Baking

How to fold dough for flaky layers

Fold dough over itself in thirds, like a letter, to stack layers of butter and dough for flaky biscuits and pastry.

Step by step

  1. Pat or roll the dough into a rectangle.
  2. Fold one third over the middle, then the other third over that, like a business letter.
  3. Turn the dough a quarter turn and pat or roll it out again.
  4. Repeat the fold as many times as the recipe says, chilling if the butter softens.

How you know it's done

You can see streaks of butter and the dough is smooth and even; after baking it pulls apart in layers.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the butter melt, which blends the layers away.
  • Pressing too hard and squashing the layers.

Simmerbee recipes that use it (1)

In those recipes the word is underlined in the steps; tap it for the short version. In hands-free cook mode, ask “How do I letter fold?”

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