Cutting in shortening means working cold, solid fat into dry flour using a tool or technique that breaks the fat into small pieces without fully blending the two together. The goal is to end up with pea-sized bits of fat coated in flour, evenly distributed throughout your mixture. This is the foundation technique behind flaky pie crusts, tender biscuits, and light scones.
Why Keeping the Fat Separate Matters
The whole point of cutting in shortening, rather than simply mixing it in, is to preserve small chunks of solid fat throughout your dough. When those chunks hit the heat of the oven, they melt and create tiny pockets. The moisture in the dough turns to steam, and those fat pockets act as barriers that trap the steam and force the dough layers apart. That separation is what gives pastry its flaky, layered texture.
If you were to fully blend the fat into the flour (the way you cream butter and sugar for a cake), the fat would coat the flour proteins uniformly. You’d get a soft, tender crumb instead of distinct flaky layers. Both results have their place in baking, but when a recipe tells you to “cut in” the fat, it’s specifically asking for that flaky outcome.
How Cutting In Works, Step by Step
Start by adding your cold shortening to the bowl of measured dry ingredients. Cut or scoop the shortening into roughly tablespoon-sized pieces and toss them in the flour so each piece gets a light coating. Then use your chosen tool to press, slice, or pulse the fat into smaller and smaller bits. You’re done when the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with visible pieces of fat about the size of peas scattered throughout. Some recipes call for slightly larger or smaller pieces, so follow those cues when given.
The key is to work quickly. The fat needs to stay cold and solid so it can create those steam pockets later in the oven. If it softens too much and smears into the flour, you lose the layered structure.
Four Tools You Can Use
- Pastry blender: A handled tool with curved wires or blades. Press it down through the fat and flour repeatedly. It’s the most intuitive option and gives you good control over the size of the fat pieces.
- Two knives: Hold one in each hand and draw them through the mixture in a crisscross pattern, forming an X as they pass through the fat. It takes longer but works well if you don’t own a pastry blender.
- Fork: Simply mash the fat into the flour, pressing down until pea-sized crumbles form. Best for smaller batches.
- Food processor: Pulse the fat and flour together in short bursts until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. This is the fastest method, but it’s also the easiest to overdo. A few too many pulses and the fat pieces become too small to create flaky layers.
You can also use your fingertips to rub the fat into the flour, but the heat from your hands warms the fat quickly. If you go this route, work fast and consider chilling the flour beforehand.
Recipes That Use This Technique
Pie crust is the most classic application. Biscuits are a close second, especially Southern-style biscuits where a tall, flaky rise is the goal. Scones, cobbler toppings, and some shortcake recipes also rely on cutting in fat. Any time a recipe promises “flaky” or “tender and layered,” you’ll likely see this instruction.
Shortening vs. Butter for Cutting In
The technique works the same whether you’re using vegetable shortening or butter, but the two fats behave differently. Shortening has a higher melting point, which makes it more forgiving to work with. It stays solid longer during mixing and rolling, and doughs made with shortening hold their shape well in the oven. That makes it a popular choice for decorative pie crusts or when you’re baking in a warm kitchen.
Butter, on the other hand, delivers better flavor. The tradeoff is a slightly greasy mouthfeel from shortening and a blander taste compared to butter’s richness. Many experienced bakers split the difference by using a combination of both: shortening for structure and flakiness, butter for flavor.
The Most Common Mistake
Overworking the dough is the single biggest pitfall. Once you’ve cut the fat in, your next steps typically involve adding a small amount of cold liquid and gently bringing the dough together. If you keep mixing, kneading, or pressing past the point where it just holds together, two things go wrong. First, the fat pieces smear into the flour and you lose your flaky layers. Second, the flour develops more gluten, which is the protein network that gives bread its chew. In pie crust or biscuits, excess gluten makes the result tough and dense instead of tender and light.
Stop as soon as the dough comes together. It’s fine if it looks a little shaggy or rough. Visible streaks of fat in the dough before it goes into the oven are a good sign, not a problem. Those streaks become the flaky layers you’re after.