Cottage Cheese Puff Pastry

This is an easy cheater puff pastry recipe from my mother-in-law. She would always make lemon crescents with these, but you can use it for sweet or savory appetizers, turnovers, strudel, or any recipe requiring puff pastry. This comes together for me very quickly and easily, perfect for someone intimidated by pastry recipes!

Step: 1

Beat cottage cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined with most cottage cheese curds intact, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Step: 2

Stir flour into butter mixture gradually with a wooden spoon just until a soft dough forms that is no longer sticky; turn dough out onto a floured surface. Bring dough together with floured hands; knead 3 to 4 turns.

Step: 3

Roll dough gently into a fairly thick square, fold in half, and pat to flatten again; fold dough in half again in the opposite direction. Repeat rolling and folding process 2 more times. Roll dough into an 8-inch square; divide into 4 equal portions. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Step: 4

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step: 5

Roll one portion of dough out on a lightly floured surface 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into 4-inch squares with a sharp knife; cut each square diagonally to make 2 triangles.

Step: 6

Roll each dough triangle from the long edge toward the triangle point to form crescent shapes; place on prepared baking sheet.

Step: 7

Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove to cool on a wire rack.

Step: 8

Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a bowl until smooth; brush or drizzle lemon glaze over tops of cooled crescents.

Per Serving: 151 calories; protein 3.9g; carbohydrates 14.3g; fat 8.7g; cholesterol 23.3mg; sodium 135.5mg.

The best flavour of the flour could make a real difference to your bread. Different makers do vary. Extra-strong or Canadian flours, which are bet higher in gluten, may give you a better rise than standard dough flours – especially if you’re make wholemeal dough , which not always getting bigger as well as clear bread.

To made this in a dough , add all the ingredients to your breadmaker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

A bread first rising can be done in the fridge 24 hours . This slows down the time it takes to rise to double its size, giving it a deeper flavour. It’s also a great timesaver , as you can start it yesterday , then finish it off the next day.