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Making gluten free puff pastry is all about keeping your ingredients cold, handling everything properly, and folding and rolling the dough the right away. If you've ever had trouble understanding the butter packet, or the “turns” that create all those flaky layers, this clear, step-by-step recipe is all you need.
my take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
This gluten free puff pastry recipe is buttery and flaky, and you can use it anywhere you might have ever thought to use puff pastry, conventional or gluten free.
It calls for only 4 ingredients (gluten free flour blend, butter, water, and salt) in exactly the right proportions. Your confidence that you can have this special pastry dough back in your life is in the details.
You can watch me make the dough in the video and try to mimic the technique, but once you understand why we take each step, perfect puff pastry will be second nature in no time.
How to make gluten free puff pastry
There are two parts to any puff pastry recipe: the base dough and the butter packet. The base dough is made of flour, butter, and water. The butter packet is made of butter and flour (but mostly butter). You make each part separately, then combine them into a single dough.
Make the base dough
The base dough is what we use to encase the butter packet. The method is very similar to making gluten free pie crust.
Whisk together the flour blend and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add cold, chopped unsalted butter in the same way. Toss the butter in the flour, and then press each of the pieces of chopped butter flat.
The butter must stay solid, so don't work it in to the flour until the mixture is merely grainy or like sand.
Add ice water just until the dough comes together. Press it into a disk, wrap tightly, and refrigerate.
Make the butter packet
Chop each of 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter into 4 chunks of 2 tablespoons each. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface, and arrange the butter into a grid 2 chunks wide by 4 chunks. Sprinkle the top with more flour.
Pound and roll the butter to flatten and press the pats of butter together with one another. The butter packet must be cold, but pliable enough to fold over on itself at least once so you can press and roll it out into a 4-inch square.
Combine base dough and butter packet
Layer the dough both above and below the butter for a stack of 3 layers, like a butter sandwich.
Roll out the chilled base dough into a 6-inch square. Place the butter packet on in the center, and use a knife to score the outlines of the butter packet on top of the dough.
If you can, place the butter a 45° angle to the base dough, as if it were a diamond on top of a square. Remove the butter packet to the side.
Roll out the 4 edges of the base dough from each of those score marks out. Place the butter packet back on top at that 45° angle. Wrap the rolled out dough around the butter packet to fully enclose it.
Roll and fold the dough (lamination)
Lamination is what creates layers of alternating flour and dough that multiply as you go on.
Complete one “turn”: Roll out the combined base dough and butter packet into a rectangle, fold it on itself from both sides in thirds like a business letter. That's one turn.
Total turns required: 6 turns total, so 5 more. Chill the dough for 30 minutes after each 2 turns.
If you plan to use the dough right away: Complete all 6 turns, chilling for 30 minutes after every 2 turns. After the final 30 minute chill, roll the dough into whatever thickness you need to use the puff pastry.
If you plan to store the dough first: Complete 4 turns. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate it until about 1 hour before you'd like to use it. Before using, let it sit at room temperature for until you can roll it without the dough cracking, and finish the final 2 turns.
My Pro Tip
Expert Tips
Temperature matters
In pastry-making, the butter is kept cold before going into the hot oven. Like ice, when butter is cold, it contracts or is made smaller. When it is heated quickly, like in an oven, it expands. When the butter is in many, many layers, and is surrounded on every side by the dough, it pushes out the dough and creates all those flaky layers we love.
Larger pieces of butter can warm, but once chilled will regain their original shape, rather than melting into the surrounding dough. If the butter in your pastry is rock solid, you can't shape it.
Instead, begin with slightly warmer butter in creating the packet, shape it as you like, and then chill it until it's firm. It will retain its shape during preparation and baking.
Keep track of the turns
After that first “turn,” the tripled dough is made up of 3 layers of butter surrounded in alternating fashion by 6 layers of dough. When the turns are repeated between 4 and 6 times, the layers multiply exponentially.
It's easy to lose track of the number of completed turns. I like to mark the dough after each 2 turns with a floured knuckle with one mark for each of the completed turns.
So, after the first 2 turns, your dough will have 2 knuckle marks. After the second 2, 4 marks. That way, if you choose to complete the final 2 turns later, you won't have to rely on perfect memory to be sure you're not over-rolling.
What happens after more than 6 turns?
After 6 turns, you'll have literally hundreds of layers since the number of layers multiplies exponentially. The dough tends to get compressed and the butter layers too thin to actually expand in the oven. The dough will still be flaky, but much less so.
Is your dough too cold?
Is your dough cracking either as you wrap it around the butter packet, or after the first turn? It's too cold! Let it warm up just enough to make it pliable (but not so much that the butter melts)
Add more flour to sticky dough
This recipe begins with the absolute minimum amount of all purpose gluten free flour blends in both the gf pastry dough and the butter packet. As you roll the dough, you may find that some butter breaks through and is exposed. Just sprinkle lightly with more gf flour, and keep rolling!
