This Easy Gluten Free Puff Pastry (Rough Puff) is the perfect baking essential for your gluten free meals. Imagine layers of flakiness, made in under 1 hour, buttery and crisp deliciousness -- you're in for a treat!
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Why I love this recipe
This gluten free pastry recipe is near and dear to my heart because it truly tastes like a non-gluten free puff pastry and you won't believe it's gluten free. It has those buttery flakey layers like a real puff pastry dough and works well for sweet and savory dishes.
I actually developed this recipe in culinary school for a seasonal dinner project and it has become a favorite ever since. I remember my culinary school teacher raving about it, and I figured I must have done something right and was truly excited about bringing this recipe into the world!
What makes this dough easy
This Gluten Free Puff Pastry Dough recipe is super simple because it's essentially a "Rough" Puff Pastry. This means that the steps are a bit simpler than a laminated puff pastry dough and it yields nearly identical results to the real version.
Rather than rolling a giant square of butter between dough folds to create a laminated dough, we're cutting in large pieces of butter and then dough a rolling and folding process to save on time and energy.
Ingredients
The ingredients for this recipe are extremely simple! You only need 4 ingredients total. And, yes, I don't count the salt as an ingredients since it's something everyone will already have on hand.
For a few of these ingredients, I have brands I love that I always try my best to stick to for consistent results. I recommend you do the same if you can find these ingredients locally or online.
If you have celiac disease, make sure all the ingredients you purchase have a gluten free certification on their packaging.
- Tapioca Starch - Any brand should work!
- Almond Flour - My complete trust is in the Bob's Red Mill Super Fine Almond Flour. You can view it here. Other brands will work too though!
- 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour - For the gluten free flour blend in this recipe, it's super important to use the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. This is my go-to flour that works every time in this recipe. If you'd like to try a different brand, you can, but I haven't tested others so I can't guarantee the same results.
- Salt - I typically use a fine sea salt in this recipe, but use any salt you have at home!
- Vegan Butter - I tested this recipe with Miyokos Unsalted Cultured Vegan Butter and also Earth Balance Unsalted Vegan Buttery Sticks. It seems to me that the Miyokos may be the healthier option, but it is also more pricey. Be sure to ONLY use a vegan butter in the stick form, not from a tub.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This is a very short process, that needs a bit of precision, and when done correctly will yield the most delicious flakey gluten free pastry. I've taken in depth step by step images of of this recipe to guide you in making the best Puff Pastry of your dream.
- Combine the tapioca starch, gluten free flour and almond flour in a food processor and blitz until well combined. If you don't have a food processor simply whisk together in a bowl or sift if there are clumps.
2. Transfer dry ingredients to a large bowl and add the cold cubed vegan butter to the bowl and toss with the dry ingredients.
3. Use your thumb and pointer finger to shingle, or press, each piece of butter between your fingers until it is flattened. Repeat with all the butter pieces within the flour mixture. Toss again to make sure all shingled butter is coated in the flour.
4. Next, drizzle in ice cold water. Ice water will help keep the butter from melting and bring this dough together beautifully. Add a bit of ice water at a time, and toss the mixture with your hands. Continue adding ice water until a crumbly dough forms.
5. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape each into a square. Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper.
6. Place the wrapped dough in the fridge to help the butter become firm and cold again, about 30 minutes.
7. Once the dough has been refrigerated for at least 30 minutes, remove one square from the fridge.
8. Sprinkle gluten free flour on your work surface (counter or a piece of parchment paper) and sprinkle both sides of the dough with flour as well.
9. Roll dough into a large rectangle and then fold into 3 pieces. If the dough sticks to the counter, use a spatula to help lift it up. It will have a lot of cracks after the first fold which is normal. The dough will become smoother by the second or third fold.
10. Roll the dough a second time into a square or rectangle, and fold into 3-4 in the opposite direction. Add more gluten free flour to your work surface as needed.
11. Repeat the folding method about 2 more times, then reshape into a square or rectangle and wrap again in the plastic wrap or parchment paper.
12. Refrigerate folded dough for at least another 30 minutes before using. Repeat the folding process with the second square of dough.
