Pie Crust Cookies

Name: Pie Crust Cookies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 120 mL (1/2 cup) cold water; 15-30 mL (1-2 Tbsp) alcohol (any spirit, I prefer bourbon (you can't taste it)); 300 grams (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled); 227 grams (1 cup) salted butter (cold); 1 egg (for egg wash); 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar; 2 tsp ground cinnamon

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These pie crust cookies are made using my super simple and versatile flakey pastry made with 3 main ingredients – flour, butter and water. Cut them out in any shape, freeze, bake and toss in cinnamon sugar.

leaf shaped pie crust cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar

Why You’ll Love These Pie Crust Cookies

Simple to make with minimal ingredients, who doesn’t love to simplify baking sometimes?
This is a very versatile base recipe and you can easily alter it to play with different flavor profiles.
It’s perfect for making decorations to go on top of cakes, cupcakes or other cookies or they can just be eaten like this with the cinnamon sugar – my kids LOVE these.
Great filler for fall parties sweet tables (or any party where you’re already making a pie dough cuz you can just use the scraps to cut out some fun shapes as cookies!).

These pie crust cookies are literally just my all butter pie crust recipe used to make cookies. I just baked them into designs and some cinnamon sugar for extra flavor. You can even just make them with scraps left over if you make my butter pie crust for a pie. But re-rolling left over pie crust to make the cookies can make them a bit more tough so I prefer to just use the scraps that are already rolled out. If you do re-roll out the scraps, be quick and gently and don’t do it more than once.

If you’re looking for other cookie recipes to love, I have so many to choose from! My Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies, Chai White Chocolate Chip Cookies, S’mores Cookies, Apple Butter Cookies, White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, Cookie Butter Cookies, Carrot Cake Cookies. And of course my classic Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. Make them all for a cookie party and everyone can enjoy their favorites 🙂 P.S. don’t forget to invite me!

pie crust cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar on a plate

What is Pie Crust?

Traditional American pie crust is very similar to the French Pâte Brisée, also known as shortcrust pastry. It’s also a 3:2:1 ratio dough but the main difference being that Pâte Brisée butter gets incorporated a little more into the flour whereas American pie dough leaves the butter in tiny chunks, creating a flakier result.

Pie crust is pretty simple, if the rules are followed. It’s made with 3 main ingredients – flour, butter and water but those can be swapped for some fun flavors like using brown butter, swapping a portion of the flour for toasted pecan flour, etc.

It can be blind baked, par-baked or baked with a filling. The main thing to keep in mind is that before baking, you want everything to be cold at all stages. Start with cold ingredients, refrigerate often and make sure it’s refrigerated solid before going in the oven.

Sometimes when I have leftover dough or just a good amount of scraps I would cut them out into fun shapes and bake them. Once they’re baked, I roll them in cinnamon sugar and that’s how we got pie crust cookies.

Ingredients:

Flour: I just use all purpose flour. There is such a thing as pastry flour and I know some people like cake flour for pie crusts too but all-purpose works perfectly fine here.
- I also HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is almost always over measured.
- You can sub some of the flour for other types of flours for different flavors, which is one of the ways to alter and play with the flavor profile.

Butter: I love using salted butter in pastry but unsalted works fine too, I would just add an extra pinch of salt.
- You can do all butter, all brown butter or half and half. Just make sure to give the brown butter time to chill back until it’s hard again and the final amount is the same in weight as the ingredients require. Browning some or all the butter will also allow you to play with the flavor a bit.
- I have not tried this recipe with shortening or lard so I can’t recommend them, although I don’t see why they wouldn’t work here.
Egg: I used 1 large egg for the egg wash.
Water: you’ll want ice cold water. I measure my water first, pop it in the freezer while I get the rest of my ingredients ready and then bring it out when I need it (make sure it doesn’t actually freeze though lol).
Alcohol: Never have I ever had a flakier crust than when I added 1-2 Tbsp of alcohol. Because alcohol inhibits the development of gluten, it allows you to add a little more liquid without risking a tougher pastry. My best results were with whiskey, but any type of spirit will work fine and won’t impart any flavor unless you use more.
- This is totally optional and not necessary but definitely recommended to replace 2 Tbsp of the water with alcohol.
- You can also use less water and more alcohol to bring in a bourbon flavor if desired.
Sugar: I rolled them in granulated sugar mixed with cinnamon. I don’t recommend using a different type of sugar for this.
Spices: I just used some ground cinnamon but you can change it up and do pumpkin spice, chai, cardamom, ginger, whatever your heart desires. A simple vanilla bean sugar would be great too or maybe even adding lavender/rose if your’e into florals.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1: Cool your ingredients:

Place the alcohol in a measuring cup and add the cold water. Place it in the freezer
Place the flour in the bowl of the food processor and place the whole bowl in the freezer.
Cube cold butter and add to the flour in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Step 2: Remove the bowl from the freezer, place it on the food processor and pulse until pea seize chunks form.

Step 3: Stream in the water mixture just until it starts to come together. Start with a third cup of mixture and add a little more at a time just until the dough starts to look more wet. The dough will still be crumbly but when you press on it, it should stick together.

Step 4: Remove the dough from the food processor, press it together so it all sticks together. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for an hour.

Step 5: Roll out one disc of the pie crust at a time on a floured surface. Use cookie cutters or pie cutting designs to cut out as many shapes as you can. Work quickly so the dough doesn’t get warm.

Step 6: Place each cookie on a plate or tray and freeze until completely solid. Then beat an egg with a fork and use a pastry brush to lightly egg wash your cookies.

Step 7: Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on their size, until they’re lightly browned. Let them cool for a few minutes. Mix the cinnamon with the sugar and then roll the cookies in the cinnamon sugar while they’re still warm.

If they cool completely before the cinnamon sugar, they might not stick well to the sugar. You can lightly brush the cookies with butter or spray with a little avocado oil before rolling in the cinnamon sugar.

add cold cubed butter to food processor (i have half brown butter in the crust here, optional but make sure it’s chilled)

blended until pea size chunks — add cold cubed butter to food processor (i have half brown butter in the crust here, optional but make sure it’s chilled)

How To Bake These Cookies (Convection And Conventional)?

I always bake in a convection (fan) oven but when I took some polls on instagram, most of you said you either don’t have one or you don’t know how to use your convection oven. So since I developed most of my recipes in a 350F (177C) convection oven, I decided to experiment with a conventional.

If you don’t know the difference, a convection oven has a fan that circulates the heat more evenly. This usually results in a quicker bake, so always do less time if you’re unsure and it also gives a more even browning. If you’re not used to it, the change can be frustrating.

I baked these at 425F (218C) because when you have a hotter temperature, it helps set the shape of cookies/pie crust better. To be honest, anywhere between 350F (177C) and 425F (218C) should be fine – just let them bake until they’re starting to brown a little.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the cookie dough be made ahead of time?

Yup, just follow the steps up until you roll out the cookie, cut it out and freeze them. You can leave them in the freezer in an airtight container until you are ready to bake them.

Can I make these dairy free or vegan?

You can make these with dairy free butter and if you want to skip the egg wash you can or just brush them with a dairy free milk.

Can I make these gluten-free?

I haven’t tried it with pie crust but I don’t see why it would work. I would try it with 1:1 substitute for King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour Blends. The cookies turnout perfectly, they just have a traditional gluten-free flour flavor which is a little earthy/nuttier.

Can I re-roll the leftover pie crust to cut out more cookies?

Yes but it might make those cookies less tender/more tough. I do re-roll it once, quickly and gently, don’t over-work it, but definitely not more than once.

Can I have other add-ins?

I wouldn’t recommend having add-ins with these kinds of cookies, but you can roll them in other flavors like pumpkin spice, chai, plain sugar or vanilla sugar, or make your own mixture!

can top with decorative pie crust cut out from the scraps — pie crust cookies used to top mini pecan pies

How To Store These Pie Crust Cookies

You can store them in a cookie jar or place them in a ziplock bag and keep them at room temperature for a couple days but then make sure to refrigerate them. They obviously will dry out a little more the longer you leave them in the fridge.

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.

If you make these pie crust cookies, I would love it if you left a star rating for it in the recipe card.

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B