Phyllo Dough vs. Puff Pastry Dough: How to Use Pastry Doughs

Phyllo dough, also known as filo dough, is a paper-thin pastry dough made by rolling together layers of dough. It bakes to produce a flaky, shatteringly crisp texture. Although the dough likely originated in Turkey, where it’s known as yuf ka, the Greek name filo (“leaf”) caught on internationally. Bakers traditionally made the pastry dough by hand with a long rolling pin called an oklava, but most of today’s phyllo dough manufacturers prepare the dough by machine and sell it frozen.

Puff pastry, also called “pâte feuilletée” in French, is a laminated dough, famous for its paper-thin sheets of puffy, somewhat crunchy, soft-yet-crackly pastry. Bakers will make puff pastry through the repeated layering and folding of dough and cold butter, punctuated by trips to the refrigerator to chill. Gluten builds during the rest periods, and when baked, the water contained in the butter turns to steam, levering apart the stretchy layers from within and burnishing the top with a glossy, golden-brown sheen.

Rough puff pastry, also called “flaky pastry,” is an alternative method to baking puff pastry that is often easier and less time-consuming. Home cooks can incorporate pieces of room-temperature, unsalted butter (instead of a rolled-out block) into the dough in a method just like making pie crust. Then they fold the dough on a work surface and roll it out to create thin layers. The less evenly distributed butter (or shortening) results in pockets throughout the flaky layers that are less consistent than if you were to use a block of butter in the traditional way.

The main differences between puff pastry and phyllo dough are their fat content and preparation. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat.

Phyllo dough includes only flour, water, vinegar, and a little oil. The fine sheets of pastry dough result in a crispy, crackly effect when layered and baked. When you brush phyllo dough with butter and stack it, the layers form a flaky crust essential for Middle Eastern desserts like baklava and Greek dishes like spanakopita.

Thin sheets of phyllo dough are essential to all kinds of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean appetizers and desserts. Since you can find frozen phyllo sheets at the grocery store, you can also use them to make various dishes that don’t traditionally include phyllo dough. Use homemade phyllo dough to make savory pies and other tasty phyllo dough recipes.

• Phyllo dough apple strudel: This apple strudel made from phyllo dough is an Austrian rolled apple pie.
• Baklava: Baklava is a Turkish dessert that includes layers of phyllo pastry, melted butter, and chopped nuts like pistachios.
• Spanakopita: Spanakopita is a traditional Greek spinach pie.
• Samosas: Samosas are pyramid-shaped savory pastries from South Asia and Africa.
• Cheese pies: Cheese pies like baked brie and baked feta cheese can include crispy phyllo dough.
• Kserotigana: Kserotigana are Cretan phyllo dough swirls fried in olive oil.

Many puff pastry recipes will help you use your homemade puff pastry dough (or frozen puff pastry sheets from a grocery store) to create delicious baked goods.

• Croissants: While traditional croissants use levain, you can also make them using puff pastry. They won’t be as bready, but they will have layers of buttery and flaky pastry dough.
• Vol-au-vent: A vol-au-vent is essentially two rings of puff pastry stacked on top of one another to create a kind of case for a savory filling, like meat and gravy.
• Kouign-amann: True kouign-amann features a kind of sweetened, laminated bread dough, but you make a solid homage with puff pastry, folding squares in on fillings like chocolate or fruit in a muffin tin.
• Beef Wellington: Featuring steak coated in duxelles, then wrapped in ham and puff pastry, bake this beef Wellington until golden brown and crisp on the outside, moist and juicy on the inside.
• Tarte tatin: Puff pastry makes a fantastically airy crust for this upside-down apple tart. Simply arrange fruit over a layer of brown sugar in the bottom of a tart pan, then fit with a circle of puff pastry with a few slits for ventilation. Carefully flip with an inverted plate after baking.
• Apple turnovers: Place a little apple filling in the center of a round of puff pastry, fold it over, and crimp it shut before baking.
• Danish: You can make this open-faced pastry by folding puff pastry up and over a small mound of fruit or sweetened cheese filling.
• Chicken pot pie: Think of this as an inverted vol-au-vent or a savory tarte tatin. To make chicken pot pie, top chicken and vegetables in a thick gravy with a small sheet of puff pastry.
• Sausage rolls: Use puff pastry for a dish that resembles pigs in a blanket. Simply swap out triangles of puff pastry for the dough and roll up the cocktail or breakfast sausages before baking.
• Cheese straws: Brush a sheet of puff pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with grated cheese of choice—parmesan is a great place to start—then cut into strips and twist before baking.

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