Make up a quick not-to-sweet treat: Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crust Cookies made with gluten free and vegan pie crust. So yummy and simple!
It time for Recipe ReDux again! If you’re new around here, Recipe ReDux is a monthly recipe challenge founded by dietitians. Blogger participants like me don’t have to be dietitians, but there are great dietitians in the group to follow! Every month on the 21st I share a recipe that fits a theme for that month.
It’s fun to see what other bloggers come up with each month for the same theme; so many great ideas every month! Here’s the Recipe ReDux theme for this month:
June 2015 Theme: Pie Love
Tucked in a crust, nothing says love from the oven like pie. Whether it’s a twist on the all-American apple pie or a traditional recipe from your home country, give a healthy makeover to your favorite savory or sweet pie recipe.
My Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crust Cookie recipe isn’t pie exactly, it is made from my favorite healthier homemade gluten free pie crust. One of my favorite memories was baking pies during the holidays and baking the extra pie crust pieces with some cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over the top. Those were one of my favorite treats!
I made these Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crust Cookies with the pie crust from my Caramel Apple Galette recipe that I made over 2 years ago. Through trial and error I made a great gluten free and vegan pie crust that was tender and delicious, without filler starches or gums. It’s fantastic!
When I first made these I tried modifying the recipe with sorghum flour and coconut oil, and the final result was not as light and flaky as I would have liked. So we’re sticking with the original recipe, just replacing the almond milk with rice milk.
The photos are from my sorghum flour/coconut oil pie crust, so the original rice flour/palm oil crust may not be quite as sturdy as these, but they will taste far better. If you want to get fancy, dip half of each twist in chocolate or drizzle chocolate on top.
If you’re looking for healthy shortening for baking, I love the butter flavor palm oil shortening from Spectrum. It adds a great natural, non-dairy butter flavor to your pie crusts. I also love using it to make frosting for our Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes, a birthday staple in our house.
Palm oil shortening is a perfect sub for conventional shortening since the texture and melting point is similar so you can replace it 1:1 in your favorite recipes with no problem. The Spectrum palm oil shortening is also non-hydrogenated, all-natural, organic, and sustainably sourced and is pretty easy to get. A couple of our local supermarkets carry it and there are lots of online retailers that sell it at a discount (like Vitacost).
Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crust Cookies (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 2 Tablespoons unbleached sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons palm oil shortening I use Spectrum
- ¼ cup rice milk
- 2 Tablespoons ground golden flax seed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Unbleached sugar and ground cinnamon to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt
- In a small bowl, combine rice milk and the ground flax seed and set aside
- Meanwhile, use a pastry cutter to cut the solid palm oil into the flour mixture until crumbly
- Add the flax/rice milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined and a stiff dough forms. You can add more rice milk 1 Tablespoon at a time if the mixture seems too dry
- Press the dough firmly together into a ball. Place between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll into a rectangle that is a bit less than 1/4 inch thick. Or roll out onto a pastry mat that is lightly floured with rice flour
- Slice the dough in half lengthwise and then into strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide.
- Lay the pie crust strips on the cookie sheet and gently twist the strips. Repeat until all the pie crust strips are twisted
- Sprinkle the pie crust twists with ground cinnamon and some unrefined sugar
- Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before eating
- Enjoy!
- Store in a sealed container for 2-3 days
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
Haha, okay, even though these are so not pie themed, I love them! They sounds fantastic!
Thanks! These do fit into the pie theme since they are made with pie crust – just another way to eat it 😉