Gluten Free Puff Pastry Recipe (Rough Puff Method) (2024)

The most INCREDIBLE Gluten Free Puff Pastry (made using the rough puff method). It’s light, flaky, buttery and crisp. It produces the perfect lamination and puff and is easy to make. And it’s super versatile… From sausage rolls to vol au vents, turnovers to tarts… THIS is the gluten free puff pastry of dreams! Also egg free, soy free, nut free, optional dairy free, optional corn free.

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The Gluten Free Puff Pastry of my dreams

OMG. I’ve done it! I’ve finally achieved the Gluten Free Puff Pastry of my dreams. It’s INCREDIBLE. And it’s welcomed a whole new world of foods that I’ve missed, back into my life. From perfectly laminated Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls and crisp Apple Turnovers… to party Vol au Vent and Puff Pastry Swirls… It has worked with every recipe I’ve tested and created the most amazing gluten free puff pastry deliciousness I’ve ever tasted.

Because I know how much you NEED this recipe in your lives, I’ve been making it on repeat for the last 3 weeks. While my waistline won’t thank me, I know for certain you will. Because one by one, I’m testing it on any and all permutations I can think of. And while this could ultimately take a while (I’ve seriously missed good puff patisserie), I’m 100% happy to share the recipe now.

So read on to find out the what, why, how and step-by-step of making a Gluten Free Puff Pastry that could change your gluten free happiness forever. (And make you smug that being gluten free really isn’t that bad after all).

Can anyone make this recipe?

Absolutely yes! Puff pastry has always been my nemesis (gluten free or not). But this recipe is actually as fool-proof as you’ll find… providing you follow the instructions carefully. And stick to the fundamental rule of chilling at every stage of the process.

Sure… Making puff pastry (whether gluten free or not) requires a little effort. But in testing when time has been lacking, I’ve simply broken down the process into manageable stages in small gaps throughout the day and sometimes over several days, making the most of the need to refrigerate.

None of the process elements are tricky… I promise.

Why you’ll love this Gluten Free Puff Pastry recipe

• It’s light, crisp, flaky, delicate and buttery and has the perfect lamination and rise you would expect from any great puff pastry.
• Anyone can make it… It’s honestly that easy (and hands-on time is hardly any at all).
• It’s incredibly versatile… There’s nothing I’ve tested yet that hasn’t worked.
• The butter is chilled NOT frozen.
• It’s gluten free AND wheat free!
• Unlike shop-bought gluten free puff pastry, it’s not full of nasty chemicals and palm oil, and tastes buttery and delicious… Just as it should!
• No one will ever guess that it’s gluten free!

Is this Puff Pastry or Rough-Puff Pastry?

Okay. You’ve got me! Technically, this is a recipe for Gluten Free Rough Puff Pastry. But to be honest, the texture, lamination, versatility and experience of eating it is so incredible, that I’m happy it will satisfy all my puff pastry needs. And with that, I’m not sure my time will be well spent creating anything different.

Nonetheless… for the sake of baking pedantry, it’s probably helpful to explain the difference between the two:

‘Proper’ Puff Pastry is made using a flattened slab of butter (known as a ‘butter packet’) which is rolled and folded into the dough several times to distribute the fat in layers. When baked, the fat melts and causes the pastry to puff into crisp layers (known as ‘lamination’).

Rough Puff Pastry is effectively a ‘cheats’ version of puff, which creates a very similar result, but in a simpler way and with less effort. Rather than using a single slab of butter, Rough Puff uses chunks of butter that are mixed with the base flour and then rolled and folded through to create a marbled effect in the dough. As with standard puff pastry, these then melt and heat when baked, causing the pastry to laminate and puff.

Ingredients for making Gluten Free Puff Pastry

Making great Gluten Free Puff Pastry requires 5 fundamental ingredients:

① Plain Gluten Free Flour Blend

This is specific! And while I’m sure you can make the recipe with a standard gluten free flour blend, if you want the INCREDIBLE texture and flavour this recipe offers, the flour blend truly matters. So what’s in it and why?

• Potato Starch: Provides dry fluffiness to the crumb.
• Tapioca Starch: Is lightly stretchy and helps to bind moisture within the dough while equally bringing a gentle brittleness.
• Mochiko Flour (aka glutinous rice flour/sticky rice flour/Asian rice flour/sweet rice flour): Has a sticky, starchy, stretchy quality which supports the pliability of the dough. Mochiko can be found in Asian food stores or on-line.
• Sorghum Flour: Gives protein to offer the pastry structure. This can be substituted for alternative protein-rich flours such as buckwheat, chestnut, white teff, millet, oat, etc.
• Brown Rice Flour: Brings a little additional protein, but also dry ‘shortness’ to the final pastry texture.

You can find more information about gluten free flours on my Page ‘What is Gluten Free Flour?’. To make puff pastry that is safe for people with Coeliac Disease (Celiac), make sure all the flours used are certified gluten free.

② Xanthan Gum

Because puff pastry dough uses a starch-critical flour blend, xanthan gum (or an alternative binder) is essential to giving structure and elasticity. Without it, the pastry dough will be very difficult to roll and will crumble and crack.

If you cannot tolerate xanthan gum, switch it for ground psyllium husk at twice the amount of xanthan gum stated in the recipe. Use a finer grind or psyllium powder, as it needs to be distributed throughout the dough.

Alternatively, try switching with guar gum on a 1 to 1 basis.

③ Salt

Salt enhances the puff pastry’s flavour. If using salted butter, don’t add any additional salt to the mix.

④ Butter

Puff pastry has a significant ratio of butter in the dough. Indeed it’s the butter which helps the pastry to puff and laminate. Thus it’s essential that it is kept VERY cold throughout the process… before and during all stages of mixing AND while rolling and folding the dough. Melted butter will result in oily, greasy pastry that doesn’t rise and puff.

The butter is added to the mix as two separate quantities… The first is a smaller quantity ‘rubbed’ into the flour at the start. This ‘insulates” the starch in the flour with fat. The rest of the butter is then cut into small cubes or fine slices and added to the mix, before being rolled and folded into the dough.

⑤ Water

To ensure the butter remains cold and doesn’t melt into the dough, use water that has been refrigerated and is super-cold. I usually weigh the water into a small pot ahead of time and leave it for a couple hours in the fridge… Or when I’ve forgotten to do this, simply pop it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Making dairy free, gluten free puff pastry

Although I haven’t tried making it myself, I can’t see any reason to prevent my gluten free rough puff pastry from being made dairy free with a switch to like-for-like dairy free BLOCK ‘butter’. In the UK, I recommend eitherStorkblock orFlora Plant B+tter.

If using dairy free block butter alternative, the pastry will also be vegan.

How to make Gluten Free Rough Puff (with essential tips)

Note: at any point between or within these stages, the pastry-making can be paused and picked up again later (providing the mixture/dough is stored in the fridge)…

(The printable recipe card is at the bottom of the page).

Combining the puff pastry ingredients

1. Weigh and mix together all the flours, xanthan gum and salt.
2. Measure the cold water and place it in the fridge to chill.
3. Add the first (smaller amount) of COLD CUBED butter to the flour and rub together with fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles the texture of damp sand and the flour grains are evenly coated. TIP: To ensure the butter stays cold, use it straight from the fridge. If you have one, use a pastry blender (rather than warm fingers) to ‘rub’ it into the flour. OR wash hands in cold water first!
4. Place the flour bowl in the fridge while you weigh and cut the remaining (larger quantity) of butter into cubes (about 1 to 2 cm).
5. Add the butter cubes to the flour bowl and toss with a fork to separate and coat. PLACE THE BOWL IN THE FRIDGE for about 20 minutes OR in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. It is ESSENTIAL that the butter is hard and cold for the next stage.
6. Add the cold water to the mixture a little at a time, using A FORK to toss it through so it absorbs into the flour. TIP: Using a fork helps to keep the butter cold and prevent it from melting.
7. Continue to add the water until it is all absorbed. The flour should be starting to clump alongside the cubes of butter and all the flour will look damp (not wet).
8. Important: If the weather or room is warm, or the butter cubes start to feel soft, place the bowl back in the fridge to chill and firm them again.

See Also

Gluten Free Carrot Cake RecipeSweet Gluten Free Cornbread (A Disney Recipe)Giant Cheese and Vegemite Scroll RecipeGluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins - Rhian's Recipes

Compress the mixture into dough

1. Bring the mixture together to form a dough. To do this, use your hands to gradually compress the flour and butter together. Do NOT knead. The action is simply one of pressing the ingredients until they stick. It may take a few minutes, but don’t be tempted to add more liquid and trust in the process. If the butter starts to feel like it’s becoming melty soft, pop the bowl back in the fridge for a few minutes.
2. Once you have an uneven ball (it’s fine if there are some cracks), lay down a sheet of clingfilm on the work surface and place the ball in the centre. Gently but firmly squash and shape the dough until it forms a rough, fat rectangle shape.
3. Tightly wrap the block of dough in the clingfilm. Then firmly roll a rolling pin over the block so that it smooths and becomes more evenly shaped. It should be marbled in appearance with distinct pieces of butter visible.
4. ESSENTIAL: Place the wrapped block of puff pastry dough in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. This will help prevent the butter melting during the rolling-laminating process.

Rolling and laminating gluten free rough puff pastry

‘Laminating’ is the process by which Puff Pastry (gluten free or otherwise) gets its flaky, crisp layers. Lamination involves rolling the pastry dough into a long rectangle and folding it in thirds… One-third down over the central third… and one-third up (known as letter folds or laminating folds).

