Gluten free pastries. You read that right! If you love flaky pastry, you will want to dive right into this gluten free pastry recipe. You can fill the gluten free pastries with jam, pastry cream, Nutella, or any filling you like.
Learning how to eat gluten free has never been so delicious!
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Those three words just don't seem to go together at all.
Flaky. Pastries. Gluten free.
I don't even know what initially inspired me to attempt to convert one of Martha Stewart's pastry recipes to a gluten free pastry recipe. Scanning though her baking handbook and I just saw this flaky Danish dough recipe.
Totally silly of me, but I stared....drooled...and grew more and more determined to make this pastry recipe work with gluten free flour. Making gluten free pastries is easy and the results are mouth-watering. These pastries are great for dessert, or any time of day!
(* It is obvious I drool a lot. Here are two more delicious gluten free recipes to make your mouth water: Fool Proof Gluten Free Apple Cake and Gluten Free French Apple Cakes.)
It is a lot easier to make gluten free pastries than I thought.
(Couldn't resist taking a big bite :-). These delicious pastries will not last long. My gluten free flaky pastry recipe is totally worth trying!
Tips:
This is not a recipe for those in a hurry. Making this pastry dough has a lot of steps to get the flakiness into the dough.
There are a lot of photographs of each step so you can see in detail how to make this recipe. I hope you can give this a try in your own kitchen.
***Trust me it is worth it...and if you LOVE this gluten free pastry recipe, just wait until you try my Gluten Free Cheese Danish recipe!!***
What is the best gluten free flour to make pastries?
For this recipe, I used a light gluten free flour blend by Authentic Foods called Bette's Gourmet Rice Featherlite flour. I have also made this recipe with Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend.
If you decide to use a different gluten free flour blend, make sure it has NO bean flours. Bean flour will negatively impact the taste and consistency of this gluten free pastry dough."
You will also want to make sure your gluten free flour blend contains Xanthan Gum. If yours doesn't have Xanthan Gum, please add 1 teaspoon to your mix.
Can you make this recipe dairy-free?
Unfortunately, the secret to the flaky pastry is butter so I do not know a way to make this recipe dairy free.
Instructions:
Are you ready to see how to make this gluten free flaky pastry dough step by step?
First, you will want to proof your yeast in warm (NOT HOT) water.
Add the frothy yeast mixture to the other wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until your mixture forms a dough. Set aside to rise.
Gluten free dough rising tips:
It is really hard to get gluten free dough to rise. I am not sure why but it can be hit or miss. Here are a few tips to help make the process a little easier:
- Allow the dough to rise overnight in a cool spot. Slower rising in cool temperatures can make your dough stronger and rise better.
- For this recipe, I have the yeast ferment in warm milk instead of water. The sugars in the milk feed the yeast as they start to grow and ferment. Make sure the temperature is no higher than 110F degrees.
Reasons why your gluten free dough didn't rise:
- Was your liquid too hot?
- Did you include a sugar (milk or sugar) to feed the yeast as they fermented?
- Did you let the dough rise long enough?
- Did you roll in a lot of butter layers?
- Did you use a light flour blend with Xanthan gum? (Some gluten free flour blends have almond flour and bean flours in them and this could affect the lightness of the dough...and flavor!)
Is this gluten free pastry dough the same as puff pastry?
Unfortunately, this is not the same as puff pastry. There is a brand of gluten free puff pastry I have seen by Schar, but I haven't tried it yet. If you have tried it, please comment below so we know if it is worth trying!
How to get those flaky layers of pastry!
After lots of rising, place the dough on wax paper or a mat. Roll the dough flat to about 1/4 inch thickness.
Add butter chunks to half the dough. You don't want your butter chunks too big. Mine are about 1-inch and thinly cut.
Fold the dough up over the butter. They key is to cover the butter up and nestle the dough all around it.
Roll it to 1/4 inch thickness again. (If you look closely, you can see the butter inside.) We are going to repeat this process a lot. Each layer breaks up the butter into thin bits mixed into the dough. Think of the thin areas of butter creating those flaky layers.
Add more butter. You will then fold the dough over the butter again. Repeat this process of rolling, adding butter, and folding, for a total of 3-4 more times. This process is lengthy and takes time but it is what gives the pastry its flaky layers. I promise it is worth it!
Then it goes back into the refrigerator to rise again.
Cut the dough into the shape you want and add filling. This one has cream cheese and apricot preserves.
Pastry fillings:
- Jams (I like jam better than jelly because jam has fruit pieces in it.)
- Nutella
- Chocolate chunks
- Cream cheese
Roll or fold and then brush egg wash over the dough.
Allow cooling after baking.
Optional....dust the gluten free pastries with powdered sugar.
(*This post was updated from the 2/23/15 post date.)
More Delicious Gluten Free Dessert Recipes To Try:
- These Gluten Free Cream Puffs are an incredible dessert!
- If you love peanut butter, these Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls with a Peanut Butter Glaze are amazing!
- Melt in your mouth Gluten Free Vanilla Kipferl Cookies are very popular!
Tools:
- Cookie sheet. This will help you because you can lay the pastries out on this easily to bake.
- Rolling pin. You want the dough to be consistently flat and this rolling pin is really easy to control when rolling. Even better it is dishwasher safe.
- Authentic Foods Bette's Featherlite Flour Blend. This is super light and is helpful so you get those flaky layers.
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave me a rating and a comment. I LOVE hearing from you!! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest to see even more delicious recipes!
📋 Recipe
Flaky Gluten Free Pastries
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup gluten free flour blend I used Bette's Gourmet Rice Featherlight Blend.
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 stick butter cold
- Filling (chocolate, jam, fruit, etc are all fun options.)
- 2 eggs plus one egg for wash
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add yeast and the 1/2 cup warm milk. Make sure your milk isn't too hot or it can kill the yeast.
- Allow yeast to get foamy. I would say about 3-5 minutes.
- In a large bowl add dry ingredients.
- Add melted butter, eggs, and frothy yeast mixture to dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender to blend dough. (Add a little milk if dough looks dry.)
- Cover bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Remove dough and put onto a floured work surface.
- Roll dough into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick.
- Put small chunks of cold butter over half of the dough.
- Fold the dough over the butter.
- Roll again to 1/4 inch thickness and add butter.
- Repeat this process so you add butter and roll three times. This is how you get the flaky layers!
- After the last turn, wrap dough in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove dough and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut dough into shape you want your pastries to be.
- Add filling like jam, Nutella, chocolate chips, etc.
- Brush beaten egg mixture over the top of the pastry.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Nutrition
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Priya
I am going to try thIs recipe today. I made pineapple jam to put in the pastry. Is it ok to put the cold jam in the dough or should I have at room temperature?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Priya, I never thought about the jam temperature. I am sure mine was cold too. Good luck!
M LaChance
How long do you leave it in the fridge for the second rise?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi, about 30 minutes should be enough.
Kathy B
I have Authentic Foods Multi Blend flour on hand, think it will work the same? It's known as Wendy Wark's blend.
Sandi Gaertner
Their flours are all milled superfine. I haven't used this flour in this recipe, but I am inclined to think it should be fine.
Ann
Hi,
Excited to try this recipe!
You mention in your "Gluten free dough rising tips" to, "Allow the dough to rise overnight in a cool spot. Slower rising in cool temperatures can make your dough stronger and rise better". Is this for the first or the second rising?
Thank you!
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Ann, This is for the first rising. Thank you so much for your note.