10tablespoonbutter, chilledsalted or unsalted (add ¼ teaspoon salt if unsalted)
⅓cupice-cold water
Instructions
Place water and ice in a small bowl or cup to get the water nice and chilled before using. Place the flour in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Use your cheese grater and grate your chilled butter into the bowl with the flour. Use a pastry cutter to combine flour and butter into a crumble.
Measure the chilled water and add it to the flour mixture. Stir to combine as best as possible. Use your hands to form a dough ball. You should see bits of butter, which is what you want.
Place the dough ball onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a rectangle shape using your hands. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat rectangle.
Fold the dough into thirds, rotate sideways, roll it out into a rectangle again and repeat 5 or 6 more times.
Place the dough in a ziplock bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. Once chilled, use your dough for whatever recipe you are making.
Notes
The pastry has to chill for an hour before you use it so plan ahead.
Puff pastry dough freezes really well. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before using it.
If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can also use a fork.
If you use your hands, run them under cold water first so the butter doesn't melt.
Grating butter is a neat trick to help with cutting in the butter quickly and easily.