Local bakery owner showed me a trick with cold butter that saved my morning rush
I run a small bakery out of my house here in Portland, and my croissants were always flat and greasy no matter what I did. Last Tuesday, I stopped by Sally's Bakery downtown to pick up some flour, and she saw me eyeing her display case. She flat out told me I was overworking my dough because the butter was too warm from the start. She had me feel a cube straight from her walk-in, then showed me how she cubes it into flour before it even softens. I tried it the next morning with my batch, and the layers actually puffed up for the first time in months. It sounds dumb but I guess I never realized how fast butter warms up in a warm kitchen. Has anyone else found a simple switch that fixed a big problem like this?