I was always a lousy bread, biscuit and pie dough maker but recently picked up some tips on the net.
Measuring flour: Always used to just scoop that measuring cup into the bag, now spoon the flour into the measuring cup and flatten off the top with a knife, etc. ...what a texture difference!(one of these days I’ll buy a scale and do it right)
Pie Crust/Biscuits: I take frozen butter and grate it, throw it in frozen...I usually use a food processor for crust.... a couple of whirls and it’s good to go. But this works manually too.
Actually, I’ll grate the butter in the food processor if I’m making a lot, throw it in a bowl in the freezer while I’m getting everything else ready.
I do the same things - don’t scoop out flour; and with pie crusts, biscuits: keep everything VERY cold.
Have you heard of replacing some of the liquid in pie pastry, with vodka? We learned about it from Chris Kimball, of Cooks’ Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen. Haven’t tried it yet, but husband (with chem. background) says it makes sense:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12852-christopher-kimballs-foolproof-pie-dough