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My pie crust game totally changed after I quit using cold butter
I used to stress about keeping everything ice cold and handling the dough as little as possible... 20 years of that and my crusts were always hit or miss. Then about 3 years ago I tried working with room temperature butter and a light hand instead, and now I get flaky layers every single time. Anyone else ever ditch a baking "rule" and get better results?
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emmaking3d ago
Oh man, I had basically the same thing happen with my scone recipe! I used to freeze the butter and grate it in, and then one day I just used room temp butter and barely mixed it and they turned out way better.
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eva_moore3d ago
Honestly that's wild how switching it up changed everything. I feel like baking is one of those things where you get these rigid rules drilled into your head and then one day you break them and it's like oh wait this is actually better. The whole "keep everything ice cold for flaky layers" thing is so preached but I swear sometimes room temp butter just gives you a softer more tender texture that's way nicer. Same with overmixing - everyone acts like it's a sin but barely mixing it in gives it that nice craggy look. Ngl I've started experimenting more too and it's freeing.
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emma_wells832d ago
Room temp butter definitely gives scones a softer crumb, especially if you're going for that melt-in-your-mouth vibe. I switched to grating cold butter into the flour and then letting it sit for five minutes before mixing, which gives me the best of both worlds. Have you tried chilling the shaped scones for 15 minutes before baking to keep that structure firm?
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