I’m not a huge fan of  pie in general but I do love those fried pies, especially the ones filled with coconut or chocolate.  I think I like them so much because of the proportion of crust to filling.  But  you know what’s better than fried pies?  Pie Cookies !  These little treasures of flaky goodness are the perfect combination of crust and filling.

These little strawberries and cream pie cookies are made using a pie crust which is filled with a layer of cream cheese and a dollop of strawberry preserves.  Need I say more?

Make 9 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Box of frozen Pie Crust (2 sheets per box -thawed)
• 4 oz Cream Cheese (1/2 package)
• 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
• Fruit Preserves (about 9 oz)
• 1 Egg (egg wash for crust)
• Pie /Cookie Cutter

Directions

Lay out a piece of wax paper and unroll your two thawed pie  crust.  Take your cookie cutter / lid and cut out nine circles.  Make sure to get them as close together as possible.  Cutting it on wax paper makes it easy to remove the dough.

You will make the lattice out of these remaining pieces.

 Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl.  Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on the bottom half of your cookies.  

Next, add a dollop of your preserves.

I’m going to apologize now because I missed getting pictures of the lattice being cut  so I am going to try to explain it.

I used a canning lid to make my pies but you can choose any size cookie you want simply by using different sizes of lids or cutters.  I cut out as many circles as I could with the pie crust that was left after I made the bottom 9 crust.  You can  then cut the rest of the “lattice” for the cookies by hand using the remaining dough.  If you have made pies in the past with a lattice top, this part will be no problem for you.

If you have never tried it before, it can be a little intimidating but let me assure you it is a simple as….well…pie.  Cut your remaining crust circles into into 5 strips. You can make the rest of your lattice strips by cutting the dough that was left around the circles into long rectangular pieces.  ( You can compare a before and after in the picture above)  As you can see,  some of the strips were too long so I just used the lid to tidy it up.

Pillsbury has a video on their site that shows how to make a lattice pie crust here.  Check it out if you want step by step instructions on how to weave the lattice.

Brush the tops of you little cookies with some egg wash and place them onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.  

See of the ooey gooey goodness?

Here is the finished product.  Notice where the juice has run out onto the crust a little and has caramelized.  That’s the best bite.    I can’t tell you how good these taste and how wonderful the house smelled while the were baking.

No plates or forks needed.  Choose you favorite flavor and give them a try.

 Ratt