Lamination Folds 1 & 2

1. If the pastry block has been in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes, it probably needs to sit at room temperature to soften VERY slightly. It needs to be soft enough to roll (with minimal cracking), but not too warm that the butter starts to melt.
2. Roll the chilled dough block on a well-floured surface, as the butter will be particularly sticky. And add a dusting of flour on the top. Roll into a long rectangle about three times as long as it is wide and about 1 to 1½ cm thick. Check the pastry does not stick underneath and re-dust with flour as necessary. The strip of pastry will probably look a bit ragged at the edges, but that’s fine.
3. With a DRY pastry brush, brush off any excess flour from the top.
4. Lamination fold ①: Fold the top third of the pastry strip down over the central third.
5. Brush off any excess flour from the dough.
6. Fold the bottom third up over the top, so that there are now three equal layers of dough.
7. Lamination fold ②: ROTATE the folded dough block by 90 degrees (a quarter turn) so that the 3 pastry layers are facing towards you.
8. Roll the pastry forward again IN ONE DIRECTION into another long rectangle 3 times as long as it is wide and brush off any excess flour.
9. Repeat the letter-folding process – Top third down over the centre – Brush off excess flour – Bottom third up over the top.
10. Now wrap the folded block in clingfilm and REFRIGERATE for 30 minutes. Do NOT be tempted to move on to the next stage of the lamination process without chilling the pastry.

Lamination fold 3 (& 4)

For the best flakiness, I laminate my pastry dough 3 to 4 times in total. After 3 I visually check (particularly at the edges) to see whether there are any thick clumps of butter remaining… If there are, I give a 4^th roll. If in doubt, STOP at 3 letter folds.

1. Again… If the pastry has been chilled for more than 30 minutes, it may need to soften slightly at room temperature before the last rolling.
2. When ready, unwrap the pastry block and place it on a well-floured surface with the LAYERS FACING TOWARDS YOU.
3. Repeat the process of rolling the pastry into a long rectangle… brushing away the excess flour and letter-folding one to two further times. (See Note above).
4. Your Gluten Free Rough Puff Pastry is now ready to use. If using straight away, pop the pastry back in the fridge for 15 minutes to re-chill (you can’t be too careful!). Or wrap and store it in the fridge until you need it.

Using Gluten Free Rough Puff Pastry

Your Gluten Free Rough Puff Pastry can be used in the same way as standard puff pastry. When ready, simply take it from the fridge and leave it to stand for just a few minutes (IF it’s too cold and hard to roll easily)… Then simply use as instructed for the bake.

IMPORTANT: With Puff and Rough Puff Pastry, it is essential that you only roll it as layers. Never squish the dough back together and re-roll as this will destroy the lamination and puff. If you have any offcuts, set them aside in a flat pile and roll them together as a continuation of the layering process. They can then be used as leftovers to make cinnamon spirals, cheese straws, etc.

Baking Gluten Free Puff Pastry

For the most incredible light, flaky, crisp layers, I follow two golden rules with Gluten Free Puff Pastry:

1. Chill the pastry creations before they go into the oven.
2. Aim to bake the pastry at around the 200 C (400 F) mark.

Together, these two things help the pastry to puff and crisp to perfection, as the butter heats and melts with greater ‘control’.

However… Because the pastry has usually been on the baking tray in the fridge, the tray is also super-cold. To compensate for any drop in oven temperature as the cold tray hits the oven, I pre-heat the oven to 220 C (425 F) and bake at that temperature for about 3 minutes before turning the oven down to 200 C.

How to store Gluten Free Puff Pastry

Once made, your uncooked gluten free Puff Pastry can be stored for up to a week in the fridge, providing it is tightly wrapped in clingfilm.

It can also be frozen for up to 6 weeks once it is fully laminated (providing it is tightly wrapped and airtight in clingfilm). When ready to use, simply defrost the pastry at room temperature until soft enough to roll out (but not so soft that the butter starts to melt). And use as normal.

What to make with gluten free Puff Pastry

My Gluten Free Rough Puff, Puff Pastry can be used in the same way and for the same recipes as standard puff pastry. Indeed, there are several recipes (both sweet and savoury) on the blog that require puff pastry. Most of them have been made with a popular commercial ready-rolled brand. But I’ll be honest… I’ve never been truly happy with either the flavour or the texture of that particular pastry. Having finally cracked my puff pastry fear (and realised just how simple it is to make), I’m going back and making all my favourite recipes again, with new-found enthusiasm for eating them!

Expect to see lots of new ideas too… because I’ve seriously put this recipe through its paces and I’ve got a whole load of recipes waiting in the wings…

In the meantime… Here are a few suggestions to be going on with:

• Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls
• Apple Turnovers (with or without cream)
• Gluten Free Portuguese Custard Tarts (Pastéis de Nata)
• Puff Pastry Party Bites
• Pizza Pinwheels
• Salmon Pie with Mushrooms
• Breakfast Pastries
• Spinach Tart (or Spanakopita Galette)
• Puff Pastry Swirls with Sundried Tomato, Parmesan and Walnuts
• Pastry Pizza (or Pizza Tart)

Ready to try Gluten Free Rough Puff Pastry?

I think that’s all you need to know to help you make my shockingly good Gluten Free Puff Pastry using the Rough Puff process. I hope you love it! If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me via a comment at the bottom, email or direct message on social media (Instagram,Facebook,Pinterest) and I’ll do my best to help.

And do let me know how it goes if you make it. I took years to break my puff pastry avoidance, so hopefully this recipe will make it easier for you. And remember… Keep it cold and show no fear!

As always, this recipe is shared with my love to the gluten free community for FREE.

** © 2019-2024 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist. Or use for commercial purposes without prior agreement**

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