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Clothespin Cookies
4.5 from 81 votes

Clothespin Cookies

Clothespin Cookies are thin, crisply baked pastries shaped around forms to create hollow tubes that can be filled with a sweet, creamy vanilla filling. The dough is cold-processed with butter and carefully rolled thin before being sliced into strips and wrapped around forms such as mini cannoli molds or traditional clothespins. After baking, the tubes are filled with a vanilla cream mixture for a delicate, buttery treat with a firm exterior and soft filling.

Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
10 mins
Additional Time
45 mins
Total Time
1 hr 55 mins
Servings: 48 cookies
Course: Baked Goods

Ingredients

For the Dough:
  • 1 cup butter cold, unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 egg yolk
  • 2 ¼ cups flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt fine sea salt
  • ½ cup water cold
For the Filling:
  • 1 cup butter softened, unsalted
  • sea salt tiny pinch, fine
  • 1 pound powdered sugar sifted
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract pure
  • 1 ½ - 2 ½ tablespoons cream or milk

Instructions

Make the cookies:
    Cup of Yum
  1. Place butter, sugar, egg yolks, flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well combined. Slowly mix in the water until fully incorporated and dough forms a ball in the bowl of your processor.
  2. Remove the dough from the processor and place into the freezer for 45 minutes.
  3. Cut dough into fourths. Wrap each quarter in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold.
  4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  5. Take out one quarter of the dough at a time and allow it to stand at room temperature long enough that it softens enough that the dough can be rolled.
  6. Roll dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle measuring just over 12 inches x 6 inches. Dough should be very thin. 
  7. Using a sharp knife, a dough blade, or a pizza cutter, trim the edges of the rectangle so that it measures 12 inches x 6 inches. Cut into 12 strips measuring 1 inch wide x 6 inches long.
  8. Wrap each strip around a mini cannoli form or round clothespins, slightly overlapping the edges of the dough as you wrap. Place (with the dough ends down) on the prepared baking sheet. 
  9. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms are golden. Let cool for 2 minutes, then remove the pastry shells from the forms, placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Let the cannoli molds or clothespins cool completely, then repeat with the remaining dough quarters.
Make the buttercream filling:
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for 6-7 minutes.
  2. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the salt and powdered sugar, and continue beating until the sugar is fully incorporated.
  3. Add in vanilla and cream or milk and mix on low speed until incorporated.
  4. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the buttercream for an additional 6-7 minutes.
  5. If the buttercream is too thick, add in a bit of milk, one teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
  6. Place in a piping bag fitted with a medium piping tip and pipe into each pastry shell.
  7. Store in the refrigerator. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

  • Use old-fashioned round clothespins or mini cannoli molds for shaping the cookies.
  • Lightly spray the forms with cooking spray to help release the cookies after baking.
  • Cool the filled molds quickly by placing them in the refrigerator or freezer to reset the dough and facilitate handling.