My cousin told me my pie crust looked like a dried-up riverbed

I made an apple pie for a family thing last weekend, and my cousin, who bakes a lot, pulled me aside. She said, 'You're working the dough too much with your hands, it's getting tough.' I always just mixed everything in the bowl until it came together. So this time, I used a fork to cut the butter in and only stirred with a spoon until it was just mixed. The dough was way softer and rolled out smooth. It didn't crack at all. Has anyone else had a simple tip fix a problem you didn't even know you had?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher_wells42mo ago

So you switched to a fork and spoon, did you notice a difference in how the butter looked in the flour before you added the water? Like, were the butter pieces still pretty visible as small flakes?

christopher_wells42mo ago

Totally saw a huge difference right away. The butter stayed in these perfect little flat bits instead of turning into a paste. It looked like coarse sand with all these tiny flakes mixed in. That's exactly what you want for flaky layers. Made the whole dough come together so much better.

jordanhill2mo ago

My grandma always chilled the flour bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes first. Cold tools are one thing, but if your flour's warm from the cupboard, it starts melting the butter the second you touch it.