Avoiding gluten doesn’t mean avoiding incredible baked goods! This Gluten-Free Puff Pastry recipe is flaky, buttery, and ready for your next recipe.
Puff pastry is a magical thing. It’s easy to find in stores, and it’s delicious baked with a million different sweet or savory toppings and fillings, like fruit preserves, cheese, or custard for a quiche. When you bake it, it turns into a crispy, flaky delight that is hard to resist.
For a lot of people, however, the gluten in puff pastry is an issue. Some folks experience days of unpleasant symptoms following gluten ingestion. If this is you, know that the joys of puff pastry aren’t entirely off-limits for you—thanks to the miracle of gluten-free all-purpose flour, you can make puff pastry treats that don’t make you suffer.
This gluten-free puff pastry recipe takes a bit of time because of the chilling periods required, but don’t let that scare you; it’s actually a very simple recipe. I wager that any beginner baker could successfully make a batch! And you’ll be rewarded for your patience with a delicious, flaky, buttery pastry filled with whatever you like.
Is Gluten-Free Puff Pastry Healthy?
While this recipe is gluten-free, it’s definitely still puff pastry, and it contains a lot of butter and heavy cream. Both of those ingredients add saturated fat, which is unfortunately not the healthy kind of fat. Gluten-free flour is typically a mixture of flours and starches and can include rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch, among others. Gluten-free flour doesn’t usually contain a lot of protein or fiber; it’s similar in calorie count to standard all-purpose flour and has similar trace amounts of vitamins and minerals. So ultimately, this puff pastry isn’t any healthier than regular puff pastry, and puff pastry is not a “healthy” food by any measure.
There is something to be said, however, about the mental health value of enjoying treats on occasion. I personally think everyone should get a treat every now and then, and that includes you! Just indulge in this puff pastry in moderation, paired with a healthy diet, and you’re golden.
The “Puff” In Puff Pastry
Puff pastry might seem like magic when you put it in the oven. When it’s made properly, it puffs up, creating beautiful layers of crispy dough. You’ll notice this recipe has specific instructions for refrigeration of the butter and the dough. That, folks, is where the magic comes from. It’s what puts the puff in puff pastry.
Cold butter and cream are crucial to the success of your puff pastry. When the dough goes into the oven with bits of cold fat layered throughout, the fat will create air pockets in the dough as it melts, cooking and pushing up the layers in the pastry. If the fats aren’t cold enough, you’ll end up with a flat pastry.
So, if you’re considering cutting any corners in the refrigeration times suggested in this recipe, do yourself a favor and don’t.
How Do I Store Leftovers?
Leftover baked puff pastry can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (if you haven’t filled it with ingredients that require refrigeration) for up to 1 week, and you can refrigerate it for the same amount of time if you prefer.
Serving Suggestions
Puff pastry is as versatile as your cravings are! It’s good when baked with pretty much anything, whether it’s sweet or savory. For breakfast or brunch, try this Puff Pastry Quiche, or simply bake squares of your puff pastry plain and add a nut butter of choice and a drizzle of honey. For a delicious lunch, try slices of baked puff pastry with this Tapenade Recipe. For dinner, try this Spinach Pie made with puff pastry instead of phyllo dough or whip up this Mushroom Tart.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups unsalted butter cold (divided)
- 2½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 large egg
- ½ to ¾ cup heavy cream very cold
Instructions
- Cut ¾ cup of butter into small pieces and refrigerate. Place the remaining ¾ cup of butter in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, and salt. Grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture and toss to coat.
- Add the refrigerated butter pieces to the bowl, toss with the flour mixture, then mix in the apple cider vinegar.
- Whisk the egg with ⅓ of the heavy cream and add to the flour mixture. Gradually add more cream until the dough comes together but is not sticky. You may not need all the cream.
- Form the dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a ¼-inch thick rectangle, then fold into thirds like a letter. Rotate and repeat the folding process two more times.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Info:
Nutrition information are estimates only and may vary based on the specific brands, ingredients, and portion sizes you use. This data is provided for informational purposes only.
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