Joy the Baker

Lemon Raspberry Pie Crust Hearts

by 74 Comments

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

In my house as a kid, where there was pie, there were cookies.  It was a really fortunate, really delicious rule.

My dad would make a pie crust from scratch, roll it out just so, drape it into a pie plate, and trim the edges to help the pie crust fit perfectly.   My sister and I would sit around dad’s work table just itchin’ to snack on the raw pie crust scraps.

The raw pie dough was dough-y, salty, and buttery.  Good… definitely good, but just a bit bland.

We knew that if we just waited a few minutes longer, dad’s pie crust scraps would be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and baked to a golden crisp. Pie scrap cookies!  Just like that.  Pie and cookies.  That’s real love.  Waste not a bit of butter.

I turned my dad’s pie crust cookies into something heart-shaped and grand.  Skip the actual pie and make pie-like cookies.  Heart-shaped for love.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

This is our ingredient list!

Buttermilk Pie Crust- lots of butter, chilled, floured, and easy to roll.

Raspberries- frozen and thawed since they’re out of season these days.  Drained, mostly… then drained again.

Sugar for sweets.  Cornstarch of thickening.

Spices- cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and lemon zest… which isn’t a spice, but it’s cool.

Lemon Juice- just a squeeze.

Egg- for browning.

Turbinado Sugar- for extra credit.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

The filling is a simple stirring situation.  We gently stir together the raspberries with sugar, cornstarch, spices, lemon, and a pinch of salt. The frozen raspberries break down more than fresh raspberries so it’s best to go easy.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

While the filling rests, we roll out the pie crust.

Here are my two-cent tricks to rolling out a pie crust:  make sure your pie crust is well-chilled, rolled out on a well-floured surface, and quickly… there’s no time to dilly dally when working with cold butter.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

It’s Valentine’s Day so let’s play along with hearts.  It feels good!

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

Hearts and more hearts.

I like to let the pie crust hearts rest in the refrigerator while I roll out all of the crust.  It helps to keep the dough chilled when these pretty pies are assembled.

Feel free to gather and re-roll the pie crust.  It’s just that the more you work the dough the more tough it gets.  The first hearts will be the most tender.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

Just a dash of raspberry filling for each heart pairing.  The frozen raspberries make the filling juicier than fresh raspberries.  That’s ok!

A little sweet raspberry juice never hurt anyone.  It’s ok if it seeps out of the edge a bit.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

The hearts are pressed together with the tines of a fork and a few vent holes are added for decoration and function.

lemon raspberry pie crust hearts

The pie crust hearts are brushed with beaten egg, sprinkled extra extra with turbinado sugar and baked until golden brown (or baked until you almost forget them in the oven… whichever comes first).

These cookies are thick and flakey.  The raspberry center is bright and sweet.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

Because it’s pie it tastes like love!

Lemon Raspberry Pie Crust Hearts

makes about 16 hearts

Print this Recipe!

For the Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

For the Filling:
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed and thoroughly drained
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 large egg, beaten
turbinado sugar, for topping

To make the crust:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add cold, cubed butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture. Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture. Some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes; some will be the size of peas. Create a well in the mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk. Use a fork to bring the dough together. Try to moisten all of the flour bits. On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the dough mixture. It will be moist and shaggy. That’s perfect. Divide the dough in two and gently knead into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Allowing the dough to rest in the refrigerator will help rechill the butter and distribute the moisture.

To make the filling:
In a medium bowl, gently stir together thawed and drained berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, spices, and salt. Stir until just combined.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and set aside. In another small bowl place about 1/3 cup of turbinado sugar.

To roll out the pie crust and make the hearts:
On a well-floured surface, roll one of the disks out to a 1/8″-thickness. Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut about 10 to 12 hearts out of the rolled crust. Place the hearts on a plate and place in the refrigerator while you roll out and cut heart shapes from of the second pie crust disk.

You can re-roll the scraps of pie crust if you’d like. The more you work the crust the tougher it will become.

After rolling and cutting all of the hearts, you should have 28 to 32 hearts. Brush half (14 to 16) of the hearts lightly with the beaten egg. Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of raspberry filling in the center of each heart. Get as much fruit and go easy on the juice.

