Keep Pie Dough From Sticking To The Counter With A Simple Ice Trick

The saying 'easy as pie' may be one of the more mysterious idioms, unless it's meant to be a contradictory statement along the lines of 'clear as mud.' As anyone who's ever tried to make pie crust from scratch can tell you, 'easy' isn't an accurate descriptor of the process. And even if you have the perfect pie crust recipe, the dough can still act up on you when it comes to rolling out. For one thing, it tends to stick to the work surface, which is why some bakers endorse icing down the counter. Food blogger Jerrelle Guy, author of the cookbook "Black Girl Baking", feels that while chilled countertops aren't necessary, they can certainly help; which is especially true if you're baking your pie on a hot, sticky day when the A/C isn't doing its job.

As Guy explains, "Pie dough is full of beads of fat, which, if they start to get warm, will soften and turn the flour gummy; making the dough more likely to stick to the counter." She goes on to say, "By keeping the dough cold, you help keep the fat in the pie dough solid and the dough easy to work with" and adds that cold dough makes for a flakier, more buttery crust, as well. To chill your countertop, cover it with ice packs or bags of frozen vegetables. Before you roll out the dough, though, be sure to wipe off any moisture.

Jerrelle Guy feels the best way to keep your pie dough from sticking is by making sure that the dough itself stays cold rather than the surface. She recommends "starting with cold ingredients, chilling the dough for 30 minutes beforehand, and not over-handling the dough while rolling it out." She also suggests a light dusting of flour on the countertop will help. Some bakers, however, are not fans of floured working surfaces, feeling that extra flour may damage the dough. This could be more of a concern when kneading bread dough than rolling out pastry. But if you prefer to avoid added flour and don't mind making a mess, you can grease your countertop with butter.

A less messy and wasteful way of rolling out your pie dough involves using two sheets of wax paper. (Parchment paper's okay, but wax paper works better.) The dough will stick to the wax paper just enough to keep it in place, but it can easily be peeled off when it's time to cover the pie. If the dough does get too soft to detach, however, all you need to do is stick it in the fridge for a few minutes — wax paper and all.

If all of this seems like too much work, we have a different solution to your pie crust problems. For starters, crumbled cookies make a perfect pie crust with no dough rolling involved. Graham crackers are great, too, while a less sugary option would be to make a saltine crumb crust.