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Pastry is a type of dough that is made from flour, fat, water, and sugar. It can be used for an amazing variety of savory and sweet dishes. There is an endless variety of pastry, all of which have their own unique properties and flavors.
Making pastry can be a daunting task, especially if it’s your first rodeo. There are so many different types of pastry, and it can be hard to know which attachments you should use to make it. With your trusty KitchenAid attachment, however, you can do it all! while it’s not exactly clear-cut which KitchenAid attachment to use for pastry, here, I will explain which attachment you should be using for each type of pastry.
KitchenAid Attachment for Pastry
There are 3 types of attachments that can be used for making pastry: the flat beater, the dough hook, and the pastry beater.
Pastry Beater
- Fits all 4.5 and 5 Quart KitchenAid Tilt Head Stand Mixers, sold separately
- The beater design works seamlessly with the bowl to break cold butter into small pieces, creating a consistent texture and even distribution, minimizing the risk of overmixing
- Easily cut butter into flour to make pastry dough for a variety of flaky dishes, such as biscuits, scones, tarts, empanadas, with less effort.
- Quickly and easily remove dough from the beater with the included scraper. Dishwasher-safe as well.
If you are looking for the best KitchenAid attachment for pastry, then here it is. This beater is a specially made attachment that is specifically for making pastry dough. It looks like a flat beater but it has a number of bars running across the middle. Because certain types of pastries require cold butter, typically, you would use your fingers to break down the butter.
Since your fingers radiate heat, this can melt the butter which is not ideal when making pastry. The bars that run across the middle of the pastry dough cut through the butter without melting it.
Watch it in action below.
Flat Beater
The flat beater is commonly best used for creaming butter and sugar together, as well as for mixing dry ingredients. It has the shape of a rounded triangle and has 2-4 crossbars running through the center.
The flat beater, or paddle attachment, does not whip much air into the mixture and is my go-to for making cake batter, buttercream as well as cookie dough.
Dough Hook
The dough hook is best used for, you guessed it, kneading dough! This includes bread dough, pizza dough, and even some types of pastry dough.
You can get two types of dough hooks; a C-Shapes and a Spiral hook.
Types of Pastry and Attachment
Puff Pastry
Puff pastry is a type of pastry that is made from flour, cold butter, salt, and ice-cold water. It is very light and airy and is often used in desserts such as pies and tarts.
Because the butter is cold, to make puff pastry, you will need a KitchenAid pastry beater attachment. Simply add the ingredients to your mixer and let the machine do all the hard work!
Once the pastry beater breaks down all the butter, the mixture should resemble a sandy consistency.
When the cold water is added and the pastry comes together, it becomes quite a stiff dough that can only be shaped by hand.
Shortcrust Pastry
Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry that is made from flour and fat (usually butter). It is much sturdier than puff pastry and results in a crumbly texture rather than a flaky one.
Because of its robust structure, shortcrust pastry is best used for pies and tarts.
Shortcrust pastry is mostly made in a food processor as the sharp blades and the fast motor help turn the dough into a stiff one. If you want to use your KitchenAid, the paddle attachment or the pastry attachment will both work just as well.
This useful video shows you how you can use your KitchenAid paddle attachment to make a pie crust.
Croissant Dough
Croissants are very rich, buttery and are probably one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. These delicious pastries are made from flour, butter, sugar, and yeast.
Croissant dough is quite similar to bread dough and follows a similar kneading process. To make croissant dough, you will need a KitchenAid dough hook attachment. Simply add the ingredients to your mixer and let the machine do all the hard work!
This recipe here is great for making the flakiest croissants you’ll ever have.
Choux Pastry
Choux pastry is a type of pastry that is made from flour, water, butter, and eggs. It is very light and airy. It’s often used in desserts such as cream puffs and eclairs.
This type of pastry is quite loose and is not at tough as puff pastry or croissant dough. Initially, the water, butter, and flour are mixed over medium heat in a pan. Once the flour has cooked and the dough has cooled down, transfer the dough to your KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Turn your mixer on and add the eggs one by one until you get the desired choux pastry consistency.
My favorite choux pastry is this one here from Cupcake Jemma.
Phyllo Pastry
Phyllo pastry is a type of pastry that is made from flour, water, olive oil and salt. It’s often used in desserts such as baklava and savory food like spanakopita.
This type of pastry dough is quite tough, similar to puff pastry dough. Phyllo pastry can be tricky to work with because it’s so delicate. It requires a lot of stretching and a lot of patience. That’s why most people opt to just buy it pre-made at the store.
If you’re feeling adventurous and want to make your own phyllo pastry, you will need a KitchenAid dough hook attachment. It is kneaded with the dough hook similarly to bread dough. Simply add the flour, water and oil to your mixer and let the machine do all the hard work! The dough should be quite stiff when it’s done.
This recipe from Shereen is a great video to follow.
Additional Accessories
Aside from the paddle, pastry, and dough hook attachments, there are a few other ones that can help you in your pastry-making adventures.
Splash Guard/Pouring Shield
- Designed, engineered, and tested by KitchenAid
- Sits on top of the bowl to help prevent ingredients from splattering
- Designed for KitchenAid stainless steel stand mixer bowls. Does not fit glass or ceramic bowls, Material: Plastic, Finish: Unfinished
This attachment is great for keeping your kitchen clean when making messy, flour-based doughs. This accessory acts as a splash guard and stops any dry ingredients from flying around everywhere and causing a mess.
There is also a small opening with a chute that lets you add ingredients as your mixer is still on. This is a great feature for adding in the cold butter bit by bit as the mixer is turning the attachment.
The splash guard/pouring shield clips on top of the mixer bowl.
Sifter and Scales
- Simply attach the Sifter plus Scale Attachment to the power hub of any KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Then experience hands-free sifting as the sifter gradually incorporates ingredients into the mixer bowl. Battery operated scale
- Hands-free sifting gives more consistent mixing and fluffy baked goods, and saves time during the process
- Measures ingredients by weight for a greater level of precision, which is a critical part of successful baking. Can also be used separately on your countertop with the included scale plate
A sifter is a great way to get rid of any lumps in your flour and other dry ingredients. Most of us typically use a kitchen sieve to sift any dry ingredients into a bowl. KitchenAid has come up with an attachment that connects to the universal hub at the top of the machine.
This attachment doesn’t just sift the dry ingredients straight into the bowl of your stand mixer, it also weighs the ingredients. This is great for all the lazy bakers out there who don’t want to spend all day weighing their ingredients by hand.
Grain Mill
- Grinds Low-Moisture Grains (Wheat, Corn, Rice, Etc.) From Coarse to F
If you want to get really fancy, you can use a grain mill attachment to grind your own flour. This is great if you want to use whole wheat flour or other types of flour that are not as commonly found in stores. Plus homemade flour is far more flavorsome than the store-bought stuff!
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There are so many different types of pastry out there and not all pastries use the same KitchenAid attachment. Hopefully, this guide has given you a better understanding of which attachment you would use depending on the type of pastry you are making.
And with the additional accessories like the splash guard/pouring shield, sifter and scales, and grain mill, you’ll be able to make pastry like a pro!
