Advanced Breads – LAMINATED DOUGHS

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What is laminated dough?

Laminated dough gets its name from how it’s made. “Laminating” dough refers to the process of folding butter into dough multiple times to create very thin alternating layers of butter and dough. The gluten in the flour also gets developed during the folding and rolling process.

This is unlike other baked goods where butter is creamed in with the sugar and flour, so the result when baked is a pastry with hundreds of flaky, airy layers.

What pastries use laminated dough?

The two most common types of laminated dough are puff pastry and croissants. Puff pastry is the simplest form of laminated dough, with just butter folded into a basic dough of flour, water, and salt. Croissants take it one step further and add yeast and milk to the dough, which make the pastries richer, rise more, and end up more bread-like. Danishes, palmier cookies, kouign amann, and sticky buns are also pastries made with laminated dough.

What makes laminated dough so special?

If done properly, a well-laminated piece of dough will have hundreds of alternating layers of butter and dough. When the heat of the oven hits this dough, the water in the dough and in the butter converts to steam. The steam puffs up each layer of dough before it evaporates, create separate layers of delicate, flaky pastry. If you cut a croissant in half, you’ll see perfect examples of all the layers.

How do you make laminated dough?

Since the ingredients in laminated dough are pretty basic and a cornerstone of many other baked goods, it’s technique that makes this dough stand out.

To make laminated dough, you first make and roll out a lean dough, meaning a dough with little to no fat. Then you place a flattened piece of cool but pliable butter on top of the dough — the temperature of this butter is important (around 60 degrees) because it needs to be cool enough that it doesn’t melt into the dough, but soft enough that it can be flattened and rolled out. (While laminated dough can be made with other fats such as shortening, the classic version uses butter for the best flavor.)

The dough is folded over the butter and then carefully rolled out again. This process is called a turn. The dough is carefully wrapped up and refrigerated or frozen briefly to firm up the butter again before it is rolled out and folded again.

The more turns completed, the more layers of butter and dough are formed. The more layers formed, the flakier the finished product. But there is a delicate balance of doing enough turns to produce flakiness, but not so many turns that the butter ends up completely incorporated into the dough. Croissant dough, which goes through six turns, will end up with 729 layers of dough separated by 728 layers of butter!

Keeping the dough at the right temperature throughout the whole process is also key. Butter gets too cold? The butter will cut through the dough. Too soft? It will squish out all over the table when you try to roll it out.

Temperature control is a MUST.

RECIPES

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Pâte Feuilletée – Puff Pastry

From simple, super-flaky turnovers to crunchy palmiers (elephant ears) to fancy Napoleons, puff pastry is the dough to go to when you’re looking for something light and delicately crispy. This is the pastry that breaks into a thousand buttery shards with each bite, showering the plate (and probably the table) in front of you with its delicious crumbs. While it’s time-consuming to make (and we list some easier versions in “tips,” below), this recipe is the original — and still a baking classic.  Ingredients
Course Base, Technique
Cuisine French
Keyword Culinary 4, Pastry

Ingredients

Dough

  • 4 1/4 cups AP flour 510g
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold 57g
  • 1 1/4 cups water, cold* 283g

Butter block

  • 1/2 cup 60g AP flour
  • 28 tablespoons 397g, 3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

Instructions

To make the dough: 

  • Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  • Cut the butter into small pieces and drop them into the bowl with the flour. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut or rub the butter into the flour until it resembles cornmeal.
  • Add the cold water to the bowl. Mix gently with your hands, a fork, or a dough scraper until you have a rough, slightly tacky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it’s smooth and the gluten has developed somewhat, 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Pat the dough into a 9″ square and wrap it in plastic or a reusable wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the butter block: 

  • Mix together the flour and butter until they're well blended and smooth. You can do this with a mixer, a food processor, or by hand with a spoon.
  • Pat the butter/flour mixture into an 8″ square on a lightly floured piece of parchment or waxed paper. Cover it with a second sheet of paper and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare (laminate) the dough: 

