As a little girl, I asked a lot of questions. My favorite word was “why,” closely followed by “what” and “when.” As in, “Mommy, when may I have dessert?”
During the times I noticed her in the kitchen preparing to bake, I started asking my questions before she even finished pulling out the flour and sugar!
“Mommy, what are you making?”
“When will it be ready?”
“Why won’t it be ready sooner?”
I nearly drove her crazy every time she baked a pie. Since they required around an hour in the oven plus another 30 minutes to cool, she devised a brilliant plan to distract me. Mom sliced off the scraps of pie dough hanging over the edges of the pan, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, and baked them alongside the pie for a few minutes so I would have a little snack while I waited impatiently.
And now I do the same thing, baking cinnamon sugar dough treats for my friends and family (and myself!) as we eye the clock. My mom sure is a smart lady!
Cinnamon Sugar Dough
makes enough pieces to tide you over while you wait for the pie to bake
For a twist, add a little nutmeg or ginger to the cinnamon sugar. Don’t let it bake for too long; burned pie dough doesn’t make for a happy crowd!
excess pie dough, cut from the overhang on the sides of the pie tin
3 tbsp granulated sugar
½ − ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a small bowl or plastic bag, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Cut the dough into 2-3 bite-sized pieces, and lay flat on a baking sheet. Generously sprinkle the top of the dough pieces with cinnamon sugar, and bake at 350° for 8-10 min or until light golden brown. Cool 2-3 min on the pan before eating to prevent burning your fingers or tongue!
Is she ever a wise lady! I can see you have learned many wonderful things from your fantastic mom. Love from Colorado! – J, B, & L
Most definitely. She raised me really well, and I’m so fortunate that she’s my mom!
Miss you three!
My grandma did almost the same thing, except she rolled up extra bits into tiny, flaky cinnamon-roll type treats called “ladyfingers”
What a great idea! I just may try your grandma’s idea the next time I bake a pie. Thanks for sharing!
Love this idea for the pie scraps. I think I still do that, even as an adult (“when will it be ready?”…”how much longer?”) 🙂
Whew, I’m glad I’m not the only one still asking those questions! :] I’m so impatient; I stare at the timer and beg it to go faster… But it’s always worth the wait!
Thanks for stopping by!
Yummmm! I love this idea! 🙂
Thank you! But I can’t take credit; it’s really all thanks to my mom!
This is really unique! I’d love to try sometime. My daughter is 3, and I tell you I have continuous supply of the what, where and why’s 24/7. It can be really exhausting, but I thought somehow this is one way we allow them to learn, so the most we could do is to answer their queries, it will be impossible to answer all, so perhaps, answering the most that we can is the best way to go 😉
Anyhoo, we have just recently launched a food photo submission site, http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/ that allows you to showcase all your great work and share it with all of our visitors. Your phenomenal photos have caught our attention. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there! (sorry for the blatant shameless plug)!
I remember baby-sitting an adorable three-year-old boy a few years ago, and “Why?” was his favorite question too! His parents and I did our best to answer his queries, but sometimes we turned the tables and asked him, “Why do you think that’s true?” It was cute to watch him realize that he knew the answer all along!
Thanks for the invitation! I’m quite flattered, especially since the photos your site displays look so professional (and tasty)!
I do this with left over and scraps of pastry dough as well! I must have learned it from my mother.
It’s such a fun little treat to make, isn’t it Peggy? Our mothers taught us well!