You put heart + soul + elbow grease into your pie crust, it’s a crime to toss out all the precious scraps left behind after the shells are filled. As we head full swing into the holiday season, I thought I’d share a method for turning extra dough into scrumptious little cinnamon sugar cookies. The recipe was passed down from my great grandmother, Robbie, who called these flaky, bite-size treats Noodle-um Naddle-ums.
Here’s how:
1. Gather
…up any bits of leftover dough and roll them into a ball. Wrap well and keep chilled until you are ready to bake.
2. Preheat
…the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough out very thin.
3. Cut
…into strips that are about 3/4 of an inch wide by 5 inches long. Precision isn’t important here.
4. Have ready
…a tablespoon or so of melted butter and a dish of cinnamon-sugar. Brush the top of the dough lightly with the butter and then sprinkle generously with cinnamon-sugar.
5. Roll
…each strip into a pinwheel and set on the baking sheet with the loose end down so it doesn’t unfurl. Lightly dab a bit more melted butter on the top of the cookies and add another pinch of cinnamon-sugar. 
6. Chill
…the baking tray in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up the dough if you have the time. If not, it can go right into the oven, just may not hold its shape as well.
7. Bake
…the cookies until golden brown all over, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven.
Pour glasses of milk for yourself and any pint-size bakers you might have on hand and enjoy your pie crust the second time around. Noodle-um Naddle-ums are worth every bit of elbow grease that went into making your dough.
Comments
11.26.2012 at9:14 AM #
Pamela
This is great~~I like seeing the Noodle-um Naddle-ums on your blog and I bet Robbie does too! Wonderful photos! Thank you!
11.28.2012 at5:00 AM #
Kara
My mom made these for my brother and me when we were kids. We loved the days she made quiche or pie! She made them with my 3-year old over the summer and they were a hit. Since then, my daughter and I have made the dough (fun for her, very messy for me to clean up) just to make the cookies.
Another easy way to prep them, which is how my mom always did it, is to roll out the dough, sprinkle the whole sheet with sugar and cinnamon, roll it into a log, then cut the log into bite size cookies. The log may squish down a but as you cut, but not much and it’s easy to give the cookies a pinch to reform them.
11.28.2012 at5:00 AM #
Katie Morford
So sweet to carry on those traditions. I like your technique…it’s a little less labor intensive. Thanks
11.28.2012 at11:50 AM #
Sally Kuzemchak
My mom made these with me as well! After she made a pie, we rolled out the scraps and used a cookie cutter to make little diamonds and hearts, then we sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. That is one of my sweetest (literally and figuratively) childhood memories. I recently did that with my four year old, using the same cookie cutters.
11.28.2012 at11:50 AM #
Katie Morford
Love my old cookie cutters. Sweet.
11.29.2012 at10:24 AM #
Sally
I made these with my mom, too, using the same method that Kara mentions. Since I’m in my 60s and my mom would have been 97 this year, this has been going on for years and years!
11.29.2012 at10:24 AM #
Sally
I made them with my daughters, too. One day I imagine they’ll make them with their kids.
12.07.2012 at9:18 AM #
homejobsbymom
These sounds great! And are a great way not to waste food. Love it.
12.12.2013 at1:30 PM #
Kate
We always make cookies from the dough scraps, we call them pie cookies which are literally just that— the scraps sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, I’ve never rolled them up into anything fancy like these before but I’ll have to give them a try. So cute!
11.20.2017 at9:31 AM #
Elizabeth Ward
I used to make a version of these cookies with my mother when she baked pies during the holidays! Mine were not as pretty, and sometimes I burned them, but my mom always told me they were delicious!
11.20.2017 at9:31 AM #
Katie Morford
Such special memories…and I never mind a little char on my cookies 🙂