Can I rescue the remainder of a triple batch of pie dough that is really tough?

I made a triple batch of butter based pie dough. I've used part of it for a pie, the rest is frozen. I think I added too much water (because it didn't seem to be forming a dough), and in adding more and more water, I probably overworked the dough. I'd really hate to throw away the rest of the dough, is there anything I can do to try and rescue the remainder of it? Or recipe ideas where the toughness won't be noticed as much as pie?

Rhubarbara
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12 Comments

HalfPint
HalfPint July 20, 2015
I learned this from a little Texas grandma I met in a baking workshop. She would take leftover pie dough, cut out shapes, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake. She called them "Moonshine".
 
boulangere
boulangere July 14, 2015
You must be from the Western US, ktr, and I think your suggestion is brilliant. My mother used to make pasties (short I) with a filling of potatoes and ground pork.
 
ktr
ktr July 14, 2015
Close - born and raised in Wisconsin and now live in northern Minnesota, with a few moves to other states in between.
We make ours with venison, potatoes, carrots and rutabaga. If my husband grows as many turnips as he did last year though, I may consider using turnips instead of rutabaga.
 
ktr
ktr July 14, 2015
How about making pasties. A sturdier dough works well for them since they are meant to be picked up and eaten.
 
Rhubarbara
Rhubarbara July 15, 2015
Thank you ktr. Those fillings sound delicious and hearty!
 
boulangere
boulangere July 13, 2015
If you can work some additional butter into it, the fat will shorten your overdeveloped strands of gluten. It won't be the same as one handled perfectly from the start, but you're talking about rescue here, so I'm guessing that you aren't expecting perfection anyway.
 
PieceOfLayerCake
PieceOfLayerCake July 13, 2015
Resting is a good tip, however, if your pie dough already has too much gluten formation, no amount of resting will completely undo the overworking. The only thing I can think of for using it is savory pies/hand pies and quiche. I've used sturdier doughs for hearty pies and the delicacy and flakiness doesn't seem as missed as they would for sweet fillings.
 
Rhubarbara
Rhubarbara July 15, 2015
Thank you PieceOfLayerCake. I like the idea of a savory or hand pie. It is certainly a sturdy dough...it is the first time in my life I've been able to pick up a piece of pie and eat it like it was a slice of pizza!
 
PieceOfLayerCake
PieceOfLayerCake July 15, 2015
This is a little nuts, but I've fried hand pies before (with apple compote, McDonalds-style) and the dough had to be much sturdier to stand up to the process. It's definitely not an everyday thing, but it's a thought if you have any sort of get together. Just gonna throw that one out there :).
 
Rhubarbara
Rhubarbara July 15, 2015
Fried hand pies...that suggestion sounds tasty (and dangerous!!). Thank you!
 
boulangere
boulangere July 13, 2015
Barbara, I suspect your diagnosis is correct. You can try cutting some additional cubes of cold butter into it, then resting it for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before rolling it out, and then give it another 30-minute chilled rest before filling and baking it. As for uses where it might be a bit disguised, how about using it for a cobbler of summer fruits, which only has a top crust? Please let us know what your results are.
 
Rhubarbara
Rhubarbara July 15, 2015
Thank you boulangere! You're right, I'm not expecting perfection at this point! I will try your suggestions of more butter, and more rest time. The recipe I used didn't actually call for resting time (which is why I picked it, it seemed faster, but now that I'm reading more recipes, I see this is probably an error of omission in the recipe). I hope to try it out this weekend, and will let everyone know how it goes!
 
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