Rough puff pastry

Name: Rough puff pastry
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Ingredients: 250 g all-purpose flour; 250 g unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1.5 cm cubes; ½ tsp salt; 125 ml water; 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Vegetarian

A quick, all-butter flaky pastry made by folding chunks of cold butter into a simple flour-and-water dough with a few letter folds — most of the rise of full puff pastry in a fraction of the time.

Rough puff pastry is a British pastry from United Kingdom, ready in about 2 hours 20 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and unsalted butter. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 0 min
Rest: 1 h 50 min
Total: 2 h 20 min
Serves: 8
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 338

Ingredients

8 portions (about 600 g pastry)

250 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Plain flour, plus extra for rolling.Contains wheat, gluten
250 g Unsalted butter (opens in a new tab), very cold, cut into 1.5 cm cubesSwap: Plant-based butter (Use a firm block-style vegan butter, well chilled.)Contains milk
½ tsp (3 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
125 ml Water (opens in a new tab)Ice-cold; you may not need it all.
1 tsp (5 g) Lemon juice (opens in a new tab) (optional)Helps keep the dough extensible.

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and toss in the butter cubes so each is coated. Don't rub them in — you want visible lumps of butter.
2
Step 2
Add the lemon juice (opens in a new tab) and most of the ice water and mix gently with a knife or your fingertips into a shaggy, rough dough that just holds together, adding the rest of the water only if needed. Press into a flat rectangle, wrap and chill 20 minutes.
- 4 min
3
Step 3
On a floured surface, roll into a rectangle three times as long as it is wide (about 45 × 15 cm), keeping the edges straight with a bench scraper (opens in a new tab). It will look streaky and messy at first — that's right.
4
Step 4
Fold the top third down and the bottom third up like a letter, turn 90° and roll and fold again. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- 5 min
5
Step 5
Repeat the two roll-and-folds twice more with 30 minutes' chilling in between (6 single folds in all). By the end the dough should look smooth with fine streaks of butter. Chill at least 30 minutes before using.
- 10 min
If butter breaks through, dust the spot with flour and chill before continuing.
6
Step 6
To bake: roll 3–5 mm thick, cut with a sharp knife (don't drag, which seals the layers), chill shapes 15 minutes, egg-wash the tops only and bake at 220 °C (fan 200 °C) until puffed and deep golden — 15–25 minutes depending on size.
- 4 min
- 220°C · fan 200 °C, when baking the finished pastry

About this dish

Origin: United Kingdom · Commonly attributed'Rough puff' is the usual British name; similar quick methods are used across Europe as a shortcut to classic puff pastry.Also popular in Ireland, France, AustraliaMore food from United Kingdom
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Pastries
Cooking method: Oven-baked
Taste: buttery, rich, mild
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
With the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Unsalted butter
Techniques: Baking

Allergens

Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom unsalted butter
Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

338 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 75 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

Protein 4%
Carbohydrate 28%
Fat 68%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	338 kcal	450 kcal
Protein	3.5 g	4.7 g
Carbohydrate	23.9 g	31.8 g
Net carbohydrate	23 g	30.7 g
Sugars	0.1 g	0.1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	0.8 g	1.1 g
Fat	25.7 g	34.2 g
Saturated fat	15.8 g	21.1 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	67 mg	90 mg
Sodium	150 mg	200 mg
Salt equivalent	0.4 g	0.5 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 41 mg
Calcium: 14 mg
Iron: 1.5 mg
Magnesium: 8 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 214 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0.1 µg
Folate (DFE): 92 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Optional ingredients are not included: lemon juice.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Keep everything cold: chill the flour and bowl on a warm day.

Common mistakes

Kneading the dough or overworking it, which makes the pastry tough and shrink.

Serve with

Use for sausage rolls, pie lids, Eccles cakes, palmiers, cheese straws or tarte Tatin.

Storage

Keeps 3 days well wrapped in the fridge or 3 months frozen.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour250 g
Unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1.5 cm cubes250 g

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 30 min
Keep the butter and dough at the same cool, pliable temperature; chill between folds.
Rest · about 1 h 50 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Start to finish: about 2 h 20 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	250 g	100%
Unsalted butter	Fat	250 g	100%
Salt	Salt	3 g	1.2%

Total flour: 250 g
Hydration: —
With milk, eggs…: 0%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Salt 1.2% — on the low side (1.8–2.2% is typical for bread).
Fat 100% — a rich, tender dough.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Pastry didn't puff or layers leaked butter
Likely causes
- Butter too warm and melted into the dough
- Layers sealed when cutting
- Oven not hot enough
What to do
- Chill between folds; keep everything cold
- Cut straight down with a sharp knife — don't drag
- Bake hot (200–220 °C) so the water in the butter steams the layers apart

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

Croissants
French · 19 h 20 min · 281 kcal · Contains egg
Scones
British · 27 min · 270 kcal · Vegetarian
Sticky toffee pudding
British · 1 h 10 min · 566 kcal · Contains egg
Crumpets
British · 2 h 5 min · 135 kcal · Vegetarian