Fast and Easy Puff Pastry Dough

By Foodiewife

This recipe comes from King Arthur Flour, and it's one of the easiest and most successful pastries I've ever made. Puff pastry takes a LOT of work to make (hence, I buy mine from Whole Foods). This recipe uses sour cream and very cold butter, and if you follow the directions carefully-- you will have tender flakes of pastry. I show you how I made Berry Turnovers on my food blog at: http://foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com/2010/03/berry-puff-turnovers-from-king-arthur.html

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup cold butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Details

Preparation time 50mins
Cooking time 85mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

1) To make the crust: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

2) Cut the cold butter into pats, and work it into the flour mixture till it's unevenly crumbly, with larger bits of butter remaining intact.*
NOTE: I used a food processor, and simply pulsed the cold butter.

3) Stir* in the sour cream. The dough will be craggy, but cohesive.
*I pulsed the sour cream, until the dough became cohesive.

4) Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and bring it together, if necessary, with a few quick kneads.

5) Pat the dough into a rough square, then roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle.

6) Dust both sides of the dough with flour. Starting with one of the shorter (8") ends, fold it in thirds like a business letter, flip it over (so the open flap is on the bottom), and turn it 90°.

7) Roll the dough into an 8" x 10" rectangle again. Fold it in thirds, wrap in plastic, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes (or overnight) before using.
NOTE: This is a very important step, to get puffy and tender dough.

7) Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before using. To make pastry, roll into desired size.

8) Freeze dough for prolonged storage, up to 2 months. To use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.,