Techniques › Baking and pastry

Laminated dough: croissants and puff pastry

Advanced Baking and pastry

Dough folded around a slab of butter and rolled and folded repeatedly to build hundreds of thin, alternating layers.

By Cory, founder of Pantry to Pan · Published October 20, 2026 · Updated October 22, 2026

Written with AI help from the sources listed, and published by Cory. Spot a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.

How do you do it?

1. Pound cold butter into a flat square about 1/2 inch thick, so it bends without cracking; aim for about 55 to 60°F.
2. Wrap the dough around the butter, roll it into a long rectangle, and fold it in thirds like a letter.
3. Wrap and chill 30 minutes between each fold. Most recipes use 3 to 4 folds.
4. If butter breaks through or gets soft and shiny, stop and chill it before you continue.
5. Bake hot, about 400°F, until deep golden; underbaked layers stay doughy.

Why does it work?

Each fold multiplies the layers, so a few folds give hundreds of sheets of dough separated by butter. In the hot oven, the water in the butter and dough turns to steam and pushes the layers apart, while the melting fat keeps them from fusing back together. Croissant dough also has yeast for extra lift. Chilling keeps the butter solid and relaxes the gluten.

What are the common mistakes?

• Butter too cold and hard — it shatters into chunks instead of an even layer.
• Butter too warm — it smears into the dough and the layers vanish.
• Rushing the rest between folds — the dough springs back and tears.

Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.

More baking and pastry

• FoldingMixing something light (whipped cream, beaten egg whites) into something heavier without knocking the air out.Intermediate
• Creaming butter and sugarBeating soft butter with sugar until pale and fluffy — the start of most cakes and cookies.Beginner
• KneadingWorking dough by hand or machine until smooth and stretchy.Beginner
• Proofing (letting dough rise)Letting yeast dough rest and rise before baking.Beginner
• Cutting in butterWorking cold butter into flour until it's in small lumps — pie crust, biscuits, scones.Intermediate
• Blind bakingBaking a pie crust before it's filled.Intermediate