Classic Puff Pastry

Puff pastry dough is a similar dough to croissant dough and danish dough. It can be done in a few different types of methods depending on the number of layers you want to create out of it. Single folds are folded like a business letter and create about 1000 layers through the process. Double folds are folded like a booklet and create about 2000 layers.

This formula is adapted from the Michel Suas Book Advanced Bread and Pastry, A Professional Approach, Pg. 502

Formula: yields 2 k
100% Bread flour, 1.230 kg
48% Water, 596 g (have extra water on hand)
10% Butter, 120 g
2% Salt, 20 g
1% Lemon juice, 10 g
1% Malt, 10 g
Total: 162%
Butter for roll in: 40% of the total dough. 648 g



MOP: 6 single turns or 4 double turns
Approximately 5-10 minutes to mix.
Approximately 2 hours to fold.

• Mix all the ingredients except the butter for lamination in a mixer. Start with dry ingredients and lemon juice, and most of the water. Depending on the moisture in the flour you might not need all of the water you scaled, you might need more.
• Mix to incorporate, approximately 3-4 minutes.
• Transfer to a sheet pan, roll out to as close to a uniform rectangle as possible.
• Cover with plastic and refrigerate/freeze for a minimum of an hour.
• After an hour, take the dough out and roll out to approximately a quarter of an inch.
• Beat out butter and make an appropriate sized beurrage. Bring both beurrage and dough to the same temperature before locking in the butter.
• To do a book fold you want to roll out the locked-in dough out long enough to fold both flaps in to the center and then over on itself.

• Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate to let the dough chill and the gluten relax before the next fold.  Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
• Make another fold, and then let rest.
• Make a total of four folds, including the one made right after lock in.
• After the last turn, rest the dough for another 20-30 minutes before sheeting the dough out to 1/8" thick.
• Use as desired.

• If you are going to do a single fold, do the same procedure but instead fold dough differently after lock in. Fold the dough in 2/3 of the way and then fold that last flap over on the double folded part.