PuffPastry1

Gluten Free Puff Pastry

Crispy, melt-in-your-mouth layers of buttery pastry. Perfect for delicate pastries, topping for chicken pot pie, or turnovers. Having never made puff pastry before, I was a bit daunted – gluten free pastry can be crumbly and hard to roll at the best of times! But I have to say, this rolled out like a dream! It didn’t crack, it was uniform, and rolled out perfectly!

PuffPastry1

To get started, shape the butter into a 4″x4″ square, mix the flour, salt and water together to form a ball (my butter square seems a bit lumpy in the picture, only because I started with a hard pound of butter and had chopped it into small pieces to try and soften it faster. Then I mushed everything together into the square shape). PuffPastry2

Use your hands to pull and shape the dough into a cross shape, with flaps at least 5″ long, and the center area at 4″x4″. Make sure the flaps are the same thickness (the center can be thicker). PuffPastry3

Place the butter in the center, then fold over the flaps. Pressing the all the edges together to completely enclose the butter, so it doesn’t get squished out when you start rolling. PuffPastry4

After you seal the butter up in the pastry, firmly ‘pounce’ (press) the rolling pin on the packet about 10 times all along its surface. Rotate the packet, and pounce it again. If you just started rolling the packet, you might break the seal on the edges. Pouncing it squishes everything down, and gets the butter adhering to the pastry around it. PuffPastry5

See also
The Best Low Carb Tortillas

On a well floured (tapicoa starch) surface, roll dough out to 18″x8″ and 1/2″ thick. PuffPastry6

Fold into thirds (like folding a business letter), brushing the flour off the dough as you fold. PuffPastry8

Pinch and press together all the edges, to make it a single packet again. Then rotate it 90°, and roll out again to 18″x8″. Rotating and the folding is what is going to create the buttery layers in the pastry. After rolling the dough out a second time, you should chill the dough for 15 minutes to prevent the butter form melting. PuffPastry7

After rolling out, folding and rotating a total of six times, your dough should look this this. Smooth, crack-free, and beautiful. Now its ready to use! PuffPastry9

PuffPastry1

Gluten Free Puff Pastry

Marla Hingley
Crispy, melt-in-your-mouth layers of buttery pastry. Perfect for delicate pastries, topping for chicken pot pie, or turnovers.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 1 hr
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 1 hr 20 mins
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

Dough

Butter Packet

  • 1 cup butter cold but not hard

Additional tapioca flour for rolling dough

    Instructions
     

    • In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together. Stir in the water until a dough forms, as more water if needed. Use hands to form a ball, if dough is too met and sticky and a bit more flour. Wrap ball in damp towel and place in fridge while you prepare the butter packet.
    • Shape butter into a a 4"x4"x1" thick square. Chill so it is cold and firm, but not hard.
    • Flour work surface with come tapioca flour. Flatten dough, and using hands, pull out and shape so each side has a 5” flap, and center is still 4”x4” – will look like a cross.
    • Place butter packet in center of dough, and fold flaps over butter to create a package. Press corners and edges together to completely enclose butter.
    • Use rolling pin to press down a few times in each directions. This will help butter to set in place. Flip packet over, dust with some tapioca flour.
    • Press/roll out dough to roughly ½” thick and 18”x8”, pressing dough back together if breaks. Fold the top third to the center, then fold over on itself again (like folding a business letter). Brush off any flour and you fold, to reduce the amount of flour that’s gets incorporated.
    • Press together edges, turn dough 90degrees, then roll out again to 18x8. Fold into thirds again and repair edges. Turn dough 90degrees then make a mark so you know which way to start rolling. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill dough for 15 minutes.
    • Repeat the entire folding/rolling/rotating process four more times for a total of 6 turns. Chilling the dough after every second turn, this is to ensure the butter doesn’t get too soft and make the dough stick to the surface.
    • Your dough should have gone from streaky looking (from the butter), to completely smooth and even colored/textured.
    • Shape the dough into 8"x5"x1", then roll/cut out according to the recipe you're needing the puff pastry for. If you don't need it right away, cover with plastic wrap (I don't recommend rolling it up) and refrigerate. To use, remove from fridge and allow to soften for an hour at room temperature (easier to roll and doesn’t crack).

    Notes

    *If you are using another flour blend, be sure to add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum to your dry ingredients.
    -If you aren’t going to use the dough that day, freeze it for later use: roll dough out to ¼” thick, place on a plastic lined baking sheet. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze flat. Once solid, remove from baking sheet and tightly wrap again. To thaw, unwrap and allow to warm on a floured surface. Make sure you don’t cut the dough when it’s frozen, as it will crimp the edges and prevent good rising.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    See also
    Beer Batter (for Fish or Onion Rings)

     

    Tips for Success:

