. And of course before baking is the best if you want a fresh taste.
Diana
Thursday 17th of November 2022
Hello! What size do you roll each piece of dough? How many portions/servings does each piece of dough make? Thanks!
HealthyTasteOfLife
Wednesday 23rd of November 2022
You basically roll it out until it gets very thin, paper like. The size may vary. Once the dough is rolled very thin then you can place the filling and roll it just like in the video. You will get aproximately 4 cheese rolls (servings) from one piece of dough. Or if you use less filling and want puffier (more dough around the filling) then you can make 3 servings with one pice of dough.
Megan
Wednesday 31st of August 2022
I followed the video instructions and I'm amazed how easy this puff pastry is made.. Plus its delicious 😋
HealthyTasteOfLife
Friday 2nd of September 2022
I'm glad you tried the recipe!