Easy Healthy Homemade Puff Pastry From Scratch (Rough Puff Pastry) And Fillings
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 desserts, appetizers, breakfast, brunch and tasty meals for a large group of friends, families and holiday parties.
3¾ cupsof all purpose flour (preferably organic)plus 1-2 cups more for kneading
8sticks of butter, 4 oz each,organic, unsalted
Cheese Filling
1poundfarmer's cheese
1egg
8-10springsfresh dill
3-4scallions
1/2tspsalt
Apple Filling
4mediumsweet and sour applesshredded
4tbspcane sugaror your preferred sugar
1 tbspcinnamonoptional
1tsp lemon juiceoptional
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
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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.
Temperature is very important in baking up puff pastry. As a rule of thumb, a higher oven temperature (390 - 400°F is ideal) results in puff pastry with a higher rise.It's important to keep your dough cold throughout the process, if butter gets too warm you will lose the lamination (layering) in the dough and the butter will leak while baking.You need to pre-heat the oven, aprox. 20 minutes at 390F. If your oven has not pre-heated enough, the butter will melt rather than turn to steam, which is what gives the lift.Use a cold baking sheet before placing the dough to bake. If the butter starts leaking while baking you can remove the excess with a paper towel.