Don’t give up!
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
We’ve all been there.
You’ve followed the recipe, but the dough just isn’t coming together.
Credit:Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
There’s a bunch offlourcollected at the base of the bowl and it’s just not incorporating.
Here’s what to do next time your dough turns out drier than expected.
Here are a few of the most common reasons your dough turned out dry.
You haven’t let it rest.
Some of the flakiest pie dough starts as a dry, shaggy pile of dough.
You might be tempted to add more water, but before you do, let it rest.
This goes for more than pie dough.
If you have crumblycookie dough, it can benefit from a rest.
You might have (accidentally) added too much flour.
You haven’t put in enough elbow grease.
Sometimes all it takes to fix dry dough is some elbow grease.
If a dough seems dry it could be because the liquid isn’t evenly distributed.
The center of the dough can often be wet while the outside is dry.
If using a stand mixer, try finishing the dough by hand.
Sometimes stand mixers can’t evenly mix the dough and can create wet pockets.
This may seem obvious, but don’t just dump more water into yourbread dough.
Too much kneading and the dough might not be dry anymore, but now it’s tough.
Only use whatever liquid the recipe originally calls for whether that’s water or milk.
A great technique for incorporating extra water into bread or pie dough is to do it with your hands.
Run your hands under water, and then with them dripping wet, knead the dough.
