How To Make Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry. Simple to follow instructions, great for pies, strudels, turnovers, and freezer friendly too!
Don't go buying the shop stuff!
Now there's no need because here, we show you an easy step by step guide for how you can make some delicious flaky pastry which will take your breath away! It's amazing!
This is a really easy and quick recipe. Low-cost ingredients, delicious, light, crispy pastry, and a sure way to impress your family and friends! Go ahead and try it!
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People are often frightened to make pastry, or pie dough. It can be daunting, overwhelming, tricky, and let's face it, it can be easier to just buy ready made pastry from the supermarket, no mess, no recipe needed, just roll and use...and of course nowadays, you can get pastry that is ready rolled!
So why should I bother sharing a pastry recipe with you? Well, once you've made your own pastry, it is very unlikely you will go back to the shop bought stuff. For one thing, it's cheaper to make your own flaky pastry, you know exactly what ingredients you are putting into your pastry, and the flavors and textures are really like no shop pastry!
Trust me, you will feel a sense of achievement, satisfaction, and a mini ego boost if you make your own pastry!
This recipe for flaky pastry is by far an easy one, even for a complete novice. All you need to do is follow the simple instructions, and let the ingredients do the work!
Flaky pastry has certain characteristics, similar to rough puff and puff pastry, in that you will end up with.....yep, flaky, light layers of pastry with a beautiful thin crisp crust.
TOP TIPS!
You have to make sure of two things when you make this pastry.
1. Cool working conditions (don't go trying this in a heatwave!)
2. The oven MUST have reached the correct temperature, i.e. it must be hot when the pastry first goes in.
The idea of flaky pastry is to incorporate thin layers of fat between the layers of dough, encasing as much air as possible.
When the pastry is placed in the oven, this trapped air expands and lifts each thin layer of pastry separately. You get the idea...?
So...are you ready?
It's easy, just follow the steps and hey presto! you will have learned how to make your very own quick and easy flaky pastry!
If you enjoy sweet pastry recipes, check out our easy honey baklava recipe. It's so good!
If you'd like to learn about the types of pastry, we also have a lovely Shortcrust pastry tutorial and a French Sweet Pastry (for tarts) recipe so be sure to check those out!
Prep Time
15 minutes plus 30 minutes chill time
Cook Time
20 - 40 minutes (depending on what you are using the pastry for!)
Yield
10 servings
This recipe will make 1 sheet of pastry, 3-4 mm thick, measuring 30 cm x 12 cm
Ingredients you'll need
- Butter at room temperature
- Plain / All purpose flour (sieved)
- Salt
- Cold water
- Sugar if making a sweet dish.
See the recipe card below for quantities.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix the sieved flour and salt in a bowl. (add sugar if using)
2. Weigh out the butter and divide into 4 amounts.
3. Add one portion of the butter to the flour and using a round-bladed knife, incorporate the butter and flour, whilst slowly adding enough cold water until the mixture comes together to form an elastic dough.
4. Dust the rolling surface with flour, and turn the dough out. Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape (see photo) and keep rolling, adding more flour if necessary to stop from sticking, until the dough is about 4 mm thickness.
5. Rub any excess flour from the surface and using the next portion of butter, dot the butter (about 1 cm dots) on two-thirds of the rolled out pastry evenly. (see photo).
6. Fold the pastry into three portions, bringing the end without butter to the center, then folding down the other third. (see photo)
7. Press together pastry edges with your fingers, give the pastry half a turn and roll out lightly again until the pastry is 4 mm thick (same size before you dotted with butter).
8. Repeat steps 5 - 7 twice more, then fold into three, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Whilst the pastry is resting in the fridge, set your oven temperature to 200C, 400F, gas mark 6 if using pastry as a pie with filling.
Cooking time about 20 - 35 minutes.
If just cooking the pastry on its own, such as vol au vents, oven temperature should be 230C, 450F, gas Mark 8, cooking time about 8-10 minutes
Before placing in the oven, brush the TOP with milk and NOT the sides as this will prevent the pastry from rising.
Then sprinkle some sugar, spices such as cinnamon, if a sweet dish, or savory spices, like jerk seasoning, cajun spices, actually, anything that takes your fancy!
Cooking times will vary depending on what you are using the pastry for.
