Talked to my grandma about her pie crust recipe and it made me realize I've been overcomplicating everything

She uses lard, ice water, and basically two stirs with a fork then chills it for 20 minutes. I've been using fancy butter blends, vodka tricks, and doing like 6 folds over 2 hours. She said 'you're making bread, not pastry' and that hit different because she's 83 and her crust comes out perfect every single time. Now I'm wondering how many other baking 'rules' I've been following for no good reason. Has anyone else had a simple family recipe totally change how you approach baking?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_kim978d ago

Oh man, your grandma is so right. I went through the exact same thing with my mom's cookie recipe. She just uses melted butter and a bag of chocolate chips and they come out amazing every time, meanwhile I was over here browning butter and using fancy sea salt flakes. Sometimes the simple stuff really is better because it's been tested over decades. There's something humbling about realizing your "improvements" were just making things harder for no payoff.

david_reed228d ago

I mean I get what you're saying but I've gotta push back a little. Browning the butter and using good salt does actually make a difference if you know what you're doing, it's not just fancy for no reason. Sometimes those little tweaks are what take a good cookie to a great one, it's not about making it harder, it's about finding what works for your taste.

robinp898d agoTop Commenter

Wait, doesn't browning the butter actually remove some water content, so you have to add it back or adjust the flour?