Ingredient substitutions
Choosing the right gluten free flour blend
You can use Better Batter's original gluten free flour blend, Nicole's Best, my mock Cup4Cup blend, or my mock Better Batter blend. Cup4Cup used to work particularly well here, but they've changed the formula and it just doesn't work like it does before. For full information, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page.
Dairy free
If you'd like to try making this recipe dairy free, I suggest replacing the unsalted butter with vegan butter. Melt and Miyoko's Creamery are my favorite brands, but they are softer than butter so the results may vary. Be sure not to use Cup4Cup flour if you need to be dairy-free, since it contains milk powder.
Water
To avoid any unpleasant tastes from your water, try using filtered water (not spring water and definitely not sparkling water). And make sure it's been chilled with ice (but add the ice after you've measured the water, since the ice doesn't count in the volume measurement).
Always add water slowly, since you can always add more but you can't take it out. If you do add too much water, add a bit more gluten free flour to compensate.
Gluten Free Puff Pastry Recipe
Equipment
- French rolling pin the kind that tapers on the ends, not the the kind with handles
- Metal bench scraper or knife or other straight edge
Ingredients
For the base dough
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, plus more for sprinkling (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it; use a heaping 1 teaspoon
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, diced and kept cold
- ½ cup (4 fluid ounces) cold water, iced (ice doesn’t count in volume measurement), plus more as necessary
For the butter packet
- 4 tablespoons (35 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, plus more for sprinkling (See Recipe Notes)
- 16 tablespoons (224 g) unsalted butter, very cold
Instructions
First, make the base dough.
- In a large bowl, place the 2 cups flour and salt, and mix or whisk to combine well. Add the chopped unsalted butter and toss to combine. Press each chunk of butter flat between your thumb and forefinger.
- Create a well in the dry ingredients, and add 1/2 cup of ice water to the center. Stir the mixture to combine. Add more ice water by the tablespoon until the dough stays together when pressed.
- Press the dough into a ball, place it onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Place in the refrigerator to chill until firm while you make the butter packet.
Make the butter packet.
- Dust a sheet of parchment paper or bare flat surface with 2 tablespoons of flour. Chop the two sticks of butter each by cross-section into 4 equal-sized chunks of 2 tablespoons each. You'll have 8 pats of butter.
- Arrange the pats of butter on top of the flour into 4 groups of 2 pats, touching one another, making a grid 2 wide by 4 tall. Sprinkle the butter with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour.
- Using a French rolling pin, pound the butter to begin to flatten it and to press the pats of butter together. Press and roll the rolling pin until the pats join together and make one butter packet about 1/2-inch thick, sprinkling lightly with extra flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
- If the butter starts to get greasy, sprinkle it lightly with flour, and refrigerate it until it firms up.
- Fold the butter in half, and roll and pound it again until flat, and repeat the process until you have a butter packet that is about 4-inches square.
- Wrap the butter packet tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer to chill for about 5 minutes, or in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or until beginning to firm.
Combine base dough and butter packet.
- Remove the chilled base dough from the refrigerator, and place it on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle lightly with more flour, and press and roll the dough until it is smooth, folding it over on itself as necessary.
- Press it into about a 6-inch round. Unwrap and place the chilled butter packet in the center of the round of dough.
- Lightly score the perimeter of the butter packet, and set the butter packet aside.
- Dust the top of the dough once more with flour, and roll out the dough from the 4 scoring marks and out, away from the center of the dough, to create 4 flaps.
- Dust with more flour as necessary to prevent the rolling pin from sticking to the dough and move the dough frequently.
- Place the butter packet back in the center of the dough, and fold the 4 flaps onto the butter like you would the bottom of a cardboard box. Press the dough around the butter packet to seal it in.
Complete "turns" 1 and 2.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, and roll the dough away from you into a long rectangle that is about 5-inches wide x 12-inches long.
- Whenever you're handling the raw dough, sprinkle it lightly with flour to prevent sticking, and shift and turn the dough frequently. Starting at a short side, fold the rectangle in thirds as you would a business letter. This is the first "turn."
- You will do two turns at a time, and then wrap and refrigerate the dough in between.
- Turn the dough 90° so the short side of the folded dough is facing you. Roll the dough away from you again into another long rectangle, in approximately the same size and shape as before (5 inches x 12 inches).
- Fold in the same manner, once again, starting at a short side and folding in thirds like you would a business letter
- You have just completed the first two “turns.” With a floured knuckle, make two impressions on the dough, to represent the completion of two turns.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap tightly and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Complete the 3rd & 4th turns.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap it, and lightly flour the outside once again.
- With a short side of the folded dough facing you, roll away from you and into a long rectangle the same size as before, about 5 inches wide x 12 inches long. This is turn #3.
- Turn the dough 90° so the short side of the folded dough is facing you. Sprinkle the dough lightly with extra flour if any spots become sticky. Roll the dough away from you again into another long rectangle, in approximately the same size and shape as before (5 inches x 12 inches).
- Fold in the same manner, once again, starting at a short side and folding in thirds like you would a business letter.
