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Puff Pastry Tips

Here are some tips from the test kitchen for working with puff pastry.

Here are some tips from the test kitchen for working with puff pastry.

Given the huge amount of work that homemade puff pastry requires, few dare to make this dough from scratch. Luckily, with puff pastry available in the frozen foods section of nearly every grocery store, the hard work has been eliminated. Still, store-bought puff pastry can present the uninitiated with some minor obstacles, particularly when it comes to temperature.

For the perfect puff, the pastry should never come to room temperature. Most cooks thaw puff pastry on the counter, but it can quickly get too warm. We recommend letting the pastry defrost slowly in the refrigerator, where it can't overheat. When rolling or cutting the pastry on the counter, do so as quickly as possible. If the dough becomes too soft, return it to the refrigerator for five minutes or so to firm up. Once the puff pastry has been shaped, make sure to chill the dough thoroughly before baking—15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the refrigerator will do the trick.

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