My aunt told me my pie crust was 'aggressive' and honestly she was right lol

I used to manhandle dough like it owed me money, slamming it on the counter and overworking it until it was tough as leather. My aunt watched me for like 5 minutes at Thanksgiving and said 'honey, you're being aggressive with that dough, it needs a gentle touch.' Switched to a lighter hand and cold butter from the fridge in Portland, Oregon, and now my crust actually flakes instead of turning into a cracker. Has anyone else gotten weirdly specific baking feedback that totally clicked?

2 comments

2 Comments

harperp3112d ago

Oh man, "aggressive" is the perfect word for it. I did the exact same thing with bread dough until my grandma watched me kneading and said "stop hitting it, it's not a piñata." She was totally right. I was treating it like it had to be punished into submission or something. Once I learned to be gentle and actually let the gluten develop on its own time, everything changed. It's wild how much better stuff turns out when you just relax and don't try to fight the ingredients. Your aunt calling it "aggressive" is honestly the kind of feedback you can't ignore because it's so specific and true.

nina_butler11d ago

My grandma in Eugene used to tell me I was "manhandling the rolling pin" and I thought she was just being dramatic until I actually listened to her. That one comment made me realize I do the SAME thing in other areas of my life - rushing through stuff, trying to force things to happen instead of letting them unfold naturally. It's like in baking and in life, being aggressive with things usually backfires and you end up with something tough and disappointing. I started slowing down with my projects at work and even with how I talk to people, and it's CRAZY how much better things go when you stop trying to wrestle them into submission. Your aunt gave you a gift with that word, I swear.

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