PIE COOKIES

I had this dream the other night that a friend of mine opened a Pie Bakery that exclusively sold pie cookies. What?!! What a brilliant idea - all the deliciousness of pie but with the compactness of cookies! Because sometimes, let's admit it, we don't want the whole damn pie. We just want a taste. And although hand pies are a great option, sometimes there's just a little too much dough and not enough filling. But in cookie form I think it's possible to get the perfect ratio of filling to crust, and come on, folks, it's ROUND - just like a pie. So, I went digging around the internet thinking I was going to take the culinary world by storm with this new innovative pie treat, only to find out that pie cookies are already a thing! Oh, well... 

Here'a a recipe for Blueberry Pie Cookies from Building Butter Cream. 

Blueberry Pie Cookies
(makes approx. 32 3-inch cookies)

Pie Crust:
2.5 cups flour (whole wheat pastry or all-purpose)
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2.5 sticks cold unsalted butter
approx. 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:
2.5 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar (lower if berries are ripe)
juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp cornstarch

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
2. Cube the butter and "cut" it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea.  Make sure you don't go smaller than this, however, since you'll start to lose flakiness if the butter is too small.
3. Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture. 
4. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together.  You don't want the dough too wet, and you don't want to mix in the water too much.  I find it useful to just use my hands to mix at this point.
5. Divide the dough in two, cover each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple hours at least (overnight is best).  This is especially important with the whole wheat pastry flour since it makes the dough a little easier to work with.
6. Toss the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest, butter, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
7. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
8. Line the bottom of a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Remove one of the covered dough halves from the refrigerator.  Divide this in half and roll out on a floured board.
10. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut eight circles out of the pie dough.  Place these on the parchment paper, evenly spaced.
11. Spoon a small amount (5-6 blueberries and a little sauce) into the center or each pie circle.
12. Cut eight more circles out of the pie dough (you may have to gather the scraps and re-roll it out).  Place each circle on top of the blueberry-topped bottom circles.  Press down the edges with something thin (the top of a paintbrush or pen would work).  Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut some small slits in the top.
13. Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack.  Repeat in three more batches with the rest of the pie crust and filling.