This French Tapered Olivewood Rolling Pin Is Gentle on Delicate Doughs

Retire the wine bottle to the recycling bin—this is the best rolling pin

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Published on 10/20/22

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Williams Sonoma French Olive Wood Tapered Rolling Pin — The Spruce Eats / Carrie Honaker

This post is part of our 'This Is Fire' series, where our editors and writers tell you about the products they can't live without in the kitchen.

I’m a little embarrassed to say my first rolling pin was a wine bottle, and I used it for a decade. I never found a rolling pin I really loved, and the wine bottle seemed to work well, except for a bit of dough sticking sometimes.

When I got married, a good friend thought it was time to upgrade and bought me a marble rolling pin, but I never loved it. The dough still stuck to it on occasion, it was cumbersome, and often the heat from my hands transferred to the pin and then the dough. And I never could get a handle on the handles (pun intended); I would grasp them, and as soon as I started to roll, they would rotate. Holiday baking was frustrating, and I often reverted back to the wine bottle.

I was observing a pastry chef for an article a few years ago, and she used a tapered French rolling pin. It was lightweight, and magically the dough never stuck. I was immediately intrigued. She let me try a pie dough rollout, and I was hooked.

This is the best rolling pin I’ve ever used, hands down.

Courtesy of Williams Somona

View On Williams-Sonoma

What We Like

Lightweight
Pie dough doesn't stick
No nooks and crannies to clean
Optimal control over dough thickness, rolling direction

What We Don't Like

No dedicated handles

The American rolling pins I tried all seemed unwieldy with their handles and ball-bearing pins, but the French model is basically a wooden cylinder—a straightforward, practical dowel that allows your hands to have the closest contact with whatever you’re rolling out. I could feel every bump that needed smoothing. The level of control over the dough was impressive, and as basically a stick, there are no nooks and crannies or weird angles where food debris might hide, so cleanup is as easy as can be.

tapered french rolling pin — The Spruce Eats / Carrie Honaker

One question stood in the way of a new French rolling pin: Would I need it to be straight or tapered? Straight pins allow you to roll out dough to an even thickness, a big plus when making pies. Tapered pins let you pivot directions without lifting the dough off the counter and possibly tearing all your hard work. Tapered pins are drop-dead gorgeous with their elegant lines. They even look nice when left out on the counter when guests come over—a beautiful addition to the kitchen.

I bought the Williams Sonoma French Tapered Olivewood Rolling Pin three years ago and have never looked back. I bake at least a pie a week, and it never fails. The dough doesn’t stick. It’s lightweight. It’s beautiful. I particularly love that I can roll up a pie crust on it, then easily transport and unroll into the pie plate without any tearing or strain on my wrists. It also came in clutch when I moved from Virginia to Florida and my food processor didn’t make the trip unscathed. I had key lime pie on the menu, which meant graham cracker crust. I put the grahams in a Ziploc bag and rolled them out to hearty crumbs with my handy rolling pin. The pie crust was saved.

It’s a low-maintenance MVP for anybody who bakes at home.

This is the best rolling pin I’ve ever used, hands down. I bought one for both my kids when they moved into their last apartments so they could also know the joy. I rub it with a little mineral oil every few months to keep it smooth and sturdy. It’s a low-maintenance MVP for anybody who bakes at home. I’ll never go back to the wine bottle.

Dimensions: 0.75 to 1.5 inches x 20 inches | Care: Hand wash only, dry thoroughly | Material: Olivewood

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Carrie Honaker is a food writer, restaurateur, and avid home cook, who knows the importance of finding the right tool for the right job. Her work has appeared in many publications, including Basically, Allrecipes, and Wine Enthusiast.

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