Mixing the Dough

If short dough is overmixed, mixed using the wrong tool, mixed at the wrong speed, or if any combination of these occurs, too much air will be incorporated into the dough. This will result in a soft product that could well, in the worst scenario, be piped out using a pastry bag. When this happens, you can imagine the problems and frustrations the baker has attempting to roll the “dough” into a thin sheet to line tart pans, for example. However, trying to compensate for the softness by adding too much flour to the short dough, either when making the dough or while rolling it out, will make the baked crust unpleasantly tough and hard instead of crumbly. (The best way to salvage a dough that has been improperly mixed is to combine it with a larger portion of properly prepared dough.)