Unleavened Puff Pastry

Puff pastry has no yeast in it, and that's the whole point. Butter, layered again and again between thin sheets of dough, does the work. Bake it in a hot oven and it rises on its own, no waiting, no rising time beforehand. Pull it apart and you can see it — dozens of thin, dry layers, papery and flaking, nothing soft or bready between them.

Choose it by feel, not by the package. Good puff pastry feels cold and firm, almost like a stack of cards. Press it gently: it shouldn't be greasy or sticky. The sheet should look smooth and even, with no dry, cracked edges and no oily patches showing through.

Some people say puff pastry needs yeast to rise properly. No — it doesn't rise the way bread does, and it was never meant to. Believing this leads cooks to add yeast anyway, then let the dough sit out and warm up while they wait for it to prove, like bread dough would. But puff pastry doesn't want time — it wants cold and speed. Warm it up and the butter softens into the dough instead of staying in sheets, and you lose the layers. Keep it cold, handle it quickly, and bake it hot — that's what gives you the crisp, buttery pastry you're after.