Depending on the kind of dough you are making, you need to keep in mind that there are some rules that need to be followed when putting these together. You need to know exactly what to do when it comes to your dough because different kinds of dough have different kinds of characteristics. Not doing the right things with the dough that you are putting together will make you end up with the wrong kind of consistency for whatever pastry, bread, or cookie you are making.
Here are more dough making tips and tricks that might come in handy when you make it:
- When working your dough, try to limit your kneading and handling for dough that is supposed to stay soft, like those for biscuits and cookies. Too much handling produces a lot of gluten, which in turn makes the resulting product tougher. Since cookies, biscuits and even pie crusts need to be softer than bread, it is necessary to work these only until the dough comes together.
- When adding ingredients, be careful about adding too much flour. Too much flour can result in dry or tough dough, which you don’t want when it comes to your baked goodies. Add flour slowly and stop when you get the consistency that is being mentioned in the recipe.
- The kind of flour you use will also have an impact on the kind of dough that is produced. For softer dough, you should opt for softer flour, like cake flour and other similar flour variants. For harder dough and more dense products, flour like bread flour, whole wheat, and multi-grain can be used. Right in the middle of this is all-purpose flour which can be used for either soft or hard types of dough-based baked goodies.
- Substituting milk for water when creating dough that calls for the addition of water will give you dough that is tastier, browns better, and has more nutrients than when you use water.
- Adding more liquid to your recipe will usually leave you with stickier dough that is softer and will result in airier breads and pastries. This is because the steam that is produced by the liquid when baking happens is also considered a leavening agent.
- Dough should rest before being used. This is true for all types of dough, whether for bread, cookies, or other pastries. Resting time will vary as will the areas where these are to rest. For example, cookie dough that is butter based will need to rest in a refrigerated or cool environment in order for the butter to solidify again. The same goes for pie and pastry dough that need to have solid butter in them when being baked. Bread dough, on the other hand, has to rest in a warm environment to promote proper rising. Placing this in an area that is warm but not drafty is ideal.
