Plum Pie Cookies

There is no time for stories today because we need to start talking about these Plum Pie Cookies now! These are the August Cookies from the Food Network Magazine Calendar of Cookies and they hit a home run with this recipe. Even though they are called cookies, the pie part of the name is much more accurate. Essentially small hand pies, these Plum Pie Cookies are flaky, buttery, tart and dangerously delicious.

The cookies are made from a pie crust that has more sugar than normal, which I think Food Network did to try to take them from a pie to cookie category. The perfectly jammy inside is made from tossing some fresh plums with sugar, cinnamon and a little flour. Plums can be a little sweet and a little tart; a winning combination for these cookies.

I don’t know if I mentioned it previously or not, but even though Matt is a fan of lots of different types of dessert, his absolute favorite is pie. Specifically cherry pie. However, I kid you not that might have changed with the baking of these Plum Pie Cookies as Matt announced that if these are the pie dessert I choose to make for the rest of eternity he would be ecstatic. Cherry pie recipe search over – Plum Pie Cookies have been crowned the ultimate dessert.

Matt is slowly turning me into more of a pie person and I was also quite smitten with these Plum Pie Cookies. I say that so modestly, while the real truth is I ate three the first day I made them and none from this batch made it out of the house or to the freezer. Oops. I’m perfectly fine with these cookies being in the regular dessert rotation, at least during plum season, because although there’s a fair amount of steps the recipe wasn’t complicated.

If you’ve worked with pie dough before then you know what to expect; if you haven’t the one thing I would want you to know about pie dough is that it is easier to roll, cut and pick up when it is cold. The original Food Network recipe skipped a lot of nuances when it comes to chilling the dough in a way that keeps the process from getting frustrating so I added in a lot more detail in the recipe below to take you through how I went about making the cookies. When you make these Plum Pie Cookies don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments!

Plum Pie Cookies

 

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Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 2½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten, plus 1 beaten egg for brushing
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 small plums
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse 2½ cups of the flour, ½ cup of the sugar and the salt until combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the flour mixture looks crumbly. Add 1 beaten egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Work each dough ball into a disk and place each disk on a separate piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top of each and then roll out each into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place both round sheets in the fridge and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the first round sheet out of the fridge. Use a circle cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out 2½-inch rounds as close together as possible. Place the rounds on one of the baking sheets and return to the fridge. Put the scraps aside. Take the second round sheet out of the fridge and repeat the cutting out process. After returning the second baking sheet to the fridge, take all the scraps and shape into a disk before placing on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top then roll into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place in the fridge.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup sugar, the remaining tablespoon of flour and the cinnamon. Halve, pit and thinly slice the plums. I cut each plum in half then cut each half into 10 thin slices. Then cut each slice in half crosswise. Toss the plum slices in with the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take one of the baking sheets out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Lightly brush the edges of each of the 9 rounds with the remaining beaten egg. Place 4 plum pieces in the middle of each round then top with a second round of dough (taking more from the second baking sheet in the fridge if you need them). Press the edges to seal them crimp the edges with a fork. Cut 4 small vents on the top of each cookie. Put the baking sheet in the freezer while you work on the second batch.
5. Take the second baking sheet out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Repeat the steps with the beaten egg and the plums. Top with the rounds you have then take the remaining large round sheet of dough made from the scraps out of the fridge and cut out the remaining rounds. After sealing, crimping and cutting vents remove the first baking sheet from the freezer and replace with this second one.
6. Lightly brush the cookies with some beaten egg and then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool completely on the pan set on a wire cooling rack. Take the second baking sheet from the freezer and repeat.

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 Recipe from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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Lauren Cookies, Dessert, Recipes 2 Comments