Pie Crackers (Pie Crust Trilogy Part II) (YF)

Time for part two of what I am calling our Pie Crust Trilogy! So, you’ve mastered last week’s pie crust? Or maybe you are just thinking about giving it a try (be brave!), but aren’t sure what to actually do with it once it’s made. Well, I’ve got a scrumptious apple pie recipe coming up soon, but first, here’s something VERY easy, fun and yummy to do with your crust.

Pie Crackers are a sweet cookie-like treat made with the dough that’s left over after you put a pie together. This is a family recipe, handed down from Grandma to Mom to me, so I can't pick on the creator of this recipe without getting into trouble! Your family may have something similar-it’s not Rocket Science! I’ve been known to make them all on their own, too. They are super easy, kids can help (just in case you have some that may stray into the kitchen while you're baking), and everyone loves to eat them-they never seem to last long.

We’ll start with the dough, all made and ready to go!

Pie Crackers (YF)

If you made the pie crust for TWO crusts, use only half. If you have made a pie, squash your leftover dough back into a ball.

First, set your oven for 450 degrees and your rack in the center of the oven.

Roll your dough out on a floured surface as you would for a pie crust. The nice thing here is you don’t have to worry about making a nice circle to go into your pie pan. Square, rectangle, circles-whatever you come up with is fine. Aim for a uniformly thin sheet of dough. For pie crusts you want approximately 1/8 inch thick. Think the same here, however, if you tend to like crispier cookies, you can go a bit thinner (caution-they cook faster!). Once you’ve baked a sheet of these, you’ll have a good idea what you like best!

Cut the dough into squares (ragged edges are good-sometimes very good once cooked!) and again, no rules on shapes here. You could use cookie cutters, but this is thin dough, so save some patience for transferring the pieces to the baking sheet.

Tip: You may want to do a test run with only 2-3 pieces on the baking sheet the first time, if you are at all anxious about how quickly they brown up. This will give you some added confidence, too. Always a good thing!

Speaking of which...transfer the pieces to the baking sheet! You can spray your baking sheets with non-stick spray (i.e. Pam) or line them with foil if you like, but I like to line my baking sheets with parchment paper, rather than place cookies directly on them. This may seem like a pain-and an added expense. But honestly, once you start doing this, you’ll love it! Cookies cook up better-brown better on the bottom, never stick, and you don’t have to wash the sheet! If you are neat and tidy (which really, these particular goodies aren’t!) you can even use the paper 2 or 3 times!

Brush each cracker with a small amount of milk-just enough to wet the whole surface. (FYI...you should have a pastry brush that you ONLY USE for sweet things. Don’t let anyone put BBQ sauce on the chicken legs with your pastry brush or your pastries might eventually start to have a little savory, garlic scent-yuck!)

Sprinkle each piece with sugar, about a teaspoon per cracker--use your fingers! It will look like a lot, but it isn’t. Ultimately, this is one of those things you will tweak over time, depending on how sweet you like your Pie Crackers, but this is a good place to start. (During the holidays, you can mix colored sugars 50/50 with regular sugar.)

Next, sprinkle each piece with cinnamon. Don’t get too heavy handed, but don’t be shy either. You’ll get the hang of it. 2-3 shakes per cracker.

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, after that, bake at 1-2 minute intervals but WATCH THEM! Don’t leave them unattended toward the end. There’s a lot of sugar on those babies, and sugar is just waiting to reach the appropriate temperature so it can burn! When you see them browning with a slight carmelization on the thinner edges, it’s time to pull them! If you have some pieces that are thinner than others, they will brown up faster. Those you may want to remove and put on a rack to cool, while putting the sheet back into the oven a little bit longer for the rest.

Altogether, depending on how hot your oven is (yes, don’t let that official temperature fool you, some ovens run hotter than others) you are probably looking at 7-8 minutes total.

Cool on a rack--careful, don’t taste yet-that hot sugar can burn your tongue!

Once cooled, these are great after school with milk, or in the morning with coffee or well...anytime really.

You’ve done it! I’m so proud. :)