The Hands-Down Best Butter To Use When Making Puff Pastry From Scratch

As convenient as it might be to pick up store-bought puff pastry to put together your favorite tasty puff pastry recipes, some might enjoy making their own sheets of dough from scratch. Though this culinary endeavor isn't an easy one — chilling, kneading, and folding the dough can take several hours — with the right ingredients, you can make a pastry dough that yields buttery, flaky treats that can be carried to the table with pride. We spoke to Ann Kirk, the pastry chef at Little Dom's in Los Angeles, for chef-approved tips to make puff pastry. One of Kirk's key recommendations involves butter.

Pastry lovers know that all butter is not created equal. Professionals reach for butter with higher butterfat content to make flavorful pastry dough, particularly when setting out to make laminated recipes for puff pastry and croissants. While browsing store displays, Kirk looks for European products. Since butter is made up of water and milk solids, butter higher in overall fat content means less water, more consistent bakes, and flavor-packed recipes. Higher-fat European butter translates into more predictable, even textures of those baked goods you're looking to serve. 

Laminated dough recipes require chefs to fold butter into the dough repeatedly, creating separate layers that trap steam as the dough bakes. The result is a flaky, puffed-up piece that delivers crunchy, buttery goodness. Less water and more fat in the recipe results in a different texture pastry than one made with the reverse ratio. American-style butters are made with different mandates, with the minimum amount of required butterfat set at 80%. European butters, on the other hand, are made with at least 82% butterfat content. Regardless of the kind of butter, a max ceiling of 16% water is set.

Kirk recognized that European butter can run a higher price tag than typical American butter, but the flavor and result is worth it, particularly when you're setting out to make pie crusts and pastries. Even if you're looking to buy frozen puff pastry, Kirk instructs shoppers to look for products that contain European butter. When topped with homemade jam or filled with savory ingredients, the proof of the puff pastry is all in the texture and flavor.