Store-bought pie crust gets a bad rap. Sure, a homemade pie crust hits differently but there is a time and a place for store-bought—especially when it involves a great shortcut with a super cute ending. Enter Instagrammer @sheri_wilson_, who created tiny little flowers out of store-bought pie dough, filled them and served as individual desserts. After one look at her springtime vibe-filled reel, we headed straight to the kitchen to see if this one was really as easy as it looked. Spoiler: This is the definition of minimum effort, maximum reward! Read on for everything you need to know.
Related: We Tried 13 Store-Bought Pie Crusts and the Winner Is Ina Garten-Approved
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How to Make Pie Crust Flowers
Take a store-bought pie crust (the refrigerated ones in the box or even frozen pie crust, if that’s what you have, like I did). If using frozen, let it thaw just enough to unstick it from its aluminum pan. If using a refrigerated crust, let it come to room temperature on the counter. Arrange the pie crust on a lightly floured surface and roll it out just a bit—you’re not making it paper-thin, just giving yourself a little more surface area to work with.
Next, grab a cookie cutter. I used a 3.75″ Scalloped Edge Flower Cookie Cutter and it worked like a charm. I got about 8 flower cutouts from one crust. Next, transfer the cutouts to your muffin tin. To make sure the petals didn’t stick to one another, I put a flower in every other spot, just like Wilson did. Once you snuggle the pie crust into the muffin pan, press gently on the petals to help them stay flat as they bake and poke a few holes in the bottom of each flower to help keep the crust from puffing up.
Bake for 350° for about 10 minutes, or until they are golden little flowers, ready to be filled. Once they’re cool enough to handle, gently remove the pie crust posies from the muffin tin. When they’re fully cool, fill the flowers with lemon or lime curd or a jam of your choosing and dust with powdered sugar. (For mine, I filled half with lime marmalade and decorated with raspberries and did a second batch with apricot jam mixed with a splash of vanilla paste.)
Related: I Tried the Pie Crust Martha Stewart Calls ‘As Dependable As They Come’
What I Thought of Pie Crust Flowers
Jessica Wrubel
These cute treats were bright, buttery, and disappeared in the same amount of time it took to make them (about 5 minutes).
After whipping up a batch of these, I started dreaming up all kinds of different flavor combinations, since these could also be taken in a more savory direction—think goat cheese and roasted red pepper, or pesto and Parmesan. They’re basically tiny edible bowls just waiting for your next big flavor idea, whether it’s sweet or savory. And, really, who needs a whole pie? These little guys are easy, impressive and frankly, way more fun.
Related: The Super Smart Store-Bought Pie Crust Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner
