I spent some time googling and browsing through Pinterest on how to make colorful pie crusts. The information was limited and I couldn’t find one that had exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to experiment and here are the results from that experiment! I would call this experiment a success. How about you?
I’ve seen bloggers & bakers paint directly on crust with paint brushes but I wanted my pie crust to be a solid color with no trace of the actual crust color. Since food coloring works to paint on top of the crust, why not try smearing food coloring on the crust and kneading it in?
I started by putting on a pair of latex gloves because I wasn’t trying to have a red and green manicure. Then I smeared gel food coloring on the unbaked dough. I used a lollipop stick to transfer the gel food coloring from the container to the dough.
After I applied the food coloring, I started kneading the dough until the food coloring was completely blended and even. It worked perfectly!
I used Wilton Red-Red and Leaf Green gel colors for these mini pies. Aren’t they adorable? I am partial to the braided wreath.
You can also use matcha powder and beet root powder if you want to use natural red & green dye colors. I used organic matcha powder to make the tree on the pie pictured below. I will say, Matcha has a more bitter taste, but it does make the perfect shade of green for an evergreen tree.
Also, the natural dyes will not give you the vibrant colors that food coloring does.
To get the designs, I used cookie cutters and pie crust cutters, but then altered the shapes to achieve this look.
I used THESE mini Christmas cookie cutters. For the stocking, I made one stocking using the red colored crust and one using the non-colored crust. I then cut the top off of the non-colored stocking and put it on top of the red stocking to give it dimension. I did a little reshaping until it was what I wanted. I did the same steps to make the candy cane and present with the red bow.
To get more tips and tricks on making mini pies CLICK HERE.
I always get asked to share my pies post-baking so here they are! The colors are a little more muted, but not much.
And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and find it inspiring to bake for the upcoming holiday. If you have any questions please comment below or DM me on Instagram. My handle is @acarriedaffairdesigns
Until next time. Xo
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7 Comments
Kym
Happy New Year Carrie! I am new to your beautiful blog thanks to Instagram. I have been trying to track down those adorable snowflake cutouts and can’t seem to find them in your links. Could you share? Thanks a bunch! Love your blog!
Carrie
Hi! Thanks so much for the very sweet message. ❤️ The exact ones I bought are no longer available. I bought them last Winter. But I did find similar ones on Amazon. Here’s the link: Fox Run 48741 Intricate Assorted Winter Snowflake Pastry/Cookie/Pie/Fondant 2″ Stamper and Cutters, Set of 4, Multi-Color https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQ2JBNX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.KqkCbSXF9N3G 🤗 Let me know if you need anything else!
Katrina
I was able to find one of the snowflakes on Ebay (star in the middle of the snowflake) but the other I’m having a hard time tracking down. Who made these snowflake cookie cutters, what is the company name on the box it came with? That would help track it down. Also, when you bake the snowflakes do they look like they do as raw. I didn’t see an after picture of the baked pie. In another snowflake cutter mine ran together and came out like a blob. I was thinking to freeze them then pop them in the oven to keep the shape? Or do you have a certain dough to use for these. Thank you.
Katrina
I found the snowflakes on Ebay, never been used. It was in a Williams Sonoma container with 3 pie punches (what they called them) lol. I searched for hours under cookie cutter, cookie stamp and all along they are calling them pie punches. I would still like to know about the other questions in previous post. I just love the colored version of pie crusts you created, who knew!
Carrie
Hi! I bought the snowflakes at Williams Sonoma two years ago. I do not think they sell them anymore. I don’t remember the actual brand. I do think they are on Amazon though. The stamps do look the same baked as they do pre-baked (more brown of course). If you check out my mini pie post you will see a before and after baked photo.
If you are using a butter based crust, make sure the crust is very cold right before popping into the over. Make sure the crust is 1/4 inch thick. Lastly, I recommend baking the stamps separately on a parchment lined cookie sheet for10 minutes at 350ºF. I then decorate the top crust of the pie after everything is baked. Hope that helps. Thanks!
Aubrey Smith
Wow! These are beautiful!!You are so talented. I just discovered you on Instagram and had to check out your blog. I am wondering if the food coloring alters the taste of the crust much? Also does kneading the color into the dough affect the texture? Or is the crust still flaky?
Carrie
Thank you so much!!! I have not found that the crust tastes differently. That is totally my opinion. But I also haven’t had anyone tell me the taste is off, so I take that as a good sign. 🙂 The crust is still flaky. My trick is to keep it cold. I usually knead on a parchment lined cookie sheet and pop into the freezer when the dough starts to get warm, then continue the process. I always keep the dough cold, which is key. Hope that helps!