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Pie Crust Cookies are flaky, buttery, cinnamon sugar cookies that were born from not wanting to waste the trimmings when mom made pie! You can either make these cookies as pinwheels or cutouts.
As a kid, one of mine and my sister’s favorite things about mom making pie was the leftover pie scraps!
Yes, we ate them uncooked, and yes, kids are gross (lol!).
But if we were really lucky and there were a lot of scraps, mom would sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar and bake them for us. What a treat!
For some reason, we loved those crispy, flaky, buttery, cinnamon sugar bites as much as we enjoyed mom’s pie.
As an adult, I love the nostalgia factor of Pie Crust Cookies. It brings me right back to my mom’s kitchen.
These cookies taste exactly how you’d expect them to: buttery, flaky, and sweet with cinnamon sugar. It’s definitely worth making a batch of pie dough so you can make these instead of just using scraps!
And store-bought pie dough will work just fine too.
I’m sharing two different techniques for making Pie Crust Cookies, pinwheels and cut-outs.
Pie Crust Pinwheels remind me of miniature cinnamon rolls (especially with an easy vanilla icing drizzled on top), but with flaky pastry dough instead of soft yeasted dough.
And Pie Crust Cutouts are deliciously crisp and full of cinnamon-sugar flavor. They remind me most of what my mom made for us as kids!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The nostalgia factor. If your mom also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on pie dough trimmings and baked them for you as a kid, you will love these.
- Flaky, buttery crust. We use an all-butter homemade pie dough, which results in the most tender, flaky, and delicious crust – or cookies here.
- They still work in a time crunch. Store-bought pie dough works great here.
- Fun with kiddos. I speak from experience as a kid when I say that kids love making these.
The Best Pie Crust Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
Dough:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Ice water
Cinnamon Sugar Butter Filling:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
Icing:
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Heavy whipping cream
Step-by-Step Instructions
How to Make Pie Dough:
- Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the chilled, diced butter.
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork, a pastry cutter, or your fingertips. It should look crumbly, with some pieces of butter the size of small peas.
- Drizzle the water in a little at a time, mixing as you go.
- You can mix the dough with a fork, but it works best mixing with your fingertips.
- Add just enough water so it comes together to form a ball of dough (you may need more or less water).
- Divide the dough ball into 2 equal parts. Roll each into a ball, flatten each ball slightly into a disk, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
- After chilling, place 1 disk of dough onto a floured work surface. Working from the center out, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 11 to 12 by 16 to 18 inches.
Adding Butter and Cinnamon Sugar to Make Pie Crust Cookies:
- Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
- Sprinkle on half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
How to Make Pie Crust Cut-Outs:
- Use your favorite cookie cutters to stamp out the dough into shapes.
- Arrange on baking trays and bake until golden, about 10 to 15 minutes at 375F.
How pretty are these pie crust cutout cookies?! They’re flaky and full of buttery cinnamon sugar flavor, absolutely perfect paired with an afternoon cup of coffee or holiday tea. Or you can use them as dippers for Pumpkin Pie Dip!
How to Make Pie Crust Pinwheel Cookies:
- Starting with one of the shorter sides, roll the dough up as tightly as you can into a tube. Wrap the tube in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat this process with the second dough ball.
- After chilling, slice the tubes of dough horizontally into 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick slices.
- Arrange the cookie spirals on baking trays and bake until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes at 375F, rotating the trays once halfway through.
- Let the cookies cool completely. Use a fork to mix together all ingredients for the icing in a bowl. Drizzle the icing onto the cookies and let it set before serving.
What is the Easiest Way to Roll Out Pie Crust?
Here are my best tips for how to roll out pie crust:
- Chill the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Roll it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Lay 1 piece of parchment paper down on your countertop and lightly sprinkle it with flour.
- Flour both sides. Place the chilled dough onto the floured piece of parchment. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Put a second piece of parchment paper on top of the floured dough.
- Roll evenly and turn the dough. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin, applying even pressure and frequently rotating the dough 1/4 turn, and adding more flour as necessary.
Cooks Tips
- Don’t be tempted to reduce the butter or use a substitute. This is what makes our Pie Crust Cookies super flaky, crisp, and flavorful.
- Your butter needs to be chilled to get the right flaky texture in the end result. I like to dice my butter, and then pop it back into the fridge so it stays cold.
- Make sure you follow the directions on chilling time for the dough. This makes it easier to roll out the dough, and helps the cookies bake best.
More Recipes That Use Pastry Crust
- Warm Spiced Apple Hand Pies
- Flaky Peach Hand Pies
- Apple Slab Pie with Nutty Oat Crumble Topping
- Vanilla Cardamom Pear Hand Pies
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Pie Crust Cookies Recipe
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Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter chilled and diced
- 3/4 cup ice water plus more as needed
Cinnamon Sugar Butter Filling:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/16 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the Dough:
- Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork, a pastry cutter, 2 butter knives, or your fingertips. It should look crumbly, with some pieces of butter the size of small peas.
- Drizzle the water in a little at a time, mixing as you go (you can use a fork to mix, but it works best mixing with your fingertips). Add just enough water so it comes together to form a ball of dough (you may need more or less water).
- Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each into a ball, flatten each ball slightly into a disk, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
To Assemble the Pinwheels:
- Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl.
- Place 1 disk of dough onto a floured work surface. Working from the center out, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 11 to 12 by 16 to 18 inches.
- Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and then sprinkle on half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Starting with one of the shorter sides, roll the dough up as tightly as you can into a tube. Wrap the tube in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes or in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, repeat this process with the second dough ball.
- Preheat the oven to 375F, and line 2 large baking trays with silpat baking mats or parchment paper.
- After chilling, slice the tubes of dough horizontally into 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick slices.
To Bake:
- Arrange the cookie spirals on the prepared baking trays and bake until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes at 375F, rotating the trays once halfway through.
To Make the Icing and Frost the Cookies:
- Let the cookies cool completely.
- Use a fork to mix together all ingredients in a bowl.
- Drizzle the icing onto the cookies and let it set before serving.
Notes
- Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes about 50 cookies; each serving is 2 cookies, for a total of 25 servings.
- Storage: Once the icing is set, you can store these cookies stacked between wax paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- You Can Skip the Butter That’s Brushed on the Filling: This recipe will still work just fine. Your cookies will have slightly less of a buttery flavor (but they will still be buttery thanks to the all-butter pie dough), and their color will be lighter.
- To Make Pie Crust Cut-Out Cookies: Make the recipe above to the point where you have brushed on the butter and sprinkled on the sugar and cinnamon. Don’t roll the dough up into a tube; instead, use your favorite cookie cutters to stamp out the dough into shapes. Arrange on baking trays and bake until golden, about 10 to 15 minutes at 375F.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
Free Bonus
Can you freeze these cookies
Jean, Yes, these cookies freeze well.