How about COrian? It looks fabulous is glacier white. Marble can be remarkably inexpensive compared to engineered stone like quartz. Before I had a nice countertop, I bought a large slab of carrara marble and used that for rolling out dough. I would avoid tile. Grout lines are a major pain to keep clean and no good for rolling out dough.

Most surfaces are fine once the finish is cured, as long as you don't plan to cut directly on it.

I always roll dough on a wooden board, no matter what the countertop surface. Wood is a very poor conductor of heat, so it doesn't transfer temperature to your dough as quickly as stone/tile does. Stone is great for rolling dough IF it is cold, but you can't put your countertop in the fridge, so a stone counter will bring your dough up to room temperature in no time flat.

Are you doing just a section or the whole countertop?

For a section, a remnant of stone won't be too pricey, not will a nice large piece of butcherblock or edge grain wood. I've had marble and now wood for my baking areas...and I still always end up using a large board because I can wash it in the sink.

The most inexpensive choice for rolling out directly is formica. I baked a lot on my old formica counters. Rolling out on a board wouldn't have been practical - at least for me - because I wanted the freedom of having the larger counter top to work on.

Tile is not a great choice in ANY material because it is segmented.

Marble or stone of some kind are classic because marble is a cool surface and theoretically doesn't heat the dough while working it but I never had major problems on my formica smooth surface.

Remnants are relatively inexpensive if you opt for marble or granite.

While I have a quartz counter, I use Epicurean cutting boards under every type of food prep, whether cutting or rolling. I like the ones with the nonskid corners. They come in sizes large enough to roll out dough for a large pie and are super easy to clean with water and a drop of Dawn, if necessary.

Although I understand that marble is the preferred surface for pastry rolling, it's heavy to move around.

Thanks all for the input.

I know myself well enough to know I will just roll, cut and generally use (abuse) the countertop for every situation. I should get out the marble slab for rolling but nope, not likely. I should not cut my pizza on the counter but ah well.

I was only thinking of 12x12 tiles and rolling right in the middle of one. :). I think the slab idea may be a good one. I actually see some on craigslist materials for a song. Of course I would be waiting for one that suits me and would work with my cream cabinets and someday natural bamboo floor. Might be a procrastinators dream/nightmare.

The Corian is nice thought too. I have some samples of Wilsonart laminate and the aroma is intense and does make me wary.

So much food for thought. Company coming in an hour -- i better stop messing around on houzz and get things going. Thx!

While I have Titanium granite, which is not porous at all, I never roll things or cut on it. Cutting cookies or cinnamon buns etc. directly on granite or quartz is hard on the knives and may also scratch the granite. I have always had a pastry mat which works great. It is from Tupperware and I know they still sold a similar version a few years ago. Mine has markings for various round pie sizes too. I can cut on it and roll with a bit of flour and it doesn't stick. The cuts don't seem to damage it either as mine is many years old. When finished I wash it in warm soapy water and then when dry I roll it and store it away. Takes little space and is used all of the time. I can pick up the two side edges and carry it to the garbage can and dump excess flour and crumbs straight in. Makes clean up pretty easy.

What about a 24 x 24 marble tile?

I hate my laminate. It's not been abused, but it's all scratched up. It wasn't even particularly cheap.

I like the look of butcher block and would definitely consider it ... if you don't have a water source in this area.

My mom has tile, which is terribly "outdated" (the horror!), but they aren't the bug-a-boo to keep clean that people claim. However, if you're going to roll out dough, their uneven surface is a problem.

My personal opinion: I'd rather roll out dough on a big cutting board that can go to the sink for easy cleaning. Have you considered one of those BIG boards with a lip that overhangs the countertop? Something like this: https://www.build.com/kohler-k-5917/s562841?uid=227747&source=gg-gba-pla_227747!c1062603550!a53675689858!dc!ng&cvosrc=pla.google.227747&cvo_cid=1062603550&cvo_crid251705093028=&=&cvo_adgroup=53675689858&cvo_uniqueid=227747&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-OXBrPS-2gIVEInICh0WPwpLEAQYBCABEgJh3PD_BwE

I've had a Tupperware baking mat for years. It rolls up for easy storage. I believe the newer ones are silicone.

We have 12x12 in. granite tiles for counters. Because they are not the older type of tile used for countertops they don't have that unevenness to them. The grout lines are minimal and we have black granite with black epoxy grout. We don't baby them and they are 6+ years old now. We previously used marble tiles to update an original 1940's kitchen because they ended up being cheaper than new sheets of laminate based on the layout of the counters. Being marble, they etched, but were otherwise bulletproof and swayed our decision to duplicate the look, only with granite. We live in a very low COL area where laminate with oak edges are the height of a "modern" kitchen.