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What is laminated dough?

Croissants are made with laminated dough

Laminated dough is a baking term that can show up from time to time that is often not fully described. Lamination is term for the process of alternating layers of dough and butter when making pastry. The dough is wrapped around butter (so that the butter is completely enclosed in dough and cannot slip out), the “package” is rolled out, folded over to double the number of layers, and then the whole thing is repeated. Each time the dough is folded, it is called a “turn.” The more turns your laminated dough has, the more flaky your finished pastry will be. Laminated doughs include puff pastry, croissant dough and danish dough.

Technically the fat used to make a laminated dough could be something other than butter and the name would be the same, but the best tasting and best looking laminated doughs use butter. Butter is essentially made of milk fat/solids and water. When heated, the water in butter turns to steam. The thin layers of butter in laminated dough cause the dough to puff up and rise during baking, giving croissants and puff pastry their layered and crispy look, and the milk solids in the butter cause the pastry to brown – and, of course, taste delicious.

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15 Comments
  • sugar plum fairy
    January 28, 2010

    Woa…thats coolll….

    LOVE IS IN THE AIR AND I WISH U LOADS OF IT….

  • Chase
    January 28, 2010

    That the way I make the dough for the strudel I make.

  • Sally
    January 29, 2010

    I had not heard of that term before. Thank you for explaining!

  • jim
    August 24, 2010

    i like your explaination of laminated dough….thank you

  • Dean Nasser
    February 15, 2014

    Please tell me where I buy laminated dough online?

  • […] What is laminated dough? | Baking Bites bakingbites.com/2010/01/what-is-laminated-dough – view page – cached Laminated dough is a baking term that can show up from time to time that is often not fully described. Lamination is term for the process of alternating layers of dough and butter when making pastry. The dough is wrapped around butter (so that the butter is completely enclosed in dough and cannot slip out), the “package” is rolled out, folded over to double the number of layers, and then the… Read moreLaminated dough is a baking term that can show up from time to time that is often not fully described. Lamination is term for the process of alternating layers of dough and butter when making pastry. The dough is wrapped around butter (so that the butter is completely enclosed in dough and cannot slip out), the “package” is rolled out, folded over to double the number of layers, and then the whole thing is repeated. Each time the dough is folded, it is called a “turn.” The more turns your laminated dough has, the more flaky your finished pastry will be. Laminated doughs include puff pastry, croissant dough and danish dough. View page […]

  • […] Laminating doughs with butter is one of the key skills of Viennoiserie, and it can be pretty tricky. Get it right and you end up with beautiful, flaky, buttery pastry. Win. Get it wrong and you can end up with greasy products or a clogged up sheeter. Lose. […]

  • […] another dense interior, I was a little overzealous in laminating the dough for this batch and completed six turns (folds) instead of the usual four, resulting in […]

  • […] to “French bread rolls” in English, the Franzbrötchen consists primarily of laminated dough and cinnamon sugar–mmm, excellent. Another distinct feature associated with the […]

  • […] start by looking at what a “laminated dough” is.  I’ll let the folks over at bakingbites.com field this one. “Laminated dough is a baking term that can show up from time to time that is […]

  • […] start by looking at what a “laminated dough” is.  I’ll let the folks over at bakingbites.com field this one. “Laminated dough is a baking term that can show up from time to time that is […]

  • […] croissants, you already know about the long procedure for making them. Well Danishes are made with laminated dough too, but the process is much simpler and they are just as delicious as croissants. I made eight and […]

  • […] the recipes are cheffy but others are casual weeknight dishes. For example, it takes three days to laminate the dough for Fig Strudel, but you can turn out Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta and Tuna on a […]

  • […] I just let it be! — Lots of projects on the way, including my first experiments with laminated dough, and also the beginnings of a family friend’s wedding cake! Sorry for the long gap between […]

  • […] the scenes by staying cold longer than American butter. When you make croissants, you need to laminate the dough (see video nearer the end of the NomNom about lamination’s effect on how dough rises) . […]

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