Spent 2 years trying to fix my pie crust before I found the real culprit

I kept getting tough, shrunken pie crusts no matter what recipe I tried. Tried different flours, colder butter, even bought a marble rolling pin. Finally figured out last month that I was overworking the dough by like a full 5 minutes. Once I stopped handling it so much it came out flaky and perfect. Anybody else spend way too long blaming the wrong thing before finding the actual fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.charlie9d ago

Nah, it's just pie crust, not rocket science.

noah_webb9d ago

Feels like people say that about everything these days.

ellis.susan8d ago

Disagree a little, actually. Making a good pie crust from scratch (like, really flaky and tender) takes a surprising amount of feel and practice. You gotta keep everything ice cold, handle the dough just enough but not too much, and get that butter-to-flour ratio perfect. Sure, a storebought crust is easy, but we're talking about the real deal here. It's not quantum physics, but it's not just slapping flour and water together either. Lots of people mess it up.