Perfect Pie Crust + Pie Crust Cookies

I remember this time when I was a kid and it rained on the day we were supposed to go to a water park. Major disappointment. I remember this other time that they didn’t have French Silk pie at Baker’s Square. Another disappointment. I made a strawberry pie last night that was also a bit disappointing. It wasn’t sweet enough and to be honest, I don’t feel like the pie recipe is worth posting…but that crust….man. That crust is good!

Oh! And the pie crust cookies!
Amazing.

Perfect Pie Crust (makes one double crust)
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 2 t sugar
• 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 T ice water

Directions

1. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, salt and sugar). Cut 2 sticks chilled unsalted butter into pieces. With a pastry blender, cut in butter, working until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Add 4 tablespoons ice water; work with hands until dough comes together. If dough is still crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time until forms a nice dough.
3. Divide dough in half, and flatten halves into disks. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. To form the pie shell, roll the dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch round, or until about an eighth of an inch thick. Press into pie pan crimping at edges.
5. Fill pie shell with favorite bake-able pie ingredients. Roll out second dough round and cover pie in any of a few ways! Lattice top, solid top with a few knife slits, or my personal favorite: cutting shapes with a cookie cutter and overlapping the top covering it. (OR simply freeze the second half for another pie on another day.)
6. Bake according to pie recipe you’re making.

And of course if you have any dough to spare you have to make pie crust cookies!

Pie Crust Cookies
Recipe from my Mom

Ingredients:

• spare pie crust dough
• cinnamon + sugar

Directions:

1. Roll out the excess dough, sprinkle excessively with cinnamon and sugar.
2. Roll up and slice and place in a cake pan.
3. Bake for a fraction of the time the pie’s in the oven. Five to ten minutes depending on the temperature of your oven.