When I told Keith that I was doing a ‘rough puff pastry post’, he said, “Say that one five times fast.” Try it. Add it to the list: toy boat, torso sore toe, never been to Bend before (the last two courtesy of my dad).
As I worked on this recipe, I missed Seattle. Don’t misunderstand me, I LOVE Bend, Oregon. We’ve lived here for two years now and it feels like sweet home. But I do love Seattle, and we spent the last year we lived there with this view.
The faltering economy lent us a condo rental opportunity that we could not refuse. So we spent the year gawking at the Seattle skyline and beautiful Puget Sound. We relished our ability to walk down 1st Avenue to some of our favorite restaurants: Palace Kitchen, Lola, Serious Pie, Dahlia Lounge, Matt’s in the Market (oh baby!).
Keith and I laughed and conversed our way through many memorable meals in Palace Kitchen booths. We celebrated our 10th anniversary at the Dahlia Lounge. (Our 17th is tomorrow!) We savored countless breakfasts at Lola and let the unique pizzas at Serious Pie melt on our tongues.
If you know Seattle, you know that the first four restaurants I mentioned are very different, yet owned by the same restaurateur, Tom Douglas (the link will take you to a peek-a-boo of all of his restaurants). The man is brilliant. And I loved that he dined in his own restaurants. We would spot him having a drink in the bar with a friend at the Dahlia Lounge or having dinner with his wife and business partner, Jackie, at the Palace Kitchen.
I tinkered with ingredients to create the recipe for this puff pastry, but the method I owe to Tom. He shared it in his excellent cookbook, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen. You mix up all of the ingredients in a food processor, form the dough, and then roll it up jellyroll style – so many layers so quick.
Puff pastry is a great item to keep in your freezer for making quick and elegant main dishes like pot pies or savory tarts or quick fruit tart desserts. I’ll share some favorites in my next few posts.
- 1 cup (2 sticks), cold, unsalted butter cut into ½ inch chunks
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup ice water
- Freeze the butter chunks for about 10 minutes before making the dough.
- Place flour and kosher salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add about ⅓ of the butter to the flour and pulse until the butter is in small crumbs. Add remaining butter and pulse 3 or 4 times, leaving visible chunks of butter. Add ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump - don't overprocess or your pastry will be tough.
- Turn the lumpy, uneven dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a rectangle. Use a board scraper or your hands to create relatively square edges. Lightly flour a rolling pin and the top of dough rectangle. Roll back and forth to create a 12-inch by 16-inch rectangle.
- Fold one edge of the 12-inch side to the center of the rectangle and repeat with the opposite edge, leaving a 4-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Use your hands and dough scraper to roll dough up like a jelly roll. Roll 'jelly roll' out into a 4-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Roll it up again; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or freeze for later use.
- Use as directed in recipes calling for puff pastry.
- Note - After the hour has passed, I like to roll the dough out into a 4-inch by 16-inch rectangle and cut it into 6, 4-inch squares. I stack each square with a layer of parchment paper in between and freeze, then thaw in the refrigerator when I'm ready to use them. They thaw in just a couple of hours.
Welcome! I'm Marissa, and I write this blog. I write about the recipes that propel me (and hopefully you) into the kitchen. 
Hi marissa……cannot wait to try out your recipe for a chocolatey dessert…..just one question- can i use regular table salt instead kosher salt? Will that affect the taste?
Hi Phoebe! Yes, you can definitely use table salt – just use half of what the recipe calls for. Table salt has a sharper flavor than kosher, particularly if it’s iodized. But the flavor should still be good. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Hi Marissa! WOW! You have simplified puff pastry for me. I’ve never tried to make it because every recipe I have seen seemed so complicated and very tricky. I am definitely going to try this!
I’m so excited for you to try it, Dorothy! Rolling instead of folding makes it so much easier!
So you only have to fold and roll once? That seems almost too easy for puff pastry dough. Does it become flaky, or does that require doing step 4 multiple times?
Hi Rachel – it actually ends up being twice because you roll it up before storing it in the refrigerator or freezer, then roll it out when you’re ready to use it. Try it! You’ll be pleasantly surprised…
Thank you, Marissa for this lovely recipe. I’m going to try it out this weekend. I plan on baking them into crisp pastry cups and then fill them with caramelized fruit. Would it work?
Hi Tina – yes, I think that sounds delicious!
I don’t think i’ve ever had puff pastry with whole wheat. Somehow, I’m really curious as to how it tastes. Nutty?
Try it – you won’t be disappointed! 🙂
Thanks Marissa, this recipe seems so easy and in summertime it’s what i need !!! Exactly what does it mean Whole Wheat Flour? It’s the same flour we have in Italy?
Hi Giovanna – I believe that whole wheat flour is equivalent to ‘farina integrale’ in Italy.
I used to live in Seattle and this post makes me miss it!
Happy Anniversary Keith and Marissa!!!
I hope to try this recipe out soon. I wonder how I can combine it with some fresh summer fruit. I am making strawberry rhubarb jam today with the fruit we picked yesterday!
Thank you Beth!
I think strawberry rhubarb jam would be excellent on this – maybe with brie or fromage blanc. Yum!
Another use for my whole wheat flour, yes!
I didn’t realise that you could make a whole wheat puff pastry-which seems silly of course now that I say it! 😛
The WW flour adds such a depth of flavor – I think you’ll like it!
Wow, I really need to try this! After making danish dough in the processor I´ve been thinking of finding a way to make puff pastry and croissant dough. This is the answer. Thanks!
Hi Paula – I haven’t made croissants this way – great idea.