Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry Sticks



Whenever I make pies I look forward to the bits of extra pastry left over from trimming the edge of the pie crust or the dough scraps from when you cut out tartlette rounds. I can't stand to throw food out, so I coat them with cinnamon-sugar and bake them on a cookie sheet until golden brown. They come out buttery and crisp and are perfect to nibble on while waiting for your pie to be done baking.

Today I was in the mood for a sweet baked treat but didn't feel motivated enough to measure out a bunch of ingredients (and do the accompanying dishes afterwards). I was happy to find a plastic-wrapped ball of pie dough in my fridge I had made a few days ago. Whwnever I make pie crust, I always make extra and either freeze or refrigerate it because you never know when you might need a quick crust (like today!)

In the time it took to preheat the oven (to 425F), I had rolled the dough (1/4" thick), cut it into little (1/2" x 3") sticks and sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar (1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon). After baking for 10-15 mins they were ready. Super-easy and almost no dishes!

You could do this with any pie dough but here's the one I used: my favorite all-butter dough from Gourmet. No icky shortening here! An all-butter pastry dough is a little less flaky than a dough made with a blend of butter and shortening, but you’ll love the end result — the taste of butter really comes through - mmm-marvelous!



All-Butter Crust
1 - 9" Single Crust | Gourmet, Sept/09

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

1. Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps.
2. Drizzle 3 Tbsp ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn'tt hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 Tbsp at a time, stirring until incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture or pastry will be tough.)
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

9 comments:

Amanda said...

Ohhh my kids would love these!

Cathy said...

Yum!! This would go great with the coffee I'm drinking right now!

Leslie said...

What a great idea! I totally agree, I never make pie crust with shortening, I'd rather have the far superior flavor than a little more flakiness.

Hilary said...

Those look so yummy! I imagine you could do something like this with puff pastry too.

Anonymous said...

YUM! I love pie crust. My mom used to top the scraps with cinnamon sugar and bake them and that was my favorite part of the pie.

Candy said...

These look yummy and my daughter would love them. Thanks for the great idea!

creampuff said...

Is there anything better than an all-butter pastry dough? I don't think there is! And nice way to use "leftovers". Nicely done, Tia!

Lori said...

These look great! I love ideas to use up leftovers!

zurin said...

Now why didnt I think of this!!! thanks :)