Lightly stretch the remaining hearts with your fingers. Place the slightly stretched hearts over the fruit-studded hearts. Press the ends together with your fingers. A bit of raspberry juice might seep out of the sides. That’s ok! Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Use a small knife to create a few small vent holes on the top heart.

Lightly brush the the tops of each heart pairing with beaten egg. Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Allow cookies to chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place prepared hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies are best served within 3 days of baking.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Alissa

    These look so beautiful! I’d like to make these ahead of time for my parents’ upcoming 50th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks. Can I make and assemble them and freeze them uncooked ahead of time? What kind of timing and temperatures would they need to bake from a frozen state? Or is this a terrible idea? I’d appreciate any tips!!!

    Reply

  7. 3718273

    You need good parchment paper for that, check out the signature collection from cheflebon.com amazing genuine vegetable parchment,

    Reply

  14. SouthernSpoon

    My mom did the same thing with the leftover pie scraps– cinnamon sugar dusted pie crust cookies! I’ve never been able to get my pie crust to turn out as tender and flaky as hers. Thanks for the lovely recipe, and hope that the NOLA move planning is going smoothly! Have lots of family in North Louisiana (they were sweet potato farmers!)– it’s such a fascinating state, with some awesome food. Best of luck with the transition!

    Reply

  22. Rlg07

    Thinking of making these for my daughter to give to classmates but with strawberries instead of raspberries. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  27. Megan

    My mom used to make pie crust twists with the cinnamon-sugar, and they were almost better than the pie. (Almost.) I have a bag of raspberries in the freezer that were destined for muffins on Friday, but these little beauties my edge that idea out. Yum!

    Reply

  28. Peggy

    My daughter saw me reading your post and said – “ooh mom look, your tarts!” Had to tell her these weren’t mine, but we’ve made Apricot Pastry tarts since I was a child – my mom’s recipe, always heart shaped, and only at Valentine’s Day. Now I want to add yours to the party!

    Reply

  39. margie s

    In my house, that cinnamon-sugar pie crust leftover was called ‘near pie’. I’ve never seen any other reference to that phrase. And yes, yum, because pie has to cool for a few hours!

    Reply

  48. Katy

    Wow, those raspberries! Scraps from pies/ roll out cookies are the best and somehow they taste even more delicious than the actual pie itself. These are adorable Joy and I love when you share recipes you made with your dad!

    Reply

  50. TaylorMay

    I am completely, totally- baking these. Tomorrow.
    I love them
    Thank you for sharing such sweet memories along with delicious pie cookies.
    And gorgeous photography, how lucky we are to have so much bursting life to save ourselves, and share with others.. to be shared with. Simple life, sweet pocket moments. . So much in pictures.

    Reply

  52. Ladotyk

    The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts,all on a summer’s day;
    The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts,and took them clean away.
    The King of Hearts called for the tarts,and beat the knave full sore;
    The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts,and vowed he’d steal no more!

    Reply

  54. Gerry Sala

    Joy, you will do fabulous with your move. My momma would do the same cinnamon pie scraps. There were four of us kids and we would fight over them.

    Reply

  55. Kinsey

    My mom and dad used to do the same exact thing with leftover pie crust–we would make little bundles of it rolled with cinnamon sugar and then promptly burn our tongues when them came out the oven, to this day, it’s my favorite part about baking pie.

    Reply

  59. Karen

    These look perfect, though there is a part of me that wonders what they would look like with the end dipped in chocolate. Ugh…I think I just channeled my husband. They look perfect just the way they are!

    Reply

  60. Moss

    Confession: I am officially playing bookie on Friday so that I will have time to make these for my Valentine. Thanks for another lovely recipe. Congrats on your move!

    Reply

  62. Mallory @forkvsspoon

    Joy – my grandma would do the same thing with extra pie dough, except we would roll up the cinnamon and sugar scraps and make tiny pie dough cinnamon rolls…they were so delightful – and to this day, those are what my brothers ask for me to recreate. Not the pie, but the scrap leftovers. Your hearts look amazing! And congrats on the move…so exciting to move somewhere new!

    Reply

    • Terry Covington

      My mother would do the same — little cinnamon rolls from pie crust. Amazingly excellent. But I love this idea of just using all the pie dough for special little things.

      Reply

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