The Simple Pie Dough Move That Makes Rolling It Out A Breeze

Pie dough isn't complicated, but it sure can be frustrating. To get a perfectly tender, flakey pie crust you need dough that never gets too warm, but is pliable enough to roll out. Dough that isn't so dry it constantly cracks, but isn't so wet it sticks to everything. And even if you do all that right, you don't want to be constantly rerolling your dough to get the perfect shape, lest you overwork it. So any pie dough tip that makes rolling it out a little bit easier and cleaner is welcome. And you can achieve that with just a few pieces of parchment paper.

Dough that sticks to your work surface will make moving and shaping it a nightmare, and even with the perfect ratio this can be a problem. But if you cut out two pieces of parchment paper you can roll the dough out in between it with no concerns over sticking. In fact, you can even use this trick with plastic wrap too if you don't have any parchment. Not only will this make shaping your pie dough easier, it will also mean you don't need to keep adding extra flour to prevent dough from sticking to the roller. That's nice because adding too much flour as you roll can throw off the ratio of ingredients and make your pie crust tough. The parchment will even make handling your dough when you need to flip it over the pie plate easier too.

There are a few other things you can do to make rolling out your pie dough easier, and using the parchment trick will also help with them. The best way to get an evenly-rolled circle of dough that doesn't crack is to rotate the dough as you roll, not the pin. Roll the pin from the thicker center of the dough circle to the outside, and then rotate the dough itself 45 degrees after each roll. This is a more precise method that ensures you get a more evenly-shaped crust that is also an even thickness. Doing this between parchment makes rotating the dough much quicker and easier, with no need to use a bench scraper to lift the dough or prevent it from sticking.

Your pie dough will also roll out easier if you give it some time to rest. You should let it sit for at least 20 minutes when you first form it to let the gluten relax, but as you roll it out you may find it springing back anyway. Using parchment means you can easily transfer the whole piece of dough to let it rest in the fridge whenever this happens, so the gluten can relax again without any concerns over the butter in the dough melting. It may be amazing to realize, but parchment paper can be one of the most useful tools in your baking arsenal.