FAQs
Yes! Feel free to wrap the dough in plastic wrap or parchment paper as directed and then place it into a ziplock bag for extra safety to it doesn't dry out in the fridge. This dough keeps fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
This gluten free puff pastry works because of the specific gluten free flour mixture that is layered with cold butter to create maximum flakiness.
Keep the butter and pastry cold! This will ensure that the pastry gets flakey and airy. If the butter melts throughout the preparation process, you'll end up with a weird soggy pastry. If you need to stick your dough in the fridge at any point because melted butter is sticking to you too much, get it in the fridge right away.
I truly believe so! I worked on this recipe in culinary school, developing it over a few days and had many people taste test it. Everyone believed it was real puff pastry and one of our chefs took one of my puff pastries for lunch the next day and said it help up great.
Real, more labor intensive Puff Pastry dough is made by creating a dough and then folding in a large flattened block of butter, then rolling and folding multiple times until the butter until it distributed throughout the layers. In this rough puff recipe, large butter cubes are added to the dough and then folded multiple times, rather than having to do the other method.
What to make with this easy rough puff
Rough Puff Pastry can be used to make a whole assortment of delicious pastries! It can be used in savory recipes to make:
- Puff Pastry Cups filled with delicious roasted veggies or confit tomatoes
- Apple "pop tart"
- Crescent roll
- Rugelach
- Palmiers
- Salmon Pockets
- Gluten free tarts
- Sausage rolls or mini hot dogs in blankets
- Baked Brie - easily substitute a regular puff pastry with our homemade gluten free version in your favorite baked brie recipe!
Tips for perfect dough
Here are a few tips when using the Puff Pastry in a recipe:
- Don't roll the dough too thin! You still want to allow it to puff up.
- This puff pastry won't puff as much as regular puff pastry dough, but it is possible to achieve the super puffed effect. To achieve a super fluffy, flakey puff, be sure to roll the pastry and cut it as desired, then layer it. For example, if making crescent rolls, cut triangle pieces as usual then layer 2 triangles and roll them up together to form a thicker roll. Layers are everything with this dough!
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Easy Gluten Free Puff Pastry Dough
Ingredients
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Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the almond flour, tapioca flour, 1 to 1 flour and salt.
- Remove from the food processor and place into a large bowl.
- Carefully toss in the cold cubed vegan butter with your fingertips until well coated in flour.
- Shingle each piece of butter with your fingertips so each piece of butter is flattened.
- Once all butter is flattened, make sure it’s still cold. If it’s too soft, place the bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Carefully drizzle in the cold water, not all at once, and carefully mix the ingredients together, adding a bit of water until it’s well combined. Once it starts to form a dough, press pieces together to see if they stick together and form a dough.
- Divide the dough in half and roughly shape each piece into a square. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge and unwrap a square of dough. Roll into a rectangle and then make three folds. Repeat 2-3 more times folding in different directions.
- Return back to the fridge for 30 minutes if time allows to keep the butter chilled.
- Repeat steps 8 & 9 for the second piece of dough.
- Once ready to use, roll out the dough until it’s ¼” - ½” in thickness and use as desired to make many recipes!
Test Kitchen Notes
- Make sure the butter stays cold throughout the process. If you need to refrigerate the dough at any point if the butter is getting too soft, go ahead and do so.
- I DO recommend sticking with the Bob's Red Mill brand for the 1 to 1 flour in this recipe. I can't guarantee that another brand will yield the same results.
- When it comes to rolling the pastry before the folds, don't roll the dough too thin! You still want to allow it to puff up.
- This puff pastry won't puff as much as regular puff pastry dough, but it is possible to achieve the super puffed effect. To achieve a super fluffy, flakey puff, be sure to roll the pastry and cut it as desired, then layer it. For example, if making crescent rolls, cut triangle pieces as usual then layer 2 triangles and roll them up together to form a thicker roll. Layers are everything with this dough!
Corinne says
Can I use cold coconut oil in place of the butter?
[email protected] says
Hi! I'm not sure it would work the same way to be honest since it has a different consistency. Maybe try a coconut-oil based vegan butter spread?