As a rough guide, 8-10 minutes for something small, 20-35 minutes for larger pies, or until the pastry takes on a nice golden brown color.
If you have any flaky pastry left over, why not make these Mini Cherry Hand Pies. they're really easy!
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our quick and easy flaky pastry recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
Recipe Card
Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry
How To Make Quick and Easy Flaky Pastry. Simple to follow instructions, great for pies, strudels, turnovers and freezer friendly too!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup or 175 g butter at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups or 225 g Plain / All purpose flour, sieved
- pinch of salt
- ¼-1/2 cup or 100 ml of cold water
- 2 tablespoons sugar if making a sweet dish.
Instructions
- Mix the sieved flour and salt in a bowl. (add sugar if using)
- Weigh out the butter and divide into 4 amounts.
- Add one portion of the butter to the flour and using a round bladed knife, incorporate the butter and flour, whilst slowly adding enough cold water until the mixture comes together to form an elastic dough.
- Dust the rolling surface with flour, and turn the dough out. Roll out the dough into a rectangle shape (see photo) and keep rolling, adding more flour if necessary to stop from sticking, until the dough is about 4 mm thickness.
- Rub any excess flour from the surface and using the next portion of butter, dot the butter (about 1 cm dots) on two thirds of the rolled out pastry evenly. (see photo).
- Fold the pastry into three portions, bringing the end without butter to the centre, then folding down the other third. (see photo)
- Press together pastry edges with your fingers, give the pastry half a turn and roll out lightly again until the pastry is 4 mm thick (same size before you dotted with butter).
- Repeat steps 5 - 7 twice more, then fold into three, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Notes
Note the prep time includes 30 minutes of chill time
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 158mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 3g
Delicious Sweet Recipes Using Pastry
Here's a selection of delicious sweet recipes using pastry
French Fruit Tart With Pastry Cream is a wonderful homemade sweet French pastry (Pâte Sablée) tart case, filled with silky smooth creme patissiere and then decorated with a variety of fresh fruits. A French patisserie classic dessert and a showstopper for parties!
Mini Almond Pastries.
These Mini Almond Pastries have a deliciously smooth, sweet, almond paste filling and are wrapped in crispy, light puff pastry. Quick and easy to make, and perfect for a tea time treat.
Easy Sesame Brown Sugar French Palmier Cookies, AKA Elephant Ears. These are a very easy to make crispy puff pastry cookie, filled with sesame seeds and brown sugar. Great for the holidays!
Blueberry Crescent Roll Cheesecake Bars. An incredibly easy recipe with cream cheese and blueberry filling sandwiched between layers of pastry.
How To Make French Pastry (Pâte Sablée), easy step by step guide on making this sweet, buttery crisp tart shell. A classic famous sweet pastry dough recipe
Baklava is a Middle Eastern classic sweet treat, filled with a variety of nuts, honey, citrus, and spices, between layers of crunchy phyllo pastry. Ideal for serving at parties, or to have as a snack. An easy and simple recipe for the best baklava!
Cherry Crescent Roll Cheesecake Bars. A.K.A Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars. An incredibly quick, easy recipe with cream cheese and cherries sandwiched between layers of flaky buttery golden pastry. Popular cream cheese crescent roll dessert
Easy Vanilla Slices. Creamy custard sandwiched between sheets of crispy puff pastry make for a nice chilled treat perfect for any occasion.
Delicious Apple and Custard Strudel, serve warm on their own or add a blob of whipped cream!
Easy Apple Spiced Turnovers. Crispy puff pastry packed with apples coated in cinnamon. Delicious eaten warm or chilled with a blob of ice cream too! Easy recipe, budget friendly and freezable.
Almond Pastries. A very quick and easy recipe. Delicious almond filling wrapped in a buttery flaky pastry.
Easy Cherry Custard Pastries are perfect for serving at a tea party, or just to have for yourself! Easy to make and fun for kids to help too.
Mini Caramel Apple Pastries. Delightful mini pastries filled with caramel and apples and oh so easy to make!
Apple and Cranberry Crescent Roll Cream Cheese Bars. An incredibly easy recipe with fantastic flavors!
Strawberry Crescent Roll Cheesecake Bars. An incredibly easy and fuss free recipe with cream cheese and strawberry filling sandwiched between layers of pastry. This tastes amazing!
