Cherry Pie Cookies.....and a Tutorial Too!!

Would you like some pie?

Best thing about a pie cookie is that you can eat the WHOLE thing! (You don't have to share!!)
I've always loved cookies that look like food.
Ever since I first saw Ali Bee's pie cookies, I've wanted to make these myself!
I've done chocolate cream and pumpkin, but I hadn't yet tackled fruit pies.

Want to make your own?

Tutorial Time!

Bake round cookies using your favorite recipe and mix a batch of royal icing.
Thin some of your icing to a 20-second consistency and color it a 'fruit' color. I used dark red for this cherry pie, but you could make blueberry or apple too!
(I almost always refer to Sugarbelle's color chart when I mix a custom color!)

Pipe a circle about 3/8 of an inch inside the edge of your cookie.
The space you leave will be how thick your 'outer crust' will be.

Make some cherry shaped blobs with some space between them. (highly technical, I know)
These are all different sizes and shapes. Some the size of peas...all the way up to the size of a dime.
Set that cookie aside and let it dry about 20 minutes or so.

Then....do the same thing all over again.

Make some cherry shaped dots, let dry, repeat until full.

Let those dry!

Now the Crust!!!

The top and side crust are both made with piping consistency ivory icing.

I used a 301 tip for the lattice strips.

Its a small flat tip, kind of like a basket weave without the grooves.

I've seen it called a 'calligraphy' tip, but I've never actually tried it for writing.

First one direction...

....then the other.

Easy-peasy.

I liked that the lines are all bumpy like a real pie!

Now, how you feel the edges of a pie should look really depends on your family.

Some people just fold it over on itself, others make a little ruffle.

My grandmother used a fork to crimp the edges of her pies, 

so that's what I wanted to re-create.

This is a 101s petal tip.

I held the cookie in one hand and made a smooshed ruffle,

making sure that the crust met the filling.

Then set it down veeeeeeerrrrrrrry carefully.

Let it dry really well.

Overnight would be best.

Look....it's a pie!!!

But....hmmmm.

It still looks a bit....raw.

When my grandmother baked a pie it was all shiny and golden.

They never looked pale like this!

Nothing a little painting can't fix!

I can never remember if she used milk or an egg-wash,

so I used Vodka!!!!

(heh-heh)

Mix a bit of vodka (or water, or vanilla extract) with a bit of warm brown food coloring...

...and paint it on just like you would before you would bake a pie.

No need to be careful.

Just get your brush wet and brush over all the crust!

That's better!!!!

But now comes the real debate.

Do you prefer whipped cream or ice cream on your pie?

Or both?!

Pumpkin or Chocolate?

So which one are you?  Pumpkin pie lover or chocolate?  

My mom loves pumpkin pie any time of the year.  I've heard reports that cousin Craig just may get a little  grumpy if he doesn't end Thanksgiving with a slice of pie and a little cool whip on top (or was that a bowl of cool whip and a little pie on top....hmmmm).

I'll always take chocolate cream pie.  Really though, I'm happier if it has a graham cracker crust.  Not a big pie crust fan.

My husband, on the other hand, doesn't like either.  Know why?  Not enough crust.  Not even close!

For Joe, a proper pie needs: 

   1. A bottom crust  AND a top crust.

   2.  Some sort of fruit filling that looks a whole lot like apples....

   3.  It must be warm.

   4.  There absolutely must be, no doubt about it, don't even think of handing him the plate if there

        isn't, vanilla ice cream on top.

   5.  No whip cream.

He's not a picky eater....he just knows what he likes.

In other words, these cookies are not for him....

Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Cream Pie Cookies!!!

I'm certainly not the first to make these.  Ali Bee's Bake Shop did the first ones I saw a year or so ago.

Hers are ah-mazing, and I've wanted to try them ever since.

I wanted to do something a little different, a little unique, and since they still need to look like pies.....there's not too much wiggle room.

So I tried to think back to the last time I made a pie....

....that didn't help....

then I remembered my grandmother doing this when she'd make lemon meringue pie for my mom.

Did your grandmother do this?  The 'crimp the edges with a fork' thing on the edges?

No?  Oh.

Well, I'm pretty sure mine did.

This was before Martha came around and let us know we were supposed to be braiding and stamping and carving the edges into who-knows-what.

That's what her pies looked like!

So....which would you pick?

Pumpkin?

Or Chocolate Cream?

 Or some of each?

Thanks for stopping by,

Lizy B