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My grandma's apple pie failed three Thanksgivings in a row before I understood the real problem
I was at my sister's house in Ohio last November and pulled her pie out of the oven only to find it had all leaked onto the baking sheet again. After three years of this same disaster, I finally sat down and watched my 80-year-old aunt make her crust from scratch. Turns out I was using cold butter right from the fridge when the recipe actually meant room temperature shortening. Has anyone else had a family recipe fail because you misread one simple instruction?
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roberts951mo agoMost Upvoted
Yeah, 'cold butter is flaky' is the new gospel thanks to the internet. But grandma's recipe meant shortening for a reason. Oops.
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Started making biscuits last week and realized my grandma's recipe said 'lard' not 'butter' after ten years of wondering why they came out flat. It's funny how one little word can mess up everything, like how people read 'preheat oven' and think it means turn it on when you start mixing. Reminds me of all those life hacks online that fail because someone skimmed past 'add salt' or 'let sit for 10 minutes'... small stuff matters more than we give it credit for.
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Yup, I read that Alton Brown said cold butter is actually better for flaky pie crusts.
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