Leftover pie dough can be quickly transformed into these simple but delicious Pie Crust Cookies! These incredibly easy cookies are as perfect for decorating pies as they are for snacking. Don’t forget to watch the how-to video!
The Simplest Holiday Cookies
Welcome to the third installment in this week’s pie crust series! On Monday we made the easiest, BEST pie crust recipe and Tuesday’s post detailed how to blind bake pie crust, and today I’m sharing my favorite way to use up leftover pie dough with these pie crust cookies! Crisp, buttery, and coated in cinnamon sugar, these simple cookies are so good you may find yourself whipping up some pie dough just to make a batch.
While you could just use these for decoration (like I did on my pumpkin pie), they’re tasty enough for snacking too and so much fun to make with kids! Not too sweet, they’re just slightly addictive–almost like eating potato chips.
If you want to be extra fancy, you could always serve them with my caramel apple cheesecake dip or cookie dough dip for a sweet appetizer. They’d even taste good with melted chocolate drizzled on them! The possibilities for these pie crust cookies are truly endless, and they’re probably the simplest cookies you’ll ever make.
Let’s get started!
What You Need
Besides pie crust, you only need a few simple ingredients you’ll already have on hand:
- Pie dough. Leftover pie dough scraps or an entire batch of dough will work fine for this recipe. I recommend using a dough that you know is flavorful and buttery to give your cookies the best flavor, like my pie dough recipe.
- Egg. Any size egg will work–this is for an egg wash, which helps the cinnamon sugar stick and makes the cookies nice and golden brown.
- Water. Water helps thin the egg wash into a nice, brushable consistency.
- Sugar and Cinnamon. To add some flavor and sweetness, we’ll sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on them.
SAM’S TIP: Get creative with your cookies! They’d taste great sandwiched with a little bit of apple butter, blueberry sauce, or even dulce de leche!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pie Crust Cookies
These cookies are super fun to make with kids! Let them help you roll out the dough, cut out the shapes, or sprinkle the cinnamon sugar. Pretty much every step of this recipe is kid-friendly!
- Begin by preheating your oven to 375F, preparing a baking sheet with parchment, mixing up your egg wash, and combining the cinnamon and sugar. Then, roll out your pie dough until it’s ¼″ thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut shapes in dough.
- Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet and space 1″ apart. Lightly brush each cookie with egg wash.
- Sprinkle cookies with cinnamon sugar and bake until light golden brown.
SAM’S TIP: Some people like to use their pie dough to make pinwheel cookies instead of cutout cookies. To do this, roll out the dough, brush it with egg wash, sprinkle cinnamon sugar all over, roll the dough into a tight log and then cut into slices–just like you do when cutting cinnamon rolls!
Frequently Asked Questions
You could, but I really recommend using my homemade pie dough recipe. It is so easy to make and has SUCH a better flavor than store-bought!
You can just use scraps! Pie crust cookies are a great way to use up leftover pie dough and make sure nothing is wasted.
While they do have cinnamon sugar for flavor, these cookies will still taste like whatever pie crust you’re using to make them. Because of this, it’s important to use a pie crust that you know tastes great!
If you’re using a good pie dough, they’ll be buttery, flaky, and just a little sweet. If you’re using a bland pie dough, they could turn out somewhat bland, but still likely tasty!
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
- Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cinnamon Maple Leaf Cookies
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Pie Crust Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 pie dough or scraps of pie dough homemade or store bought (click the link to make my homemade pie dough for this recipe)
- 1 egg any size
- 1 teaspoon water
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prepare egg wash by thoroughly whisking together egg and water in a small dish, set aside.1 egg, 1 teaspoon water
- In a separate small dish, whisk together sugar and cinnamon.¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Roll out pie dough or pie scraps to be just under ¼” (0.6cm) thick (if using store bought pie dough it will already be this thick, no need to roll).1 pie dough or scraps of pie dough
- Use cookie cutters to cut out cookies and transfer them to baking sheet, spacing at least 1” (2.5cm) apart.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush all over the surface of each cookie with egg wash.
- Sprinkle generously with cinnamon/sugar mixture.
- Transfer to the center rack of 375F (190C) oven and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cookies are just beginning to turn light golden brown. Allow to cool on baking sheet for several minutes before enjoying.
Notes
Serving size:
The serving size and bake time was calculated using a full batch of my homemade pie dough and using 2.5” (6cm) cookie cutters. Using larger cookie cutters will require a longer baking time and will yield fewer cookies. Smaller cutters will require shorter baking time and will yield more cookies.Cookie cutters:
I’ve linked to the cookie cutters that I personally used in the “Equipment” section above. You may use any cookie cutters you like, but small ones work best for this recipe. If you don’t have cookie cutters, just use a knife to cut the dough into strips and then diamonds!Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Mary Ann
How do I store them after baking? Can I mail them for a Christmas gift? How long will they stay fresh?
Sam
Hi Mary Ann! I typically store them in an air tight container for several days. I’m not sure how they would do being shipped, jostling them around could break them up a bit.
Cheri Johnson
Would like to try these. Can they be frozen after baking them. Have time issues, would love to make, freeze an serve!
Sam
Hi Cheri! I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work. 🙂
Elaine
Delicious and perfect. Reminds me of my grandma’s Pets de soeur cookies.
Nice way to use up the leftover pie dough!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you liked them, Elaine! Enjoy 🙂
Jo
When I was a kid,my mom would make a big “Gallette” as we referred to it in French.She would add sugar and butter,before baling. Thst was a treat.
Sam
That sounds like a treat for sure! 🙂
Laura Ostman
Our momma (4 little girls) always did this with her pie dough SCRAPS back in the 1950s. Always had cinnamon and sugar on top prior to baking!!
She called them
“poor man pies “. My sisters and I have such wonderful fond memories of those times.
Sam
That is so sweet. I’m so glad this helped bring back some wonderful memories. 🙂
Mary
My mom always did that when we were kids with pie dough scraps, just not as fancy (no egg wash). Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top and bake. I did it with my kids too! Good way to not waste anything!
Sam
Such a tasty way to avoid food waste! 🙂
Stefanie
Great Idea! Can you activate the link for the cookie cutters?
Sam
Whoops! Yes, link has been added! 🙂