Clive
says:The temperatures quoted are a bit difficult for me. My electric oven only gets to 195C and my wood burning oven is usually running at least 300C.
Jen
says:Are you mixing the dough as you do with bread?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jen, no, not at all. You need to use light hands to make pastry otherwise it will be tough and not flakey at all. We suggest you use a round-bladed knife and your hands to lightly combine the butter and flour and water in the first steps. that way, you can control better the amount of work going in the pastry dough. It doesn’t take long for the dough to come together, so be sure to not overhandle it. Light hands will give you a flaky pastry!
Pearl
says:I tried the recipe and i loved it
It was my first time and the results were amazingly amazing
Thanks for sharing
nick
says:could i make this pastry with self raising flour?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Nick, I can’t say if it would work or not as I’ve always used plain flour.
If you do use SR flour, please do come back and let is know how it went!
Heather
says:Lovely indeed…very easu and the flakiness is to die for…am in Harare, Zimbabwe
Lisa
says:A fabulous dough!!! I used it for my sausage rolls this year. I love new recipes, so I used it for my turkey, cranberry and sage sausage rolls. Delicious!
ANNE M KEATING
says:In the ingredients under butter, it says room temperature. I just wanted to clarify that indeed it is room temp. as most pastry recipes especially puff pastry calls for very cold butter.
Thanks,
Anne
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Anne, yes it’s correct. The butter needs to be soft enough so when you make the layers it spreads a little otherwise if it’s hard the cubes of butter will pierce the pastry.
Karen Wiltshire
says:Can this pastry be frozen before it’s cooked?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Karen, yes. If you freeze it after you have folded it, wrap tight in plastic wrap then it will be fine. Allow to defrost in the fridge before rolling out when you’re ready to use.
Samantha
says:why has my pastry become a cookie
Samantha
says:it became a cookie and didnt rise. what happened?
i used this recipe for a crossaint
Erika
says:A truly unintimidating recipe to follow that yielded a scrumptiously buttery result. Thank you. I was done so quickly, I now considered myself converted and can think of no reason to use store-bought pastry again. I did opt out for refrigerated as opposed to butter at room temperature. Hoping to achieve an even more flaky crust next time round and have a smaller overlap for the seam of my pie roll.
Karen Wiltshire
says:Can this pastry be frozen before it’s cooked?
Vitani
says:Do you have to melt the butter when adding it to the flour?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Vitani, no the butter must be chilled and cut into all cubes.
Lauren
says:Am I supposed to have extra butter or was I supposed to mix it in as I was folding and rolling because I don’t know what to do with it.
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Lauren, no, you shouldn’t have any butter left over. You need to divide the butter amount in to 4 portions. The first portion goes in with the flour at the start to form the dough, and the remaining 3 portions are dotted when you are folding the pastry. You need to fold and roll the pastry, and inbetween each folding, dot the butter, the. Fold, roll, dot the butter and so on.
If you have got some left over (I expect it might be one portion of butter), it sounds like you are missing one more fold and rolling out, so don’t worry too much. The pastry will still be flakey, just not as buttery.
Hope that explains a bit for you?
Ellie
says:If I leave this in the fridge overnight, do I roll it out when I’m ready to use it or use as is ?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Ellie, if in the fridge, leave it covered in plastic wrap or an airtight bag folded. Then roll out when you’re ready to use
Ellie
says:Thank you !! The recipe was super easy to follow and I’ll see how it looks and tastes when I bake it today.
Marc
says:How much is 1 portion of 3/4?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Marc, I think you’re referring to the flour measurement? if so, it is one and three quarters cups of flour, i.e 1 & 3/4 cups. Hope that clears any confusion for you!
Samantha
says:It’s easier to calculate 1/4 of 175gms which is about 44 grams or 1 1/2 ounces.
Jackie
says:Absolutely amazing!!!!!! Nailed it first time and everyone loved the sausage rolls. Thank you for sharing your recipe
Jen
says:How much dough does this make? Enough for one pie bottom, a bottom and top or…? Thanks!
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Jen, this recipe will be enough for a top and bottom of an 8-9 inch pie dish.
Human tembo
says:That’s a great that’s a nice one, will always want to know about pies
Anne
says:Made this for a bacon and egg pie. It was perfect – wouldn’t hesitate to make it again.