Two instantly recognizable pastry varieties are puff pastry and croissants, which create flaky, buttery treats. Both puff pastry and croissant dough are examples of laminated dough — a complex creation that involves folding butter into pastry dough in a series of alternating layers — but the composition of their respective doughs has a few important differences.

Pastry dough contains flour, water, and salt, per MyRecipes, and croissant dough adds yeast and milk to these ingredients. As a result, a puff pastry is crispier than croissants, but the addition of milk in croissant dough makes it richer, while the yeast causes the dough to rise considerably, creating a more tender interior than puff pastry.

A puff pastry can rise without any leavening agents due to the liquid in the dough causing steam during the baking process, via Montana Public Radio. If a puff pastry is too thin, it can tear, and too much moisture in croissant dough can make it chewy, according to chef Dominique Ansel.