Homemade Gluten Free Puff Pastry Cheese Burekas

Equipment: No special equipment is needed.

Recipe: Makes 8 Medium sized burekas

Home-made gluten free puff pastry dough:

Flour Mixture (300g):

Note that for the dough you’d need 250g of flour mixture. The remaining amount should be used for dusting your counter.

Rest of the dough ingredients:

Cheese Filling:

Egg Wash:

One beaten egg, with little bit of water and a little bit of salt.

Preparation instructions:

For the dough:

Note: When making puff pastry at home, it is highly recommended to work in a cold environment. It is less of a problem during winter, but on summer days you may want to turn on you’re A/C, otherwise the butter will start melting really quickly, which would require refrigerating the dough between the folding.

1. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the flour blend. Note that the mixture should weight 300g, so ensure to use a digital scale. The dough requires 250g of flour mixture. The rest of it should be reserved for dusting your counter while you work.
2. Add in the salt and mix it well.
3. Add in the butter, and using your fingertips, incorporate it into the flour (see video demonstration). The goal is to flatten the butter between the fingers, and coat it with the flour, until it shrinks to medium sized pieces. You can also use both hands to run the butter in the flour, but watch not to overheat the butter too much due to the heat of the hands, otherwise the butter would melt.
4. Add in the entire amount of water and heavy cream, and mix it in until just roughly combined. The dough will not be smooth and that’s is normal and to be expected.
5. Drop the dough to your counter and lightly combine it with your hands.
6. Highlights for gluten free dough version: Shape the dough into a square. The exact size it not important, as long as the dough’s texture allows it to be lifted to a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it well, and freeze it for 5 minutes.
7. Take the dough out of the freezer, roll it as much as possible, to a rectangle. The size doesn’t matter, and at first it may seem like it’s not gonna get there, but the more folds you do, the smoother the dough becomes.
8. Make the first fold by bringing the lower third of the dough towards the center, and fold the top third of the dough on top of it (see video demonstration).
9. Using a bench scraper, clean your counter from leftover dough and butter that have sticked to it, and dust it with little bit of flour.
10. Rotate the dough 90 degrees clockwise, and roll it again to a rectangle. Note that it’s important to clean your counter to prevent the dough from sticking to it, as the butter melts while you are working.
    It is also important to use as little flour as possible when dusting your counter, dough and rolling pin- especially in the gluten free version of this dough. Too much flour would be absorbed by the dough and dry it further.
11. Repeat steps 7 through 9, one more time (two letter folds in total should be made). After that, wrap the dough in a large piece of plastic wrap, but do it in a way so it leaves some room for the dough to “breath”, by leaving about 2cm of space from each side. Using the rolling pin, roll the “locked” dough inside the plastic wrap, until it extends to all corners in an even thickness. It helps to smooth the surface of the dough. Return the dough to the freezer for 5 more minutes.
12. Take the dough out of the freezer, and over a lightly dusted counter, roll it again to a rectangle, and give it one last letter fold (total of 3 folds for the whole process). Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and roll it as described in step 11, and refrigerate for 25 minutes, to allow the butter to set properly. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Cheese filling:

1. Into a medium sized bowl, add all the ingredients for the filling and thoroughly mix them together.
2. The filling will be more fluid than what you see in the video demonstration, since as I was fine-tuning the recipe, I decided to add an egg which would help to keep the filling inside the pastry. Keep refrigerated until use.

Assembly and baking:

1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, and divide it into two equally sized parts. You could also work with a single, non-divided dough, but I find working on each part separately is more convenient. Keep the other part covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator, while you are working on the first part.
2. Over a lightly floured counter, start rolling the dough. Note that if the dough is too cold, it will not roll easily. It will crack and break. Therefore, it is recommended to wait a few minutes, or hit the dough with a rolling pin to soften it.
3. Roll the dough to a square sized 25cm (l) x 25cm (w). Trim the edges for a perfectly straight square sized 24cm (l) x 24cm (w). In this gluten free version, I recommend simpler designs, because the dough tends to break more easily:

Classic Triangle shape: Divide the dough in the center of each side of the square, to make 4 dough squares, each sized 12cm (l) x 12cm (w).

Using a little dab of water, moist all the edges of each dough square.

At the center of the resulting rectangle, place about 26g of the cheese filling.

Bring one corner towards the opposite corner facing it, and close the dough on the filling.

Bring the two top corners together towards the center, and close the dough on the filling. Note that sealing the pastry edges should be done gently using your finger.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat the same process for the rest of the pastries.

For shaping a half round: Using a size 12cm (d) baking ring, cut 4 dough circles.

Using a little dab of water, moist the perimeter of each circle, so the edges can stick together.

At the center of each circle, place about 26g of the cheese filling.

Close the dough on the filling, and lightly press the edges together with your fingers to seal the pastry.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat the same process for the rest of the pastries.

4. Refrigerate the pastries for 20 minutes.
5. Take the pastries out of the refrigerator, and brush it with the egg wash. You may also add a little design on the top crust, using the back of a sharp knife, or sprinkle them with some sesame seeds.
6. Refrigerate the pastries again while the oven is heating up.
7. Turn on your oven to 200C (fan mode off), with a baking rack placed at the middle shelf inside the oven.
8. Bake for 25 minutes until the pastries have fully browned.
9. Let the pastries cool down over a cooling rack, and wait about 15 minutes before serving.

Store at room temperature, inside an airtight container, 2-3 days. You can reheat these in the oven for about 5 minutes, 180C.