    • Use a very sharp knife or pizza wheel to cut the edges. The more the edges are squished, it will prevent the layers from rising up at that point.
    •  Do not re-roll your pastry.  It will cancel out the layering effect (it will still be flaky, but not as flakey as before).
    • After cutting for use in your recipe, freeze pastry on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes before baking (use a different baking sheet when ready to bake).
    • Bake pastry on an ungreased cookie sheet, and sprinkle with a bit of cold water.  This prevents the pastry from burning.
    • If you are using small strips or shapes, once you have rolled out and cut the pieces, flip the pieces over and place on the baking sheet. This will give a better rise.
    • To ‘glue’ to pieces of dough together, brush edges with water.
    • For a shiny golden brown finish, brush with an egg wash. Don’t let it drip down the sides, or it will prevent rising.
    • A hot oven is need for good rising. Preheat oven to 425°F, then reduce to the recipes’ temperature once you put the pastry in the oven. If you are cooking for longer than 20 minutes, reduce heat to 300°F and bake further to completely cook the dough.
    See also
    Shortbread Tart Shells

    Similar Posts

    22 Comments

    1. Missing step 12: How to cut shape, bake/oven temp. and length/time of cooking. what would be good on these? please post. looking forward to trying this! 🙂 thanx!

    2. Recipes that call for puff pastry dough will all have different instructions on how they want you to cut or roll it out. So I’ve just left the instructions at the point where the dough is ready, and can be rolled out to whatever size or shape you need it for (or can be stored in fridge until needed). In the next few days, 3 more recipes will be emailed out to give you ideas on how to use this buttery pastry, so stay tuned!

    3. 5 stars
      Hi, New to this diet, need all the help I can get….Thankful that I like to cook…and thanks for all your recipes.. Trish

    4. Thank you for this great puff pastry recipe. My family will definitely enjoy this dessert.

    5. My problem is I am allergic to tapioca starch. Is there something else I can use instead of it? I am finding it difficult to find baking flour that does not have tapioca starch.

    6. I use puff pastry for making quiche – will it cook through with the liquid egg mixture and be
      light and puffy, as the pkg’d. puff pastry. I hope this works because I love the recipe; and.
      haven’t been able to enjoy since G.F.
      Thanks for all of your great ideas.

    7. It should cook fine, since the heat is coming up from the bottom of the oven. So if the eggs are cooked through, the pastry should be as well. Although making puff pastry for a quiche seems like a lot of work when you wouldn’t really get to enjoy the lightness and crispiness of the pastry, since it would be covered with the moisture from the eggs. What about trying regular pie crust with quiche? But please let me know how the puff pastry works out if you do use it for quiche – since I’ve never tried it that way (maybe I’m missing out on something awesome tasting)!

    8. You could but making puff pastry to use as a pie crust seems like a lot of work when you wouldn’t really get to enjoy the lightness and crispiness of the pastry, since it would be covered with (moist and wet) filling you add. So it may make the crust quite soggy. But please let me know how it turns out if you try it!

    9. Marla, I am so pleased to find such an excellent site. Thank you! I shall be constantly logging in as a member. You have put fun and excellence back into baking for me.

      However I am trying to avoid gums and will either be substituting psyllium or Glucomannan powder depending on the recipe. I have used the psyllium with great results in bread making but the Glucomannan I am not familiar with but I had read a few articles proposing this as a healthy one to one substitution for the gums for lighter baked goods like cake and pastry.

    10. Glad you are enjoying the recipes! I’m not sure if you are signed up to receive the daily emails, but that’s where all the new recipes are first posted, and how you’ll get access to them on the site (the sign up page in located on the home page).
      I have never used those gum substitutes, do you substitute them 1:1? I will have to give them a try, thanks for the info!

    11. I would be hesitant to use margarine since it has a much higher water (and conversely lower fat content) than butter, so I don’t think the pastry will turn out quite as light and flaky. Also since margarine is so soft, when you are rolling the dough out, folding it and rolling again, its going to start melting while you’re working with it. Whereas butter will maintain its structure longer. But if you do try it out, please let me know how it turns out!

    12. I have tried the perfect gluten free pastry recipe for pies and quiches YOur recipes are awesom

    13. I would be careful with the psyllium can actually cause bloating and heart burn. I try to avoid products with psyllium when possible. I haven’t had any problems with Xanthum Gum yet although it takes some getting used to with the measurements. Xanthum Gum is made from tapioca from what I understand. I could be wrong.

    14. Xanthan gum is actually a by-product of a bacterial fermentation from corn. So those who are allergic to corn, need to use other types of thickeners/binders in their recipes (like psyllium or guar gum for example). With so many people having different allergies or reactions to certain foods (like psyllium for you), it’s nice there are some alternatives available so those on a gluten free (not to mention other allergies!) can still enjoy baked goods like breads and cakes.

    15. Hello I need help!!! Lol
      I obviously didn’t ‘pounce’ properly and have a buttery mess!!!
      Eeek is there something I can do??? Is there something else i can use this for??
      I was planning g on making sausage rolls ?

    16. If you haven’t already, put it back in the fridge and let it sit for at least 45 minutes to firm up. Then fold the sides in to get the butter packet centered in the middle again. Then try and roll/pounce it back into the rectangle shape to continue the folds. Let me know how it goes! 🙂

    17. And as you are rolling the dough out, the minute you notice the dough getting soft, put it back in the fridge (in the course of making this recipe, you may need to chill it 3-5 times, depending on how warm your work area is). That’s why working on a cold marble surface is so great for pastry – it allows you to work with it longer before having to chill it.

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published.

    Recipe Rating