The baker at my local coffee shop showed me a trick for pie dough that saved my sanity

I was complaining to the barista about my crust always shrinking in the pan. She pulled me aside and said 'stop resting your dough in the fridge for more than 20 minutes.' Turns out overchilling makes the butter too hard and it shrinks when it hits the oven heat. I tried her tip on my next apple pie and it came out perfect no shrinkage at all. Has anyone else gotten a random hack from a stranger that actually worked better than any recipe online?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathankim16d ago

Wait, so the whole "chill your dough overnight" thing might be total overkill? I got a similar tip from a random cook at a diner who told me to use ice water but never let the dough sit in the fridge longer than 30 minutes. Tried it with my last batch of pop tarts and they actually held their shape for once instead of turning into blobs. Your barista definitely saved you some trial and error.

scott.olivia16d ago

My diner cook friend told me almost the exact same thing once, said he learned it baking pies in a greasy spoon. I tried it with my last batch of hand pies and they actually kept their shape in the oven for the first time ever. That whole "overnight chill" thing always made my dough too hard to work with anyway.