Extra Flaky Pastry Dough

1. Whisk sugar, salt, and flour in a medium bowl.  

2. Cut butter into 6 rectangular pieces. Toss butter in dry ingredients to coat, then dump the mixture out onto a work surface.  

3. Use a rolling pin to flatten flour-coated butter into sheets that will puff into layers when baked. Roll butter into the flour until it is in long flexible strips, using a bench scraper to scrape butter off rolling pin or surface as needed. 

4. Use a bench scraper to gather the mixture into a loose pile, then drizzle ice water over. 

5. Using your hands and the bench scraper, toss mixture until the water is distributed, then gather into a rectangular pile. 

6. Roll out dough to a long rectangle with short ends about 20 cm wide, then use a bench scraper to fold the dough into thirds, like folding a letter. It will be very crumbly and loose; don’t panic. This turns the floury mass into a cohesive unit while creating flaky-making stacks of fat and flour. 

7. Using bench scraper to help, turn rectangle 90° and repeat rolling and folding, gathering loose bits of dough from outer edges into the center and flouring surface as needed. Repeat rolling and folding a third time. The dough should be somewhat homogenous and creamy-looking with some dry bits around edges. Squeeze a bit in your palm; it should loosely hold together. If not, repeat rolling and folding.  

8. When the dough is ready, wrap the folded dough in plastic, then press it into a compact disk about 2.5 cm thick.

9. To freeze the pastry dough for future use: Transfer to a resealable plastic bag and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling out. 

Image and recipe (adapted) by Carla Lalli Music.