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This Gluten Free Puff Pastry is perfect – flaky, delicious, buttery pastry which is surprisingly easy to make! Homemade gluten free rough puff pastry is simply a matter of chilling, folding and turning. It’s not complicated at all – and here’s my step-by-step guide to making this easy gluten free puff pastry recipe to prove it!
For years and years I was terrified of trying to make gluten free puff pastry. I thought it would be impossible, that it would fall apart or make a sticky mess or just…not puff.
But when I finally nailed my gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe, it made me realise you can make gluten free pastry which is as good as the ‘normal’ version!
So I put my Big Girl Pants on and attempted to throw together a gluten free rough puff pastry. And trust me, this gluten free flaky pastry puffs like a DREAM.
Whether you’re making gluten free sausage rolls, delicious gluten free cheese straws or gluten free vol-au-vents, you’ll love this easy flaky puff pastry.
It’s an easy gluten free rough puff pastry recipe and I am going to show you, with step-by-step photos and a video – exactly how to make it!
What is gluten free rough puff pastry?
Puff pastry is made by creating layers – this is called ‘laminating’ the pastry.
As it cooks, the butter (or lamination) between the layers of pastry melt, causing the pastry to puff up.
You may have seen this on The Great British Bake Off, with bakers talking about how they’re making a ‘rough puff’ instead of traditional puff pastry.
In short, ‘proper’ puff pastry is made when you place a flattened block of butter in the middle of the pastry and then fold it into the layers.
But rough puff pastry is a little easier – and a little less technical. But with the same beautiful layers that puff up when baking.
You simply ensure there are lumps of butter throughout the pastry dough, so when you fold the layers, this marbles through the pastry.
It’s also very easy to do and requires very little technical skill – if you have a rolling pin and a fridge, you can make gluten free puff pastry!
Ingredients
This gluten free puff pastry recipe is very simple – you actually only need a few ingredients and it’s likely you’ll have most of them already. For the shopping list you’ll need:
- Unsalted Butter: I would choose a good quality butter, but the most important thing is to ensure it is COLD. You cannot make puff pastry with warm butter!
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: I always use either the FREEE or Asda gluten free plain flour but any plain (or all purpose) gluten free flour blend should work.
- Xanthan Gum: This is super important – do not omit this even if your flour blend already contains it. Xanthan gum stops the pastry dough from becoming too crumbly or sticky and helps it be pliable and easy to work with.
- Salt
- Ice Cold Water: The colder the better!
How to make gluten free puff pastry
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free puff pastry recipe is to make:
To make the gluten free puff pastry dough:
The first stage of making this gluten free puff pastry is actually not too dissimilar to making my gluten free shortcrust pastry.
First you need to mix together the gluten free flour, xantham gum and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Next, take your butter straight from the fridge (remember, cold is key here!) and cut it into cubes, approximately 2cm in size.
Add the cubes of butter to the flour mix and then you’ll want to use two knives top ‘criss-cross’ across the mixture.
The idea is to chop the butter into smaller piece (we’re aiming for about pea-sized) and ensuring the cut edges keep getting covered in the flour mix.
Once your butter is all chopped up, gradually add the ice-cold water to the mixture. Use a wooden spoon to bring it all together as you go.
When you add the last of the water the mixture should start to come together as a dough. You can use your hands here to bring it into a ball but try and handle it as little as possible.
Remember, we want to keep the lumps of butter intact – if it’s a warm day or you feel the butter starting to melt, you’ll need to chill the pastry ball.
Chilling the puff pastry dough is really important as if the butter doesn’t stay cold, you won’t get that flaky puff.
If it’s warm, I’d recommend wrapping the ball of dough in clingfilm and chilling for at least 20-30 minutes. If the butter is still cold, it’s time to move onto the next step.
Laminating gluten free puff pastry dough:
Remove your pastry from the fridge (if it’s chilling) and generously dust the work surface with gluten free flour. Alternatively, roll it between two sheets of clingfilm / plastic wrap.
Use your hands to flatten the dough into a rectangular shape on the floured surface. Then roll the pastry out in one direction into a long rectangle, approximately 1cm thick.
Use your hands to keep shaping the pastry into a rectangle as you roll, so that you have reasonably straight edges.
Once you have rolled out your gluten free rough puff pastry dough it’s time to laminate it. This is basically using a letter fold.
To laminate your gluten free puff pastry sheets:
- Make sure the short end of the pastry is facing towards you. Brush off any excess flour on top of the puff pastry sheet so you don’t add it to the mix.
- Take the short end of the pastry which is furthest away from you and fold it back towards you until it meets the centre line.
- Next, take the end nearest you and fold it over the top of the piece you have just folded. You will then have three neat layers with your pastry folded like a letter.
- At this stage you may need to chill the pastry again – simply wrap it in clingfilm and place it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. Do this if it has become sticky at all.
- Place the pastry down exactly as it was when you finished the last fold. Then turn the pastry a quarter turn (90 degrees) clockwise before rolling the pastry out and folding as above.
Remember to always roll the pastry in one direction to preserve the layers – this is important!
You might need to chill the pastry between every turn-and-fold or, if it’s a cold day, you may be able to work quickly and do it all without chilling.
Simply judge it by how sticky the butter becomes and don’t be afraid to chill for as long as needed. Once you’ve completed the three turns, wrap your pastry and chill it.
Storing and Freezing
At this point, you can easily chill the gluten free puff pastry in the fridge for up to three days until you’re ready to bake with it.
If you want to, you can also freeze the gluten free puff pastry in this cling-wrapped state. Defrost in the fridge overnight before rolling out and baking.
