This simple little trick for dressing up your holiday desserts takes just a few minutes and will transform your pies, cupcakes and cakes into something extra special…
Using any left over pie dough you may have or a sheet of store bought dough, you can cut out your favorite shapes and bake them into adorably golden brown leaves, hearts, Christmas trees… whatever you need! Your options are endless and all super cute.
Let’s get started…
If you are using left over homemade pie dough, roll out your scraps as smooth as possible and about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. If you are using store bought dough, let it thaw if it is frozen and roll it out a little bit, just enough to smooth out the folds.
Now, use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired shapes. If you do not have a cookie cutter, you can use a sharp knife to cut out cut shapes.
If you are doing fall leaves, use your knife to cut little hash marks into the top surface like in the photo below, so they look authentic…
Super cute, right? Now, transfer the shapes onto a flat baking sheet…
Once all of your dough is cut out, whisk an egg with about a tablespoon of water and lightly brush each one. This will help to give the dough a beautiful, shiny, golden brown surface as it bakes.
Bake your cut outs in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until they are lightly golden.
I love how cute they all are! I love doing a variety of different leaves to put on my pumpkin pies, pecan pies, cream pies and cupcakes. If you have some extra time on your hands and want a little variety in the color, you can use a spatula to pull a few leaves out when they are lightly golden and then pull a few more out when they are fairly golden and then leave a few in until they are a little deeper in color.
This is totally optional and takes extra time and planning, but I made my pies on Tuesday, so they had all of my attention and I was feeling a little extra… do what you feel like and they will be perfect…
Now add them onto everything that needs a little dressing up! You’ll be so glad that you made these adorable little decorations!
Pastry Pie Decorations
Ingredients
- pie dough
- cookie cutters
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon of water
Instructions
- Roll your pie dough out into 1/8-1/4 inch thickness
- Use cookie cutters or a sharp knife to cut our your desires shapes
- Place the cut outs onto a baking sheet
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water
- Brush the cut outs lightly with the egg wash
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown
- Use to decorate your holiday desserts!
