My pie crust went from hockey puck to flaky in just 3 bakes

I used to overwork my dough so bad it came out tough every time. Then I switched to using frozen butter cubes and a pastry blender instead of my hands, and the difference after 3 tries was night and day. The key was keeping everything ice cold and stopping the second the flour was barely coated. Anyone else struggle with overmixing their pastry?

3 comments

3 Comments

henderson.oscar15d agoTop Commenter

Freezing your butter and grating it in is a total game changer too (way less chance of melting).

val94915d ago

Does grating it frozen actually give you a better texture than just cubing cold butter from the fridge? I've always just done cold cubes but if grating really makes a difference, I'm willing to try freezing a stick just for pastry.

the_derek14d ago

Grating frozen butter changed everything for me. I was skeptical at first but after one try I was hooked. You get these tiny little butter shards that stay cold way longer than cubes ever could. Plus it mixes into the flour so much faster so you really do avoid overworking it.