How To Pretty Up Your Pie With Pie Crust Cutouts
Pretty as pie.
If desserts held a beauty contest, humble pies would lose to glamorous cakes every time. But we say it's time to put a little polish on that pie and let it shine. Here are ideas for simple pie crust cutouts that add extra eye appeal to our favorite homespun dessert.
Related: See our entire collection of pie crust recipes.
Photo by Vanessa Greaves
How to Make Pie Crust Cutouts Step by Step
You can use scraps of leftover homemade or ready-made refrigerated pie dough.
- Roll out pie dough on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thick.
- Dip your cookie cutter — or knife, pastry wheel, whatever you're using to cut out shapes — in flour. Then cut out shapes from the dough. Use a pastry wheel to cut out "diamonds." Or personalize a pie with mini alphabet cutters.
- To add color to cutouts, mix together raw egg yolk and food coloring — and paint your shapes.
- Use a paring knife to draw veins on leaf cutouts.
- To "glue" the cutout shapes to the pie crust, dab the bottoms with water or egg wash.
- If you like, brush the pie with egg wash and sprinkle some coarse sugar over the top so the crust shines!
Making a leaf pattern | Photo by Meredith
Quick Guide: How to Make Pie Cutouts
PrettyYourPie Infographic
Bonus Tip: Use cutout shapes to hide cracks on pumpkin pies.
Cutouts hiding cracks | Photo by Meredith
Try These Top-Rated Pie Crust Recipes
- Basic Flaky Pie Crust: Made with shortening
- Butter Flaky Pie Crust: Made with butter
- Flaky Food Processor Pie Crust: Made with butter and shortening
- French Pastry Pie Crust: Made with shortening and egg