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Quick puff pastry bakes up with all of the buttery flakiness of traditional puff pastry, but is much faster and easier to make! Also known as rough puff, easy puff, or blitz puff pastry, this dough can be used as a pie crust, for turnovers, galettes, and breakfast pastries!

Holding a cross section of quick puff pastry showing the layers that have been created in the dough

Overview

Puff pastry is a type of laminated dough, meaning that fat (typically butter) is folded into the dough over and over again creating alternating layers of dough and fat. When the pastry is baked, the layers of butter melt in the oven and the liquid in the butter evaporates out.

The steam from the evaporation causes the pastry to puff up rapidly, which is what creates the flaky texture of a laminated pastry.

Breakfast danishes filled with cream cheese and fresh fruit
Puff Pastry Breakfast Danishes

Quick puff pastry is also known as rough puff pastry, easy puff pastry, or blitz puff pastry. It simplifies the process into a much more manageable technique, especially for those who have never made a laminated dough.

Instead of folding an entire block of butter into the dough, as you do with traditional puff pastry, you work a large amount of butter into the dough and then fold the dough multiple times to create layers.

This quick puff technique creates a pastry that is just as buttery and almost as flaky but it does not puff up quite as high as regular puff pastry does. It works beautifully for breakfast pastries or even as a pie crust!

Why you should make quick puff pastry

  • Talk about a time saver! Traditional puff pastry can take up to 2 days to make, this quick version cuts down the time to only about 2 hours.
  • This simplified puff pastry recipe is great for beginners who have never made laminated dough.
  • Only 4 ingredients, that’s it!
  • Quick puff pastry bakes up with all of the buttery, delicious flakiness of traditional puff pastry.

Uses for Quick Puff Pastry

pop tarts topped with glaze and fresh berries
Puff Pastry Pop Tarts
Puff Pastry Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar Bourbon Glaze
Puff Pastry Donuts

Quick puff pastry can be used for a variety of things! Here are some of my favorite uses:

It also works really well as a pie crust for something like a Classic Apple Pie or for Fruit Turnovers!

How to Make Quick Puff Pastry

Quick puff pastry is essentially a combination of a traditional pie crust mixed with the method of laminating. It is a great starting point to get your feet wet with making laminated dough and will show you that it isn’t quite as intimidating as you might think!

The best part is that it can be made with just about 30 minutes of hands-on time and an hour and a half of chilling time. This is so much quicker than traditional puff pastry which is typically made over a 2 day period.

Step 1: Combine the Dry Ingredients & Toss the Butter to Coat

A mixing bowl with the flour and salt being whisked together
Cold cubed butter being tossed in flour

Whisk the dry ingredients together and then toss the cold cubed butter into the flour.

Step 2: Work the Butter into the Flour

pressing butter cubes into flat pieces
Showing the shaggy texture of the mixture after the butter has been worked in

Press down on each piece of butter until it is a flat sheet. You do not need to work it in any more than that! Your mixture will look very chunky.

Step 3: Toss the Water into the Dough

Adding water into the butter/flour mixture
Tossing the water into the mixture with hands
Clumpy mixture of quick puff pastry after the water has been mixed in

Add ice-cold water a little at a time to the mixture and use your hands or a rubber spatula to toss it until large clumps start forming.

Ice cold water will keep the butter solid which will create a flakier pastry.

Step 4: Chill the Dough

Pressing the quick puff pastry together on the counter
Rough puff pastry dough being pressed into a rectangle
Rough puff pastry dough wrapped in plastic wrap

Press the dough together on a work surface into a rectangular shape and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to firm up and to allow the flour to fully hydrate.

Step 5: Roll & Fold the Dough to Create Layers

Rolling out rough puff pastry dough
Quick puff pastry rolled out into a thin rectangle
Folding a third of the dough over itself
After the dough has been folded in thirds
Dough rotated 90 degrees before being rolled out again
Quick puff pastry rolled out into a thin rectangle
After the dough has been folded in thirds
Holding a section of quick puff pastry showing the layers made in the dough

Roll the dough out into a skinny rectangle and then fold it in thirds over itself.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees, then roll and fold it a second time.

Do the process a total of 4 times, always rotating 90 degrees in the same direction. this is creating layers in the dough which will puff up in the oven.

Step 6: Chill the Dough Before Use

Once the dough has been rolled and folded, wrap it in plastic wrap again and place it back in the refrigerator. Ideally, you want to chill it for at least an hour before using it.

How to store quick puff pastry

Raw quick puff pastry can be kept in the refrigerator for 48 hours or in the freezer for up to 2 months when wrapped well. I suggest double wrapping in plastic wrap and then placing it in a zipper bag.

MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!

If you loved this tutorial, you might like to try other baking techniques!

Holding a section of quick puff pastry showing the layers made in the dough
Yield: About 2 1/2 lbs of dough

Quick Puff Pastry

Prep Time 30 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours

This is a base recipe for quick puff pastry, also known as rough puff, easy puff, or blitz puff pastry. The dough resembles traditional puff pastry in its flakiness and layers once baked, however it does not puff quite as high as traditional puff pastry. This dough works very well for shaped pastries such as pinwheels and hand pies, pastries such as napoleons, as well as a pie crust or galette crust.

Ingredients

  • 240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 225 grams (1 cup, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 120 - 140 milliliters (8-10 tablespoons) water, ice cold

Instructions

  1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour (240 grams / 2 cups) and salt (½ teaspoon).
  2. Add the cold cubed butter (225 grams / 1 cup) to the bowl and toss it throughout the flour.
  3. Press down on each piece of butter with your fingertips until each one is flattened out. Do not work the butter in as much as you would do with a pie crust. Keep the pieces very large, just flatten them. (see step-by-step pictures in the post).
  4. When all of the butter has been flattened start adding the ice-cold water a few tablespoons at a time and use your hands to toss the water throughout the mixture. Keep adding the water until most of the flour is moistened and the mixture starts forming large clumps.
  5. Press the dough together on the counter into a rectangular shape and then wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
  6. After the dough has chilled, flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a skinny rectangle about ½- centimeter or ¼-inch thick.
  7. Fold the dough over itself in thirds and then rotate the dough 90 degrees to the left. Roll out and fold the dough 3 more times (for a total of 4), always rotating 90 degrees in the same direction between each fold.
  8. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate before using it. Ideally, 1 hour is best before rolling it out. The dough can be refrigerated for a total of 48 hours between this chilling time and the first.
  9. This dough can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 months. Let thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.

    Notes

    Note: If the dough feels too warm, feels rubbery, or is shrinking back a lot while rolling out to do your folds, let it rest in the fridge for 10 minutes to relax the gluten and to let the fat firm up.

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    © Bettie
    Category: Advanced Techniques