nora54•1d ago

That time my grandmother's pie crust fell apart in my hands

I was at my mom's house last Thanksgiving trying to make my grandmother's famous apple pie. She passed away three years ago and I wanted to carry on the tradition for everyone. But the dough kept crumbling when I tried to roll it out, and I was getting pretty frustrated. I called my aunt in Ohio who had watched grandma cook for decades. She told me I was using too much flour and not enough cold butter, and that I needed to chill the dough for at least 45 minutes. I started over with those tips and the second crust came out perfect. Has anyone else had a family recipe that just failed until you got a specific detail right?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_nguyen1d ago

Butter temperature is usually the culprit, getting that perfect flaky crust always comes down to keeping everything cold. A trick that saved me was grating frozen butter into the flour using a box grater, it distributes way better than cutting it in. Once I started doing that and actually timing my chill time instead of just guessing, my pie game completely changed.

milap351d ago

eh, it's just pie crust, not rocket science