What to do with leftover pastry dough

What to do with leftover pastry dough

 

Mini Apple Pie - Using up leftover pastry - The Messy Baker

I just can’t bear to throw out leftover pastry scraps. As a child, when my mother made pie, she salvaged every shred of dough and produced a treat I found more tantalizing than the star dessert itself — the Rolly-Polly.

She gathered the leftover dough, rolled it into a long strip, slathered butter down the middle, sprinkling it with cinnamon, brown sugar and — if we were very lucky — chopped walnuts. She then rolled the pastry strip into a log, bent it into a circle and pinched the ends together, forming an uneven, edible wreath. Inevitably, the over-handled dough cracked, but while it baked, the buttery brown sugar oozed out and caramelized into crunchy burnt nirvana. As soon as it was cool enough to handle, she cut the Rolly-Polly into bite-sized portions, which we gobbled boldly in the face of our fast approaching dinner.

Last week, with fresh apples from the market watching my every move, I forewent the Rolly-Polly. But I didn’t waste the scrippets of pate sucree cut from the rim of my Pear, Chocolate & Frangipane Pie. I gently patted the dough into a large ramekin. In went half an apple, chopped and tossed in cinnamon and brown sugar. I folded the edges over the top, which didn’t quite meet, and baked it along with the pie. Voila! Apple Something. Served with a drizzle of creme fraiche, it was a lovely, unpretentious treat I ate as I cleaned the kitchen. A reward for all my hard work.

 

Leftover Pastry makes a perfect mini-pie -- The Messy Baker

 

What do you do with those unruly bits of leftover pastry? Do you just toss them into the garbage? Or do you have some delicious rescue missions you wish to share?

14 Comments
  • Sally
    Posted at 11:24h, 29 October

    You’ve shamed me. I usually chuck it in the bin these days….but you brought back memories of rolling out the scraps (which turned rather grey!) into tiny jam tarts, initials and cheese straws. Will not be so hasty to ditch it in future.

  • Miranda Merten
    Posted at 11:31h, 29 October

    Man! I wish I had read this post last night because I had leftover dough, and just chucked it. Only after I milled over it for a while and couldn’t decide what to do. I would have loved to try that rolly polly!

  • Salanth
    Posted at 11:47h, 29 October

    Yeah, with leftovers, why not just stick some jam or some cooked up veggies and sauce together to make a random pastry? Mmm, serendipity!

  • Amy Proulx
    Posted at 12:38h, 29 October

    Cheese straws, except we always made them into little tiny bite-sized bits, and called them crackers.

    And use the heady, glorious stinky cheese, not the pale pasty stuff. You have my tummy grumbling!

  • Sheryl
    Posted at 13:36h, 29 October

    Jam commodores. Leftover pie crust always got rolled out to have strawberry jam slathered onto it, then folded up and crimped. Once baked, it was cut into squares. Waaaay too sweet, really, but we loved them.

  • Terry
    Posted at 14:22h, 30 October

    My mom just did an egg wash and a sprinkle of sugar on top and cooked it beside whatever was the real item of the day. Silly, but we all clamored for it.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:01h, 31 October

    @Sally, cheese straws? That sounds tasty. I don’t recall Mom making jam tarts but that’s a great idea, too.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:05h, 31 October

    @Miranda Merten, you’re the second person to say this. I’ve been guilty of chucking dough in the past myself. If the rolly-polly doesn’t suit your mood, there are lots more ideas in the comments section. Happy pastry making!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:05h, 31 October

    @Salanth, love the veggies and sauce idea. I’m not thinking of things I can do with salsa…

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:06h, 31 October

    @Amy Proulx, funny how cheese never occurred to me but you’re the second person to mention it. Bet those stinky cheese crackers are divine!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:07h, 31 October

    @Sheryl, ooooh, I would have loved these as a kid. Rolly-pollies were sweet too. I bet it looked pretty, as well! Thanks for sharing this great idea.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:08h, 31 October

    @Terry, not silly at all. We clamored for the rolly-polly more than the pie that provided the leftover dough. I guess it was the whole concept of something small, made just for us.

  • Cheryl Arkison
    Posted at 10:22h, 18 November

    Look at you! From no pastry to attended to scraps!

    We don’t usually have a lot of scraps because my girls tend to eat them as soon as they get cut off the pie. But, should I have some, I’ve been meaning to bake them in the mini muffin tins to create bite size toddler pies. I could probably just bake them plain and my girls would eat them. They are obsessed.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 00:21h, 22 November

    @Cheryl Arkison, yes, I’m a changed woman. Still get inconsistent results, but now that I have a food processor, my success rate is on the rise.

    Love your idea of the toddler pies. Good luck salvaging your scraps!