Reducing Gluten

The amount of protein in a dough, and thus the amount of gluten that develops, determines baking potential and is important in making all breads and pastries. In general, high protein is beneficial to yeast bread doughs, but it can be a problem in puff pastry and folded breads such as Danish pastries or croissants, making them difficult to roll.

Hard flour mixtures, whether bread or all-purpose flour, feel drier and grittier in the hand than soft flour, but the only reliable way to test the protein content of a flour is by using it. Hard flour can be softened by adding one part of a low- or gluten-free flour such as pastry flour for every four parts of hard flour. Alternatively, gluten development can be impeded simply by adding less flour to the dough. A scant cup/110 g of hard wheat flour has the same gluten strength as one full cup/125 g pastry flour. Another solution is to work the dough as little as possible, keeping it well chilled and adding a minimum of water. Leaving dough to rest in the refrigerator also relaxes the gluten and reduces its elasticity.