It's my Season! Baking Season!

I am one of those few crazies who WILL bake all year long, but this is the time of the year when baking is considered a MUST! Everyone loves a good homemade pie, or a fresh batch of cookies....

What about a Pie Cookie??

A what? Yes, you read that right! Pie Cookies! Apple Pie Cookies to be exact, but I assure you I will be playing with this recipe over the next few weeks to see what other type of "pie cookies" I can concoct!

It started with my friend, Becca, linking me to here - http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/10/apple-pie-cookies/ I assure you I didn't alter her recipe in ANY way shape or form - I just didn't necessarily follow all of her step by step instructions or her assembly line form of doing things. Kind of hard to be that OCD in your baking with 6 children underfoot, especially when the baby wakes up to nurse right in the middle of kneading pie dough!

 

 

With special friends coming to visit today, and bringing us "practice pork" aka pot belly piggies, and yesterday having been my birthday, I decided to create these fantabulous delights!

 

 

A few things I want to share from my pie cookie bake experience - small cutters. This is key. I did not have (will soon remedy!) small round cookie cutters. I had A biscuit cutter and 3 perogie cutters. Oops. I used the smallest perogie cutter, which was bigger than my biscuit cutter, to cut my rolled out pie crust. I yielded 8 pie cookies. Eight. My cutters are way too big! Smaller round cookie cutters will definitely yield MORE cookies - as of right now, I have to make a second batch or my kids are going to LYNCH me!

But they are totally worth it! I bit into the first one - and oh my!! The crust is this perfect, sweet buttery flavored crust that just explodes in your mouth. It's ALL about the crust! Until today, I have never made a lardless pie crust. This crust is an all butter crust, and it's heavenly! There's just enough apple-ly goodness inside to satisfy that apple pie craving, but not enough to be over powering or to take away from the crust!

 

 

Also, when going by the directions in the above blog, DO listen when she says to chill the dough! If it gets too soft it makes it difficult to roll and pinch together.

This new treat gets a definite A+ from me, and it is a cookie I'm definitely baking for our cookie walk!