So many buttery layers of goodness. So much better than frozen puff pastry. Make these and your house will smell like Heaven.
One of the things that I’ve always wanted to try making, but have been intimidated to try is puff pastry. Even when I’ve made things with frozen puff pastry, I’ve still been intimidated. I just worry I’m going to do something wrong with it, and it will come out without those crisp layers puff pastry is known for.
Well, the point of this project is to do things that intimidate me, stress me out, and push me to grow. So, I did it! I made puff pastry! From scratch! This recipe makes quite a bit of dough, so it’s nice to split it in half. Plus, you can make whatever you want with the dough. You don’t have to make Danishes; though they are delicious.
I used the recipe for Classic Puff Pastry from the King Arthur Bakers Companion cookbook. I really like that book. I feel like everything is explained so well and in such great detail. I always feel like recipes from King Arthur Flour come out so nicely. Except when there is user error. Like the croissants I tried to make.
I tried to make croissants with the first half of the batch. Tried, meaning I failed. I did everything right, and then when I went to take them out of the oven, I realized the middles weren’t cooked all the way. I decided to keep them in the oven a bit longer. 10 minutes more. Oops! I should have pulled them out. They would have kept baking if I had just pulled them out when they looked ready. I just needed to be a little more patient and wait to cut into them. They turned out hard and difficult to bite into. Lesson learned!
Fortunately, I learned my lesson, and these Danishes turned out to be delicious! So, so, so good! And our house smelled heavenly. I definitely recommend trying it! Puff pastry really isn’t too hard, you just have to give yourself a little time and be patient.
4 cups flour
2 cups butter (1 ¾ cups at room temp, the remaining ¼ cup chilled)
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cup water
Add 3 ½ cups of flour to a bowl. Cut in a ½ cup of cold butter until mixture is similar to cornmeal in texture.
Add salt to water. Pour water into the flour mixture. Mix until you have a rough dough. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl and hold together. Add a little more water if needed.
Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until the dough becomes smooth, 2 or 3 minutes. Shape the dough into a 9-inch square. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
Add the unused butter from the fridge. Add to stand mixer and beat until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the remaining flour. Beat again until smooth. Shape into an 8-inch square on a piece of wax paper that has been lightly floured. Cover with another piece of wax paper. Place in fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove dough from fridge and roll into a 12-inch square on a lightly floured surface. Place butter/flour mixture in the middle of the dough so that it forms a diamond in the middle of the square. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter. Pinch together the seams of the dough.
Turn over dough and roll into a rectangle, about 20 by 10 inches. Fold over 1/3 of the dough into the middle. Repeat on the other side. It should be like folding a letter to go into an envelope. Try to make it so that the corners line up as closely as possible.
Turn the dough a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes. Repeat the process again two more times, so that you have folded it at least 6 times total. Refrigerate at least 1 more hour.
For the Danishes, roll out half of the dough into a 16-inch square. Trim the edges of the dough. Cut square into 16, or 4x4 squares.
Fold each square in half on the diagonal, so that the corners make a triangle. Leaving about a half-inch border, make a cut about ¾ of the way up on each of the short sides of the triangles.
Unfold triangles. Take one flap and fold over so that the corner of the flap lines up with the corner of the square. Fold the other side over so that it lines up on the other side.
Brush each of the pastries with an egg that has been slightly beaten. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let cool about 10 minutes. Fill centers with desired filling, and enjoy!
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