Top tips for perfect gluten free puff pastry?
There’s one absolutely, completely vital trick to making sure your gluten free puff pastry works perfectly each time….
Keep. It. Cold.
Nothing complicated – just pure temperature!
If your puff pastry dough gets too hot, the butter in those lovely layers your creating will begin to melt.
If the butter melts, you’ll lose those layers. No layers = no puff.
You’ll just end up with a tough-as-old-boots shortcrust pastry which trust me, doesn’t taste too great.
The best thing you can remember is: if in doubt, refrigerate.
What to bake with gluten free puff pastry
Once you’re ready to use your gluten free puff pastry, it’s pretty simple from here on!
To roll out gluten free rough puff pastry, remove it from the fridge and roll to the desired thickness dictated in the recipe.
If you have any offcuts, make sure you stack them neatly instead of scrunching them up. Be warned – if you scrunch them up you’ll lose all those layers and they won’t puff up anymore.
All of my individual puff pastry recipes have specific instructions on how to cook your baking creations once you have rolled out the pastry:
- Gluten Free Sausage Rolls
- Gluten Free Vol-au-Vents
- Gluten Free Gregg’s Steak Bake
- Gluten Free Vegetable Tarte Tatin
- Gluten Free Cheese Straws
I also have some delicious recipes in my cookbook, Delicious Gluten Free Meals, including a vegetable pot pie, chicken ham and leek puff pie and a butternut squash wellington.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this gluten free puff pastry recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
If you’re reading this in the US I’d highly recommend you use European butter for this rough puff pastry. American butter tends to have a higher water content and this may result in the pastry not puffing properly. Always opt for the best quality butter you can afford for this recipe where possible.
So far I have not found a dairy free version of this recipe I’m happy with. Vegan butter tends to be a lot softer, so you may find it harder to get the lumps of butter – which is what creates the ‘puff’.
A little bit of butter leaking out of your puff pastry while baking is fine. But if a lot of butter leaks out you may find it doesn’t become as flaky as it should, and the pastry can be greasy. This is usually because the butter was not cold enough. I cannot stress how important it is to make sure this puff pastry is SUPER chilled before putting it in the oven. Additionally, using a cheaper butter with a higher water content may also result in the butter leaking out more.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 250 g unsalted butter, cold
- 250 g plain gluten free flour
- 1.5 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp salt
- 150 ml ice cold water
Instructions
To make the puff pastry dough:
- Cut the butter (which must be as cold as possible!) into cubes of approx 2cm.
- Add the gluten free flour, xanthan gum and salt to a large mixing bowl and stir. Then add the cubes of cold butter.
- Using two butter knives, ‘criss-cross’ across the pastry mix, cutting the butter into smaller pieces. You’ll want to keep stirring the bowl to make sure the cut edges become coated in flour. Keep going until the butter lumps are mostly the size of peas – a few bigger lumps are absolutely fine.
- Gradually add the ice cold water to the mixture, stirring in between using a wooden spoon. Once it's all added, use your hands to bring the mixture together into a ball. Try to handle it as little as possible – you want to ensure you can still see lumps of butter throughout the pastry.*At this point, if it’s a warm day or the dough feels at all sticky, wrap the dough in cling-film and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. If it’s a colder day and the dough still feels smooth and cool, you might be able to get your first roll-and-turn in straight away.
To laminate the puff pastry:
- Sprinkle gluten free flour onto a worktop and place the ball of dough in the centre. Use your hands to flatten the dough slightly and shape it into a rectangle shape.
- Roll the dough out in ONE DIRECTION only, in one long rectangle approx 1cm thick. I find the best way to do this is to roll the dough away from you. Use your hands to keep gently nudging the pastry back into a reasonably straight line on the edges. You should see marbled streaks of butter throughout the dough as you roll it.
- Take the short edge which is furthest away from you and fold it back towards you until it meets the centre line. Then take the edge closest to you and fold it away from you over the piece you have just folded, so the pastry is in three layers.
Chill and repeat:
- Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until chilled. When you remove it from the fridge, place the dough down in exactly the same position as it was before, then give the dough a quarter turn clockwise.
- Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 TWICE more – so a total of three fold-and-turns. Each time you start, place the folded dough in the same position as when you finished the last fold and give it a quarter-turn before you begin rolling.
- Ensure you chill for at least 20-30 minutes before rolling out to use in your chosen bake. Any offcuts should be stacked on top of each other – don’t scrunch them up into a ball otherwise you will lose all the layers you’ve worked into them.
- To bake, follow the individual recipe you are making for the appropriate cooking times.
Video
Notes
- IMPORTANT: It’s VITAL to keep this dough as cold as possible. If making this on a hot day, you may need to refrigerate the dough more frequently. If it sticks to the worktop, use a dough scraper to gently ease it off the worktop and sprinkle some more flour down to stop it sticking further. You can also roll it between sheets of clingfilm if you find this easier.
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this gluten free puff pastry recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing: Check out the post above this recipe card for more information on storing and freezing this gluten free puff pastry.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about these Gluten Free Puff Pastry!
Nutrition
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Hi
What plain flour company do you use?
Thank you
I’m sad I’m writing this really, but I had the same experience as some others 🙁 it’s puffed slightly but just a massive pool of butter on my tray. The pastry was chilling for hours before I used it so it was definitely cool enough. And I preheated the oven to higher than I was using to cook then turned it down. Bit sad really as it just looks hella greasy.
The whole recipe went great and everything looked as it should until I put it in the oven ! When I baked it in the oven they just all melted. And I chilled them a lot beforehand too. Why has this happened ?
Thanks 🙂