Each time I open up the refrigerator I almost always see what I call a number of 'good intention' containers (aka leftovers). You know the ones. Morsels of food carefully wrapped as it would be nothing short of a sin to throw them away. Sometimes you intentionally don't finish your meal because your eyes were bigger than your stomach or because you wanted to savor its' deliciousness again. Other times you wrap them up because they taste even better the next day. Whatever the reason, some of these 'good intention' containers end up taking space in the refrigerator, waiting for the ultimate mortal sin of wasting and throwing away food to be committed (have you guessed my religious upbringing yet?).
I had dinner at Rino's Place in East Boston before my recent return flight back to the midwest. The amazing, wanted to (literally) lick my plate scallops served in a limoncello sauce appetizer adversely affected my ability to eat more than a few bites of the main course, the famed Lobster Ravioli. Not having a clue as to how I would manage to carry the uneaten, perfectly wrapped up Lobster Ravioli on the shuttle to the airport let alone on the plane, I took them with me anyway (not only would it have been another sin to leave them behind it would have been an insult to the chef who made the incredible dish). Dropping off the rental car, I finally came to the sad realization that the coconut frosted chocolate cupcake from Georgetown Cupcakes and the still warm Lobster Ravioli from Rino's were not going to make the trip back home. But if I couldn't be the one to enjoy the cupcake and lobster ravioli, someone else would have to (sin avoidance thinking). While checking in my rental car, the (young) car rental guy surprised me with an unexpected reduction to my bill. Unbeknownst to him, he would be the 'lucky' one to relieve me of the wasting food guilt I dreaded having.
As I have shared previously, I am relatively new (and late) to the pie dough making world. For the Brûléed Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Swirl, the dough portion of recipe made enough for two pies. I couldn't bring myself to put the remaining dough into the abyss of the freezer and I wasn't ready to make pie two days in a row. So I decided to do what many other pie dough makers, who couldn't bear to see their homemade dough go to waste, have done for decades. I decided to make Pie Dough Cinnamon Cookies.
In making these cookies, I finally understood why most bakers recommend allowing the pie dough to chill overnight. The dough's flakiness factor is significantly ramped up resulting in a baked pie dough cookie having buttery layers of cinnamon sugary, crispy goodness.
Antique cookie cutters are one of the things I collect. When browsing through antique stores or sifting through flea markets, I am continually on the hunt for them. The making of these 'vintage' cookies gave me yet another excuse to put them to use. Nowadays there are replicas being made of the antique graduated sets of tin cookie cutters that have taken me years to find. Fatdaddios is a company making some great nylon cutter sets in a variety of shapes.
Rolled out pie dough (to a 1/4 inch thickness) is brushed with an egg wash then generously sprinkled with a cinnamon sugar mixture. The 'sparkly' bakery look finish to the cookies came from using equal parts of white/clear coarse sanding and granulated sugars.
The recommended baking temperatures and times for pie dough cinnamon cookies shared by others ranged considerably. I settled on a baking temperature of 375 degrees and going with a 15 to 20 minute baking time (which turned out to be closer to 20 minutes) in order to get a lightly golden, crispy cookie. Note: The size of the cookie will impact your baking time, watch and adjust accordingly.
Never having made these cookies before I asked the 'tasters' in my life to guess what kind of cookie it was (love this game). In her first bite, my childhood best friend said without hesitation the cookie took her back to her childhood, reminding her of the one her mother made with leftover pie dough. Turns out, she was the only one at the table who guessed right.
So whether or not these Pie Dough Cinnamon Cookies will evoke a childhood memory or fool everyone else tasting them, they really are a good cookie. A perfect cookie to go with a cup of tea or coffee, with ice cream or gelato, with a glass of milk, or with nothing at all. For me, pie dough will never again be one of those 'with good intentioned' things placed and left to sit indefinitely in the refrigerator before ultimately being thrown away. However, a batch of these Pie Dough Cinnamon Cookies can be baked without making a pie. Simple never tasted so good.
Pie Dough Cinnamon Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
12 ounces all purpose flour
8 ounces cold unsalted butter (recommend KerryGold), cut into pieces
4 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup white sanding sugar (or any other color of sanding sugar for a different look to the finished cookie) Recommend India Tree Sanding Sugar
1 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon
Egg Wash
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon water
Directions
1. Place the flour and salt into the food processor to mix.
2. Add half of the butter and process slightly. Add remaining butter until mixture has a crumbly consistency.
3. Add cider vinegar to the ice cold water. Slowly pour the vinegar/water into the flour/butter mixture until the dough comes together (be careful to not over process).
4. Press the dough together, divide in half (forming each one into a disk), wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight. Overnight chilling is important.
5. Mix together the coarse sanding sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and set aside.
6. Mix the egg and water until well blended and set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out dough with cookie cutter of choice (or use a knife to cut into triangles).
8. Place cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush each cookie egg wash and then sprinkle liberally with the sugar mixture.
9. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove baking sheet from oven. Allow cookies to set for five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Allow cookies to cool completely.
10. Store cooled cookies in a tightly sealed container or if making as a present, wrap in cellophane bags tied with ribbon.
Optional: Serve with some ice cream or gelato or dip in melted chocolate.
I grew up in a midwestern city designed like a grid. All of the horizontal and vertical intersecting streets were filled with houses, schools, a few parks, and some stores. The spaces between houses were called gangways and everyone got to their garages by driving down the alley. The only animals seen on a regular basis were dogs, cats, and squirrels (have I told you how much I don't like/hate squirrels?). I remember the family on our 'block' who tried to raise chickens for what seemed like a week. With neighbors living in such close proximity to one another, there wasn't much tolerance back then for the sound of a rooster.
Nowadays when I am driving down two-lane highways in towns with more open space or in rural areas, the mere sight of cows, sheep, goats, buffalo, or horses has me reaching for my camera to take some photos. I attribute this slight obsession with taking animal photos with a very limited exposure to animals seen in my childhood (the zoo doesn't count). But I am neither whining nor complaining about my childhood. As there is much to be said for being an adult having a childlike exuberance for all living things (except squirrels). I have been known to turn around on a highway, stop suddenly (not my wisest moments), or drive out of my way to take photos of animals and wildlife. When my nephew and I were driving across Montana this summer, I failed to let him know that the words 'oh, look' spoken as I was pointing at animals was really code for 'could you please pull over so I could take some photos?'. I ended up muttering 'there goes a good photo opportunity' more times than saying 'thank you for stopping the car'. But had we stopped as often as I thought there were picture postcard photo opportunities, the drive from Bozeman to Missoula would have been about as long as it would take to get there on a horse (only slightly exaggerating here).
Beyond experiencing the sheer excitement of just seeing a drove of cattle, a flock of sheep, a herd of buffalo or a string of horses, is getting as close as possible to seeing and capturing the genuine beauty in their faces and in their eyes. Oh, the things that make me happy.
