Sugar Cookie Pie Crust -YUM!

I have been on a bit of a pie-making binge the past couple weeks: 6 pies total. It all started when a friend brought me some delicious Utah peaches... so I whipped up one of my peach pies + made an extra Sugar Cookie crust, which I filled with my homemade vanilla cream pie filling (initially I intended to make TWO peach pies, but didn't have enough cream cheese on hand). Yum - that crust was supa good with vanilla cream filling, too!

I had been promising another friend a chocolate cream pie, so with my pie crust momentum I made another couple of sugar cookie crusts (one for my friend + one for my family, since we enjoyed the previous pies so much). I filled them with chocolate and vanilla cream. That evening on a whim I invited my neighbors over for pie... I could always make more, right?


Did I think to take any pictures of a completed pie? NO.

But I did manage a few shots of the crusts.

In the past I have typically gone the easy route and used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, but this crust seems to be forgiving, therefore pretty simple to do. And it is crust that I actually want to eat!

Sugar Cookie Pie Crust

1 cup butter, softened (1 cup = 2 cubes = 2 sticks = 1/2 lb.)

6 Tbs. sugar

2 large egg yolks, room temp

6 Tbs. heavy cream

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl on low speed of an electric mixer (I use the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid), cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and cream, mixing well. Add the flour and salt, mixing just until combined. Gather the dough into a ball, and divide into two equal pieces. You can TRY to roll this dough out on a floured surface and then transfer to your 9" glass pie plate. I have also resorted to just pressing it into the pie plate due to the stickiness of the dough. The good news is, both techniques produce a similar crust... nice and tender, comes out of the pie plate easily, and so so tasty. 

 (The pie on the left I was able to roll, so it looks nice and smooth. The pie on the right would NOT roll well, and I didn't want to add too much flour, making it tough, so I just pressed it into the pie plate.)

Fold the edges under all around the rim of the pie plate and crimp. Prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork. Cover the edges with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.

 I have found that making simple foil strips and holding them together with paper clips works amazingly well...

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (I usually do 15). Carefully remove the foil and continue baking 15 to 20 minutes more (I usually do 15), until the crust is crisp and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, it's ready to fill! I have an amazing cream pie filling recipe, which I hope to post in the next couple of weeks... just in time for Thanksgiving :-)

YUMMMMMMMMMMM.....

Sugar Cookie Crust Peaches and Cream Pie

(Adapted from the More from Magnolia Cookbook)

Crust

1/2 cup butter, softened
3 Tbs. sugar
1 large egg yolk, room temp
3 Tbs. heavy cream
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling

2 (8oz) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla

Topping

2-1/2 cups peeled, thinly sliced ripe peaches

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  For the crust, in a large bowl on low speed of an electric mixer (I use the paddle attachment on my stand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the egg yolk and cream and mix well.  Add the flour and salt, and beat until just combined.  Gather the dough into a ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface to fit into a 9" glass pie dish. (Note:  my dough was too sticky to use this method, so after my first failed attempt, I just put the dough in the dish and used my fingers to distribute it evenly.  You could always try refrigerating your dough for a bit before rolling out to make it less sticky.)  

Fold the edges under all around the rim and crimp.  Prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork.  Cover the edge with aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.  Carefully remove the foil and continue baking 20 minutes more, until the crust is crisp and golden.  (Note:  I panicked a bit when the crust was looking past "golden" after about 15 minutes, so I pulled it out of the oven immediately.  I believe it may have burned had I left it in the full 20 minutes.)  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

For the filling, in a large bowl on medium speed (using the paddle attachment again), beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the heavy cream and vanilla and continue to beat on med/low speed until well combined (can switch to whisk attachment).  Refrigerate the filling while the crust is cooling.

When the crust is completely cooled, spread the filling evenly in the crust with a rubber spatula.  Arrange the peach slices on top of the filling in a decorative manner.  (Note:  I would wait to put the peaches on until right before serving, as mine turned a little brown-ish.)  Refrigerate the pie for at least 8 hours or overnight to ensure the filling sets.

De-lish.