  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and put it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it into a 12" square. You don't have to be obsessive about the dimensions but do try to come pretty close.
  • Place the chilled butter in the center of the dough at a 45° angle, so it looks like a diamond in a square. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter until they meet in the middle. Pinch and seal the edges of the dough together.
  • Turn the square over and tap it gently with your rolling pin (or hands) into a rectangular shape. Make sure everything is still completely (though lightly) floured. Roll the dough into a 20″ x 10″ rectangle. As you work keep the dough, the table, and the rolling pin well dusted with flour. Turn the dough over from time to time to keep the layers even.
  • When the dough is the right size, brush any excess flour off the top, and fold the bottom third of the dough up to the center and the top third over (like a business letter). Line the corners up as neatly as you can; dab them with a little water to help them stick together if necessary, and turn the dough package 1/4 turn to the right so it looks like a book ready to be opened. If the dough is still cold and relaxed, do another rolling and turning the same way. If it begins to feel too soft or wants to resist being rolled, cover it, put it on a small baking sheet, and refrigerate it for 15 minutes to chill and relax.
  • If you’ve successfully rolled it out and folded it twice, you’ve completed two turns. Classic puff pastry gets six. Continue refrigerating it after each two turns (or more often if necessary) until all six turns are completed. Keep track of how many turns you’ve made.
  • When all six turns are done, put the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour (preferably 3 or 4 hours).
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough until it’s a rectangle about 12″ x 18″. Trim 1/4″ off the edges of the dough all the way around with a very sharp knife or a pizza wheel. This removes the folded edges, which would inhibit the “puff.”
  • Cut and shape the pâte feuilletée as your recipe suggests. Use this delicious homemade pastry in any recipe calling for purchased frozen puff pastry sheets, and taste the difference!
  • Storage information: To use pâte feuilletée later, fold it up like a letter, double wrap it, and refrigerate for up to two days. Freeze for up to six months. If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Notes

*Substitute 1 tablespoon lemon juice for 1 tablespoon of the water if desired. This will temper the gluten even further and make it easier to stretch and roll out.
**The French call this dough “pâte feuilletée,” which means “leaf-like pastry.” Each “leaf” in this pastry consists of a layer of flour separated by a layer of butter. The expansion (puff) occurs because the butter layers create steam when exposed to the heat of an oven. This expands the space between the flour layers. Ultimately, in classic puff pastry, you want to create 729 layers of folded dough. Seems like overkill, but all of those hundreds of layers are what create pâte feuilletée’s ethereally light and delicate flakiness.

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Palmiers

Super easy and very elegant dessert using puff pastry.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword Advanced Pastries, Culinary 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 sheets puff pastry

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  • Combine the sugar and kosher salt. Pour 1 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on baker's table. Lay each sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar.
  • With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's 13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Roll the sides of the square towards the center so they meet in the middle. CHILL for thirty minutes.
  • Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake the cookies for 6 minutes until caramelized and deeply browned on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.
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Croissant de Boulanger

A Croissant de Boulanger is a baker’s croissant, made from puff pastry dough that includes yeast. The dough is laminated (folded around a slab of butter, then rolled out and folded to create hundreds of layers), cut, shaped, and proofed before baking.
Prep Time 3 days
Servings 8

Ingredients

For the Preferment:

  • 3/4 cup 2% milk 200 g 2% milk
  • 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (not instant) 2 g
  • 1 1/4 Cup bread flour 175 g

For the Dough:

  • 2 tsp. active dry yeast (not instant) 8 g
  • 1 3/4 cups 2% milk 425 g
  • 5 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed 800 g
  • 1⁄3 cup sugar 70 g
  • 1 tbsp. fine sea salt 22 g
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted 12 g

For the Butter Inlay:

  • 5 sticks unsalted butter (look for European-style brands like Plugra, President, or Kerrygold) at room temperature 585 g high-fat

