Healthy Whole Wheat Vegan Puff Pastry (1/2 the fat)

This vegan puff pastry is flaky, golden, delicious -- and it's all whole wheat. It also uses only half the butter -- vegan butter -- than your average puff pastry recipe. One recipe makes two sheets that you can use to make pot pies, pies, croissants, pastry crusts and so much more. The holiday season may be full of excesses, but with this puff pastry recipe under your belt you'll be able to bake up tasty desserts and main dishes without throwing your health to the winds.

I use puff pastry in many dessert and entree recipes and one of the questions I am often asked is how to make it. I already have a recipe for a delicious vegan puff pastry that I had included with my vegetable puffs recipe, but for the holidays this time I wanted to share with you a healthier, lower fat version that gives you all the satisfaction without the guilt: my healthy vegan puff pastry made with all whole wheat flour and with half the fat.

This whole wheat puff pastry is perfect for a vegan pot pie, a vegan wellington or a sweet fruit pie. It is also great to wrap around sneakily healthy treats for kids, like these chickpea mushroom turnovers or these puff pastry samosas.

Table of Contents

• Why you'll love this whole wheat vegan puff pastry
• Ingredients
• How to make whole wheat vegan puff pastry
• Tips for success and troubleshooting
• How to store the puff pastry
• More recipes to make with vegan whole wheat puff pastry
• Healthy Whole Wheat Vegan Puff Pastry
• Reviews

Why you'll love this whole wheat vegan puff pastry

• It's all whole wheat. Vegan puff pastry is easy enough to find at the store but it's usually packed with unsavory stuff like corn syrup and preservatives. And it's made with white flour. For those of us who like to watch what we eat, this all whole wheat puff pastry is a great option. It tastes great, I prefer the wholesome flavor to that of puff pastry made with refined flour, and it bakes up flaky and delicious. It also has fewer calories than the average storebought puff pastry sheet and more protein and fiber.
• It's got half the fat of homemade or storebought puff pastry. Were you making puff pastry at home, you'd use twice the amount of vegan butter than what I used in this recipe. It is true that the puff pastry with more butter will rise higher than this one does and if that's important to you just use twice the butter-- two sticks instead of one. But I wanted to push the limits and see how healthy I could make this with satisfying results, and I believe this works beautifully.
• It's easy to make. Making puff pastry might sound like a difficult thing to do but it really isn't. All you need to do is knead dough and beat the heck out of a stick of butter. Literally. The rest is just all about rolling and folding and that's simple enough, I'll show you how. I made this puff pastry the classic way--no shortcuts here because I wanted the result to be as good as it could get. That means you will need to refrigerate the dough, roll it out, then refrigerate again, for a total of six times.
• It's delicious. With this whole wheat vegan puff pastry you get all the satisfaction of eating puff pastry. It's crispy, crackly, flaky and golden and it will work well for nearly any recipe, including pies.

Ingredients

• Whole wheat flour. Use white whole wheat flour or durum whole wheat flour if possible. If you don't have one of those, regular whole wheat flour is fine too.
• Vegan butter. You can use any buttery vegan stick of choice, homemade or store bought.
• Salt. Just a little.
• Water. For kneading the dough.

How to make whole wheat vegan puff pastry

• Split the cold butter stick down the middle. Make sure you get it out of the refrigerator just before you do this--it should be very cold.
• Sprinkle on a couple of tablespoons of flour and, using a rolling pin, beat the butter until it flattens out to a thickness of about ¼th of an inch. Push the two pieces together to form a square and place in the refrigerator to cool down and resolidify.

• Place 2 cups of whole wheat flour and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl and mix. Knead the flour, slowly trickling in water, until a smooth and supple dough forms. Make sure it's not too soft or too stiff. It should be pliable enough so you can wrap the butter in it without the dough cracking, but not so soft that the butter oozes through. I needed about 1 ¼ cups water, but you might need more or less depending on the weather in your area. Let the dough rest 30 minutes.

• Roll out the dough into a rectangle large enough to completely wrap the butter sticks, around 12 inches by 8 inches.
• Place the refrigerated butter sticks in the center and fold the long sides over as shown in the picture below. Then fold the two remaining sides to form a compact rectangle. Do this on a metal baking sheet, if possible, to help the butter stay cold. Cover or wrap the dough in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

• Roll out the dough carefully into a rectangle about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. Lightly flour the baking sheet if necessary and if the dough feels sticky or a bit of butter oozes through, sprinkle on some flour. Fold over once and then once again to form a rectangle. Refrigerate again for at least 15 minutes. Repeat this process five more times.
• Cut the puff pastry in half, wrap each in cling wrap, and freeze until ready to use. Before using the puff pastry thaw in refrigerator or at room temperature.

Tips for success and troubleshooting

• Make sure you keep your ingredients cold at all times. Working next to a hot stove is a no-no, for instance. Using a metal baking sheet to roll out the dough can help keep everything cold.
• Give enough time for the butter to solidify in the refrigerator between each rolling and folding of the dough. I suggest 15 minutes but longer--around 30 minutes--is even better.
• For a flakier pastry that rises higher, use 16 tablespoons or two sticks of butter instead of one. This will help create larger air pockets as the butter melts in the oven. You can also make this puff pastry with all purpose flour, or a mix of half and half all purpose and whole wheat.
• If some butter peeks through while you are rolling out the dough, don't panic. Sprinkle on some flour and continue rolling. Making sure the dough, when you knead it, is supple and elastic, and giving the dough enough time in the refrigerator after each rolling and folding will also help avoid this.
• One thing to keep in mind with whole wheat puff pastry is that it will take longer to bake than puff pastry made with white flour. I needed nearly half an hour more when making a pot pie. To allow for this, I'd recommend adding a bit more moisture to recipes where you want a slightly runny filling, like pot pies--no more than ½ cup extra. To get that golden-brown color when you bake, brush on a mix of half a teaspoon oil, half a teaspoon maple syrup and half a teaspoon nondairy milk.

How to store the puff pastry

Always keep your puff pastry in the freezer. Wrap it tightly in cling wrap and then place in a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw it before using but don't wait too long as you don't want the butter to start melting--I use it when it's thawed nearly but not all the way.

More recipes to make with vegan whole wheat puff pastry

• Vegan Mushroom Pot Pie
• Vegan French Apple Tart
• Vegan Cabbage, Leek and Potato Tart
• Easy Vegan Leek and Scallion Pizza