Lemon Puff Pastry Sticks

Great for brunch

These Lemon pastries are the perfect addition to any brunch spread. They’re also a light and airy dessert that’s easy to make and everyone will love them!

Serve them with extra lemon icing for dipping, or even try ‘em with homemade lemon curd.

Enjoy a Lemon pastry for breakfast or dessert. Or even a midday snack with a cup of coffee!

And if you love puff pastry as much as I do, you’ll love these Puff Pastry Hearts, Lemon Curd Cups, and Blueberry Breakfast Pastry.

Puff pastry

Store bought puff pastry is great to always have some on hand. It’s easy to handle and it puffs into gorgeous, flaky layers.

I love having Puff pastry recipes in my back pocket for when I need a tasty treat. In case you’re wondering, here’s what to make with puff pastry:

Need a quick appetizer? Turn puff pastry into all kinds of savory treats like Pizza tarts, Puff Pastry Pinwheels, Fig onion Pinwheels, or Pepper jelly pinwheels.

Use puff pastry to help make dinner special like these Sausage and potato pot pies, tuna mushroom pot pies, or Mom’s vegetarian pot pie.

Breakfast can be fun and appealing too by making blueberry breakfast pastry.

The three main brands I see at the store are all good quality, and I recommend all of them:  Dufour, Pepperidge Farm, and Wewalka.

These three brands do come in different sizes, but for this Lemon Twists recipe you can use any of the three with no problems.

Dufour

Dufour is from France, and is a great quality. It’s a bit more expensive, but it’s super buttery and nice. It comes in a 14-ounce package with one sheet of puff pastry. You’ll find it in the frozen section of the store, typically by the desserts. You’ll need to defrost it before use (more on defrosting later).

Pepperidge Farm

Pepperidge Farm is probably the most common puff pastry, and it’s always a good solid choice. It comes in a 17.3-ounce package with two sheets of puff pastry. Again, you’ll find it in the frozen section of the store, and it needs to be defrosted. Use both sheets of pastry for this recipe.

Wewalka

Wewalka puff pastry is found in the refrigerated section of the store, usually in the dairy aisle. It comes in a 13.2-ounce package, and is rolled up rather than folded like the other brands.

Again, any of these are good quality and will work in this recipe. Use the whole package of puff pastry for this recipe, splitting the filling as necessary.

How to defrost puff pastry

The secret to making puff pastry look and taste as good as it does from a bakery is properly thawing it.

As thawing time may vary, you’ll be able to tell if the puff pastry is completely thawed if it’s easy to unfold, and doesn’t tear. It should still be cold. If the sheets reach room temperature, return them to the fridge to re-chill (but not refreeze).

It’s important to keep the layers of dough and butter separate in puff pastry, that’s what help it to puff of and be so crispy.

It’s best to thaw it slowly in a cool place so the butter doesn’t melt.

The best way is in the fridge

Frozen puff pastry sheets will take about six to eight hours to thaw in the fridge.

You can pop the whole box in the fridge the night before you want to use it.

Or, if you’re in a hurry, take the puff pastry out of the box and any outer wrapping, place it on a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.

Room temperature

For even faster thawing, you can thaw it at room temperature.

To do so, remove the pastry sheets from the box and any outer wrapping. Place the sheets on the counter for about 40 minutes, or until the pastry unfolds easily.

You don’t want the dough to get too soft, just pliable enough that you can unfold it without tearing.

Microwave

If you totally forgot to thaw the puff pastry and need it right away, you can thaw it in the microwave, just be careful with this method, as you don’t want to melt the butter in the pastry. And as a reminder, microwaves vary in power and efficiency.

Remove one pastry sheet from the box and any outer wrapping, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave on high for 15 seconds.

Turn the pastry sheet over, and microwave another 15 seconds.

If pastry doesn’t unfold easily, microwave for another 5 seconds on each side.

How to make

This recipe is so easy to prepare, with just a few simple steps you have some nice puff pastry sticks with lemony flavors and lemony icing.

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions and ingredient amounts.

Once your puff pastry is thawed, work quickly while it’s still cold. You can store in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

In a small bowl, mix the lemon zest and the sugar, and set aside.

Be sure to us fresh lemon juice, as the taste is much better than bottled. Also, you can use Meyer lemons or regular.

Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet(s), and roll them out using a rolling pin, so they’re even and flat.

When rolling out the dough, avoid pressing too hard and pressing the edges together, as that will prevent the pastry from rising.

Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle the lemon sugar over the melted butter.

Cut the dough into strips about 1-inch in width. You can use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the strips. How many strips you get will depend on how many ounces of dough you start with.

Twist the dough two or three times, and place it down on the baking sheet.

Bake the twists 13 to 15 minutes in a 400 °F for a convection oven, and to 425 °F for a regular oven. If you have two pans, rotating the pans halfway through baking. You want the lemon sticks to be golden brown and fragrant.

While the sticks bake, make the icing by mixing the icing ingredients (powdered sugar, butter, and lemon juice). The icing should be pourable consistency but not too thin. If it thickens too much while it sits, pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds and give it a stir.

Allow lemon puff pastry sticks to cool a bit, and drizzle with lemon icing.

Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted?

I prefer to use unsalted butter in my baking. That allows me to control the amount of salt. Brands can vary widely in the amount of salt they contain. And even the same brand can vary from time to time.

So, in general I like unsalted butter.

Now, for this recipe, there’s no salted added, so if you like a little salty flavor (hello salted caramel!), by all means, feel free to use salted butter here.