For the egg wash

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp. heavy cream

Instructions

Make the preferment:

  • In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the milk just enough to take the chill off. (The milk should not feel warm or cold to the touch, 80°–90°.)
  • Pour the milk into a large bowl, then sprinkle in the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until a smooth batter forms. Cover the bowl with a clean, dry kitchen towel and let the mixture rise until almost doubled in volume, 21⁄2–3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
  • Make the dough: Transfer the preferment to the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Set the milk, flour, sugar, salt, and melted butter nearby. Add the yeast to the preferment and mix on low speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl and bring together the ingredients as needed, until the yeast is incorporated and the mixture is an even, well-mixed mass, about 2 minutes. Raise the speed to medium, and while mixing, slowly add half of the milk. Continue to mix until fully incorporated. Turn off the mixer, then add the flour, sugar, salt, melted butter, and the remaining half of the milk. Mix on low speed until a loose dough forms, about 2 minutes. Return the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and cohesive, 2 minutes more. Remove the hook and cover the bowl with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Let rise in a cool place until the volume has increased by nearly half, about 11⁄2 hours.
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form it into a rough rectangle about 2 inches thick. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled through, 3–4 hours.

Make the butter inlay:

  • One hour before laminating the dough, make your butter sheet. Place a large sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap on a work surface. Add the butter to the center in a neat pile, then cover with a second sheet. Use a rolling pin to flatten and form the butter into a 12×181⁄2-inch rectangle, peeling back the top sheet to manipulate the butter into shape as needed. Refrigerate to lightly chill but not fully resolidify, 5–10 minutes.

Laminate the dough:

  • Lightly flour a work surface. Retrieve and unwrap the dough, then roll it out to a 28×12-inch rectangle. With a long side facing you, peel the top sheet away from the butter and flip it over to cover the left two-thirds of the rectangle. Peel away the other sheet. Fold the uncovered third of the dough over the butter, then fold the left-hand third over the center, as if folding a business letter. With your fingers, push down along the seams on the top and the bottom to seal in the butter. Give the dough a quarter turn so that the seams are perpendicular to you. Roll out the dough once more into a 28×12-inch rectangle, and fold again in the same manner (no need to pinch the seams again). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to relax the gluten in the dough.
  • Clean the work surface, dust again lightly with flour, and retrieve the dough. Unwrap and again roll out into a rectangle 28×12 inches. Fold into thirds so that the rectangle measures 9×12 inches and 11⁄2–2 inches thick.

Rest the dough:

  • Wrap in plastic and immediately freeze on a flat surface for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. (if frozen for more than an hour, transfer the dough to the refrigerator to thaw overnight before using in the morning.)

Form the croissants:

  • Three hours before you are ready to serve, form and proof the croissants: Remove the thawed dough from the refrigerator. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll into a 12×40-inch rectangle about 1⁄8 inch thick. Use a straight edge and a paring knife or pizza cutter to carefully trim 1 inch from each of the long sides; save for another use.
  • Cut the remaining dough into 14 triangles, 4 inches at the base and 10 inches tall. Working one at a time, stretch the triangles slightly to extend them to 11 inches. Then, starting at the base, roll each tightly all the way to the tip to form an even, straight-armed croissant shape. Press slightly at the tip to adhere and to make a slightly flattened base for the croissant to rest on. Continue rolling the croissants in this manner, then transfer them, spaced evenly apart and flattened side down on the prepared baking sheets (no more than 6 croissants per baking sheet).

Proof the croissants:

  • Set a large, wide baking dish filled with water on the floor of the oven. Place the baking sheets in a warm, preferably humid spot and let rise until the croissants are puffed, very gassy, and about doubled in size (they should slowly spring back when poked with your fingertip and jiggle slightly like gelatin when the tray is shaken), 60– 80 minutes.
  • Make the egg wash: In a small bowl, beat the yolks and heavy cream. Brush the risen croissants evenly with the mixture.

