Don, making a half recipe shouldn't mean you need to reduce the baking time, as it simply means you're baking one pan of shells instead of two. Yes, there'll be slightly less moisture in the oven due to less volume, but I wouldn't recommend changing the baking time just for that. Now, understand that the shells are supposed to be fairly crisp and quite dry; that's so they don't become soggy when you add the filling and topping. But if you think yours were beyond pleasantly dry, perhaps the shells were baked inadvertently baked too long, and/or at too high a temperature. You might want to check your oven's temperature with an independent thermometer, as many ovens aren't calibrated accurately. Hope you try these again and enjoy better results! PJH

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