At its best, puff pastry is renowned for so many delicious qualities. At once airy and crisp, flaky and tender, it's no wonder there are few applications that aren't improved by this stuff, whether you're using it to create sweet almond glazed blueberry peach hand pies or to elevate savory pigs in a blanket . That said, making puff pastry from scratch is a bit of an undertaking and for many home cooks, a store-bought package that's ready to go in minutes is a lifesaver.
But not all of these easy options are created alike. Some brands, like the Pepperidge Farm version offered at Walmart and the Pillsbury Crescent Dough, which you can find at Target, don't even have a hint of butter in the ingredient list. Instead, they rely on shortening and hydrogenated oils to provide moisture.
On the other hand, Trader Joe's Frozen Puff Pastry is made with all butter. Along with the rest of its strikingly simple ingredient label (composed of only five elements in total, by contrast to the laundry lists of other brands), that crucial element — which is essential for both function and flavor in puff pastry — makes this package easily distinctive from the rest. What makes butter better in this Trader Joe's product? There are a number of differences between shortening and butter when it comes to baking.
While you technically can use shortening to create an effective, well-risen puff pastry — and some recipes for homemade puff pastry even combine the two fats — it won't bring much to the.