Bake the croissants:

  • Preheat the oven to 400° and set the racks at least 4 inches apart. (If you only have room for 2 racks, the croissants should be baked in 2 rounds.)
  • Bake, without opening the oven, until the croissants begin to color, 18–22 minutes. Rotate the pans and continue cooking until evenly golden, 6–8 minutes more. Let cool slightly before serving.
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Brioche Cinnamon Buns with Peach Compote and Brown Butter Streusel

Laminated Sticky Rolls with Peaches and crunchy streusel. Amazing combination of three different pastry traditions in one delicious bun.
Course Pastries
Cuisine Austrian, French
Keyword Advanced Pastries, Culinary 4, Laminated Dough

Ingredients

Brioche Dough

  • 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
  • 200 g whole milk lukewarm
  • 4 Tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 565 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 115 g unsalted butter at room temperature

Peach Compote Filling

  • 1000 g Frozen peaches thawed and drained
  • 50 g dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½

    t
sp

     salt

Brown Butter Streusel

  • 160 g unsalted butter cubed
  • 200 g Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp

    vanilla extract


  • 230 g all-purpose flour

Cinnamon Filling

  • 100 g unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 180 g dark brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp cinnamon

  • 
pinch of salt

Glaze

  • 150 g powdered sugar sifted
  • 3 Tbsp heavy cream
  • ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions

MAKE BRIOCHE DOUGH

  • In a small bowl, combine the yeast, milk and 2 Tbsp of the sugar. Mix well, and leave to sit for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, and remaining 2 Tbsp sugar. Mix briefly to combine. Add the eggs, vanilla, and foamy yeast mixture to the bowl. Mix on low for 2-3 minutes, until the dough is starting to come together. It may look slightly dry but do not worry – it will mix together nicely in the next steps. Increase the mixer speed to medium, and mix for another 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and smooth.
  • Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add the butter a little at a time, waiting until it is fully incorporated into the dough before adding the next piece. This process should take 3-4 minutes. Once the butter is fully incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium, and mix for a further 5 minutes, until the dough is very soft and smooth.
  • Transfer to an oiled bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot until doubled in size, approximately 1 – 1 ½ hours, or overnight in the fridge.

MAKE PEACH COMPOTE FILLING

  • Place all of the ingredients into a pan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then roughly mash. Continue to cook, stirring frequently until thick, about 15 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and chill completely.

MAKE BROWN BUTTER STREUSEL

  • Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
  • Place the butter in a small pan, and heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter has melted. Continue to cook, until the butter begins to foam, smells nutty, and goes a deep golden brown color. Remove from the heat and strain into a medium heatproof bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, and mix well to combine. Using your hands, break up any large lumps. Spread evenly over the baking sheet, and bake until lightly golden and toasty, 10-15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

MAKE GLAZE

  • Combine all the ingredients into a small bowl. Adjust the amount of cream if needed to make a consistency that will drizzle.

ASSEMBLE

  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a 16”x26”(40cmx66cm). Lightly brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Fold into thirds like a letter, then roll out again into a 16”x26” (40cmx66cm) rectangle. Brush again with butter, and add the remainder of the cinnamon mixture. Spread the dough with a cup of the peach compote, and sprinkle with a cup of the brown butter streusel.
  • Starting on the SHORT side, roll up into a log. Place the log onto a parchment lined baking sheet, lightly cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes. Alternatively you can chill it in the fridge for about an hour. If your dough is still quite cold if you did an overnight rest, you can skip this step if you like, but I find it helps a lot with keeping a nice tidy spiral.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim the ends of the log of dough so that they are tidy. Using a very sharp knife, measure the log of dough, and cut into 12 even pieces. Arrange on the baking sheet.
  • Lightly cover the buns with plastic wrap, and place in a warm spot for 45 minutes to an hour, until they are puffy. While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c.
  • Bake the buns for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  • Drizzle the glaze over the buns. Store leftover buns lightly covered at room temperature. Rewarm in the microwave briefly before eating if desired.