A pizza with a shatteringly flaky, buttery crust — somewhere between a classic pizza and puff pastry. We laminate cold butter into a yeasted dough, croissant-style, so it bakes up in crisp golden layers instead of a chewy base. The trick is keeping everything cold and the toppings light, so the crust can shine.
Ingredients
Dough
- 300g strong white bread flour (we love Shipton Mill No. 4)
- 6g fine salt
- 5g instant yeast
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 175g cold water
- 15g olive oil
For laminating
- 120g cold unsalted butter (one block)
Topping (per pizza — keep it light)
- 4–5 tbsp passata or crushed tomatoes, well seasoned
- 80g low-moisture mozzarella, grated
- A little grated parmesan, dried oregano, olive oil and fresh basil
Method
- Make the dough: Mix the flour, salt, yeast and sugar. Add the cold water and oil and mix to a shaggy dough, then knead just 2–3 minutes until it comes together — it doesn't need to be smooth. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Prep the butter: Place the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper and bash, then roll, into a neat square about 12 × 12 cm. Keep it cold.
- Lock it in: Roll the dough into a roughly 20 × 20 cm square. Sit the butter square in the centre at 45° (like a diamond) and fold the four dough corners over to enclose it completely. Pinch the seams shut.
- First fold: Roll into a long rectangle, about 20 × 45 cm. Fold it into thirds like a letter. Wrap and chill 20 minutes.
- Two more folds: Repeat the roll-and-letter-fold twice more (three folds in total), chilling 20 minutes between each. If the butter ever softens or breaks through, stop and chill longer.
- Final chill: Wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Shape: Cut the dough in two. Roll each piece to a 25–28 cm round or oval, about 4–5 mm thick. Prick the centre all over with a fork (dock it), leaving a 2 cm border undocked for the rim. Lift onto a lined tray.
- Top lightly: Spread a thin layer of seasoned passata inside the border, then mozzarella, a little parmesan, oregano and a drizzle of oil. Resist piling it on — too much topping steams the layers and you lose the flake.
- Bake hot: Bake on a preheated tray or stone at 230–240°C (fan 210–220°C) for 14–18 minutes, until the crust is deep golden, puffed and crisp underneath.
- Finish: Scatter with fresh basil and a final drizzle of oil. Eat hot, while it still shatters.
Notes
- Make ahead: the laminated dough keeps wrapped in the fridge for 2 days, or freezes well — defrost in the fridge before shaping.
- Keep it dry: pat wet toppings (fresh tomato, mozzarella balls) dry first; excess moisture is the enemy of a crisp, flaky base.
- Flour: a strong white gives the structure to hold the layers — see our Flour Guide for more.
Bake this with our shelf-stable live San Francisco sourdough starter — activates in 2 hours, so you can bake your first loaf the same day.
Shop the Starter →Step-by-step
What makes a flaky puff crust pizza different?
A flaky puff crust pizza has a laminated dough — thin layers of butter or oil folded between the sourdough, similar to a croissant technique. When baked at high heat, the moisture inside each layer flashes to steam and pushes them apart, creating the airy, crackly, layered edge that separates a puff crust from a standard pizza base.
Two things make it possible: a well-hydrated sourdough (75–80% hydration) that holds fold structure, and a strong active starter that gives the dough enough gas to lift the layers as it bakes.
Flaky pizza crust recipe — the quick version
For the full recipe scroll up. If you already know the sourdough basics, the short version is:
- Mix a 75% hydration sourdough (400g strong bread flour + 300g water + 80g starter + 8g salt)
- Bulk ferment 6–8 hours with three sets of stretch-and-folds in the first two hours
- Divide into 250g balls, cold retard overnight in oiled containers
- Next day, hand-stretch and fold each ball in thirds like a letter (this is the lamination step)
- Rest 30 minutes, top, bake at 250°C / 480°F on a preheated stone or steel for 8–10 minutes
Getting the flake in your pizza dough
The layered flake comes from three technique choices:
- Cold dough at shaping — a chilled dough holds its folds; a warm dough spreads and merges the layers back together
- A light brush of olive oil between folds — this creates the fat barrier that gives the layers separation as they bake
- High heat, short bake — 250°C for 8 minutes generates the steam burst that pushes the layers open. A cooler oven bakes them together into a normal crust
If you're baking on a home oven that maxes at 220°C, use a preheated baking steel and give it 15 minutes on max heat before the pizza goes in. The stored heat compensates for the lower ambient temperature.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a pizza crust "flaky puff"?
A flaky puff-crust pizza uses a layered dough technique where cold butter is folded into a sourdough base like a rough puff pastry. The butter creates hundreds of paper-thin layers that puff up in the oven, giving a crust that's crisp on the outside, buttery and airy inside — closer to a croissant than a traditional pizza base.
Do I need a pizza stone for flaky puff pizza?
Yes, ideally. The intense direct heat of a pizza stone (preheated at 260°C for 45 minutes) is what makes the bottom crust crisp before the butter layers collapse. A heavy cast iron pan works as a substitute but a thin baking tray will produce a soggy bottom.
Can I use commercial yeast instead of sourdough for this?
Yes but the flavour will be milder. Sourdough gives the crust a subtle tang that balances the richness of the butter beautifully. If using commercial yeast, add 1 tablespoon of sourdough starter (fed or discard) for the flavour without the fermentation time.
