Cookie Crumbs Are An Easy Way To Totally Upgrade Store Bought Frozen Pie Crust
Pie crusts have long been the subject of heated debates over whether they should be homemade or purchased from the frozen section of the grocery store. Generally, the consensus is that if time isn't an issue, homemade pie crusts are better – they'll be flakier, more buttery, and more delicious.
Store-bought frozen pie crust can become dry and lack a desirable flaky texture because it usually doesn't contain real butter in its ingredients. Luckily, for times when it's not practical to spend more than an hour in the kitchen kneading and rolling a buttery pie crust, mouth-watering pies don't have to be off the table for after-dinner dessert. There's an easy way to upgrade store-bought frozen pie crust so that it's moist and delicious, and it involves the use of butter mixed with cookie crumbs.
Using cookie crumbs in a pie crust is a simple hack to elevate your pie's flavor and texture. There are different ways to make cookie crumb pie crust depending on one's preferences, but what they have in common is that they'll make dinner guests believe that the delicious apple or meat pie they're digging into has been made from scratch.
How to make cookie crumb pie crust
Making a cookie crumb pie crust is simple and doesn't require a lot of kitchen tools. A trusty food processor is ideal for getting a fine-as-sand crumb, but placing the cookies into a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin for a few minutes also works well. Once the crumbs are ready, it's time to add them to the pastry.
"My favorite way to up-cycle store-bought pastry is to brush it with melted butter and sprinkle over crushed cookies," food blogger Claire Wells told AllRecipes. "Gently press the crumbs into the pastry surface by adding a layer of parchment paper over the top and rolling your hand over the surface a couple of times to make sure it sticks."
Another easy way of adding cookie crumbs to the pie crust is by sprinkling the crumbs onto a floured surface before rolling out the crust. But, whichever method you use, it's a delicious way to use leftover cookies for your favorite pies, ensuring they have more of a homemade taste.
The best cookies to use for pie crust
The great thing about using cookie crumbs in store-bought pie crust is that there are endless options. There are numerous different cookies to experiment with when making cookie crumb pie crust, and you can customize your pastries depending on personal preference, the flavor profiles of the pies, and their richness. Sweet pies can have their flavor and richness taken to a higher level with sweet cookies. So, if decadent desserts are the goal, chocolate wafers or Oreos will complement such pies as pecan chocolate quite nicely. Ginger snaps are a good idea if a bit of spice is required, or if the pie is too sweet or creamy — and the flavor works particularly well for cakes, too.
In addition to cookie crumbs, you can also use crackers, such as Ritz or Graham crackers, which work particularly well for pies because they have a crispy texture. Since these crackers are a bit salty, they contrast the sweetness of the pies beautifully, such as in the case of a creamy, sweet cheesecake or key lime pie. For savory pies, cheese or rosemary-infused crackers are easy ways to give more flavor to them without being too rich or buttery. Give it a whirl and watch those frozen pie crusts transform before your eyes.