Tip for rolling out cookie dough (link to video) why have I been doing this the hard way?...

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
OK, it’s likely that I didn’t want to waste all that parchment paper. That is if I actually had thought of this. And somehow I think I’ve heard of this before, but my brain failed to retain it. It’s such a lightbulb, Duh!, idea.

Don’t roll your cookie dough out on a floured surface, roll it out on parchment paper or wax paper. Don’t wait to chill it. Use a top sheet of parchment or wax paper as well, so to make zero mess. Use Dowels if you want to get an exact thickness.

Once you have your cookie dough ball rolled out between the two pieces of paper slide it onto the back of a rimmed baking sheet. Stack up as many rolled out pieces that you need. Then pop it all in to the refrigerator to chill. Now you won’t have any mess while rolling out dealing with flour. You won’t get excess flour into your cookie dough either. Plus, you’ll have much more of an assembly line when you come to pull out sheet by sheet of rolled out dough to cut out.

Christmas cookies are right around the corner!

 
I do something similar but no parchment/saran/wax paper

I saw this on a craftsy video ages ago and this is how I've done my decorated sugar cookies ever since.

I have a bunch of rectangle silpats (also round for my cake pans). I roll out my dough right on the silpat and then use my cookie cutter to cut out the shapes. Then I simply remove the dough between the cut-outs to use again. Then I slide a cookie sheet under the silpat and put in the oven.

silpats are silicon 'sheets'.

 
I do that but never thought of stacking. Rolling between parch is great for gingerbread patterns

Just lift away the excess dough and slide the entire sheet of parchment onto the baking sheet (top or bottom) then bake.

But I love the idea of stacking multiple layers. Thanks, M!

 
My mother used to always roll out piecrust between wax paper. . .

I never saw anyone roll it out on a floured surface until I was in my 20s!

 
That's how we do it...you pretty much have to if you're going to do any intricate

cutting work (snowflakes with cutouts is one we do).

However, the dowel rods? Oy. They are very clumsy and awkward to use.

Buy bands for your rolling pin. They come in graduated sizes and you automatically roll the dough to that thickness. It's impossible to overroll the dough too thin.

Re: chilling. I didn't see this mentioned, but again, if you're doing detailed cuts and/or want to preserve very exact edges, the dough goes back in the fridge or freezer after cutting before it goes into the oven. We pretty much freeze the cutouts before they go into the oven and the original shape is preserved exactly after baking.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/817vgTsQUEL._SL1500_.jpg

 
OH my, being a non-baker, except for cookies, quick breads and lemon bars

I am constantly fascinated by your conversations about baking. Never in my life have I heard about those bands for your rolling pin for different dough thickness...amazing!

 
mistral--my mother would ONLY roll out her lard pie crusts on a floured surface! She could feel w/

her fingertips how much water to put in so she had a very moist mass and then w/ the addition of flour to roll her crusts in, she would come out with a perfect crust. EVERY TIME!

I never could get the hang of Mom's method (I either had too much flour or not enough) so I have ALWAYS rolled my pie crusts (whether all lard or all butter or a butter-Crisco combination) between sheets of waxed paper.

 
Wigs, as an adult, I tried to roll crusts out between waxed paper. . .

and I just could not do it (they always stuck like crazy) BUT I remembered watching my husband's sister-in-law roll out on a floured board. So, I tried the flour/board and have never tried the wax paper again.

I think I have my crust technique down pat. I use much, much more water than almost any recipe says and my crusts come out flaky, just the way I like them.

I guess 30+ years of practice helped. . . finally learned to stop handling the dough so D*** much! If only someone would have whacked my knuckles (tently!) while ove- handling dough sooner!

 
mistral, I could never make good pie crust until I saw a chef make one using a Cuisinart! My mother

always cut lard into a flour & salt mixture using her fingers. Naturally I mimicked her technique, and my crust came out TOUGH. Was not until YEARS later that my sister and I finally figured out the reason Mom's crusts were so consistently tender and flaky--her fingers and hands were ALWAYS ice cold! So I switched to using a pastry blender and had a much better outcome, but with the food processor, any fat (whether butter, Crisco, lard or a combination) being cut into flour & salt goes lightning fast and then adding a bit of water & pulsing a few times ends up with nary a failure! That's the way I saw the chef demo it in a cooking class, and I've followed his directions ever since.

 
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