- You have just completed the second two “turns” (numbers 3 and 4). With a floured knuckle, make four impressions on the dough, to represent the completion of 4 turns in total so far.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap tightly and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- If you plan to use the dough today, continue on to the final steps of preparation. If not, keep the dough, wrapped very tightly, in the refrigerator until about 1 hour before you'd like to use it. When you're ready, remove the wrapped dough from the refrigerator, and resume the recipe as instructed below.
Complete the final 2 turns (#5 and #6).
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. If the dough is too stiff to roll, allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. When it's ready, unwrap it, and lightly flour the outside once again.
- Turn the dough 90° so the short side of the folded dough is facing you. Sprinkle the dough lightly with extra flour if any spots become sticky. Roll the dough away from you again into another long rectangle, in approximately the same size and shape as before (5 inches x 12 inches).
- Fold in the same manner as before, starting at a short side and folding in thirds like you would a business letter. This is turn #5.
- One final time, turn the dough 90° so the short side of the folded dough is facing you. Sprinkle the dough lightly with extra flour if any spots become sticky. Roll the dough away from you again into a final long rectangle, in approximately the same size and shape as before (5 inches x 12 inches).
- Fold in the same manner as before, starting at a short side and folding in thirds like you would a business letter. You have completely the final turn.
- Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least another 30 minutes.
- It is now ready to be rolled out and used in any recipe that you would otherwise use conventional puff pastry. This full recipe makes the equivalent of about 3 sheets of conventional frozen packaged puff pastry.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to use this puff pastry dough
This recipe is perfect for everything from super easy sweet desserts, like the open apple tart you see in the photo above or as a pie crust replacement in our gluten free strawberry galette.
We've also made a gluten free asparagus tart with this beautiful, layered gf pastry dough. And it would be a perfect topping for gluten free chicken pot pie.
They’re also lovely just filled with pastry cream or whipped cream and some fresh berries, like an even more special gluten free strawberry shortcake.
make ahead/leftovers
Make ahead instructions
Once you've finished all 6 turns of your dough, your puff pastry is ready to be used.
At that point, it doesn't freeze well as it tends to crack when you finally work with it. You usually end up having to roll and fold it, before you can roll it into its intended shape, which leads to compressed layers.
If you know how you plan to use it, roll it into its final form. Wrap the shaped dough tightly, and then you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Bake it from frozen, adding a few minutes of baking time.
If you're planning ahead, only complete 4 turns, then wrap it tightly and refrigerate it for about 5 days or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Then, when you're nearly ready to use it, let it sit at room temperature until you can roll the dough smoothly, without cracks, and complete the final 2 turns. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, and roll the dough into its final shape and bake it.
FAQs
This recipe is for traditional gluten free puff pastry using a cold butter packet that we wrap in a simple base gluten free pastry dough. It must be rolled and folded multiple times in what are called “turns,” and chilled after each set of 2 turns.
Rough puff pastry, also known as “quick puff pastry,” is made with a single pastry dough, rather than two parts, that contains large chunks of cold butter scattered throughout gluten free flour. It's laminated, or rolled and folded in a similar fashion to how we make layered gluten free biscuits.
This recipe for puff pastry creates about 30% more puff pastry than the 2-sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry boxes that you may be familiar with from the grocery store. Each of those two sheets is about 9 ounces, and measures about 9.75-inches x 10.5-inches x ⅜-inch. This recipe will make 3 of those sheets, with that weight and size.
Yes, you can make only a portion of this recipe. To scale down the number of ingredients, just adjust the “yield” section in the recipe card below. However, the language of the recipe will not adjust accordingly, so you'll have to use the size instructions as proportions.
Yes! There are two brands of gluten free puff pastry that I have seen in grocery stores: Schar Gluten-Free Puff Pastry, and GeeFree Puff Pastry Sheets. I haven't tried any of them, though, so I don't have an opinion about how good they are!
If your puff pastry isn't rising into flaky layers in the oven, the butter most likely wasn't properly distributed throughout the dough. That can happen for many reasons, but the most common is that the butter melted during preparation, so melted into the dough, rather than being layered alternately, and kept cold.
If it puffed but didn't puff a lot, you may have completed more turns than 6, or completed all 6 turns and frozen or refrigerated the dough without using it and had to roll it out multiple times more to make it workable.
Puff pastry generally only becomes oily when the butter hasn't remained solid during shaping. It will leak out as any recipe with too much warm butter would.
CAn I use vegan butter? My son is also dairy free…
Do you think this could be rolled out very thin & used to make baklava?
Baklava uses filo rather than puff pastry. That is individual layers of dough painted with oil in between.
It might work to omit the butter packet, and roll it thin then brush the layers with melted butter as you would with normal filo.
I think if you used the butter packet rolling it as thin as possible would smash the layers into one anyway.
This video is awesome. I was reluctant before but now I am anxious to try it!!! Thanks
Well what could be better than that, Erika? Go for it!!
thank you, thank you, thank you for this!!! it’s been such a long time since i’ve had croissants (or anything with laminated dough)…so excited to bake these again! :D