It's always amazing when you have a problem and the solution is cookies. The problems cookies can solve run from "How do I make everyone at my holiday party happy?" to "I don't have a cookie," but sometimes they are also genuine issues in the kitchen. And while too much pie is never really a problem, too much pie dough is. No matter how perfectly you measure things out, the nature of rolling out dough and shaping pie always leaves some random scraps of dough left over. Too little to make another pastry, too tasty to waste, it always feels bad when you end up scraping it into the garbage. But cookies really can solve that problem, and they can do it in an easy and delicious way.
Pie crust cookies are exactly what they sound like, and they are a great way to make sure your pie is not wasted. By just dusting your leftover scraps of uncooked with cinnamon sugar and putting them in the oven, you can bake some makeshift cookies for a little kitchen treat. Baked by itself, a well-made pie dough will transform into a flaky, buttery cookie (think ) that is delicious all on its own, and the extra sugar and spice are just a nice little boost that ties it all together. All of this can be done with almost no extra effort in a matter of minutes.
To make pie crust cookies, you'll want to start by rolling the leftover dough into one sheet and cutting out roughly even shapes so that they cook evenly. Brush them with either an egg wash or whole milk to give them a nice browned, crispy finish, and then dust them with sugar and the spices of your choice. Bake in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for eight to 10 minutes, but keep an eye on them because cooking times can vary quite a bit depending on the size of the cookies you made, and may be done in as quickly as five minutes or as long as 15.
Remove them when they are evenly colored a nice golden brown.
As for the flavors, you have plenty of options beyond cinnamon. Options like , or pie spices for apple and pumpkin, bring a nice extra complexity that still hits the same warm notes as cinnamon. Other classic cookie toppings like sprinkles or colored sanding sugar will make for a more festive appearance that will still be easy. If you want to go a little further and you have the ingredients on hand, light toppings like shaved coconut will also work, or you could make a simple glaze of milk and powdered sugar and apply it after the cookies have cooled.
Just because they are a convenient bonus to pie-making doesn't mean your pie crust cookies can't be special.
