This is a shortcut recipe for Clothespin Cookies, also known as Ladylocks and Cream horns. It uses frozen puff pastry, baked wound around a clothespin or a cream horn cone and filled with a marshmallow creme filling (see note *, below). This large recipe can easily be reduced (see note ** below for the measurements for a smaller batch).
For an alternative, all-homemade recipe, see our traditional Ladylocks.
Ingredients
3 (17.3-ounce or 490 g) packages frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 pounds powdered sugar
2 cups solid vegetable shortening (or half butter, see note ***, below)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow cream
food coloring (optional)
Directions
- Make the cones
- Thaw the puff pastry. Preheat oven to 450 F. If you are using the old-fashioned wooden clothespins (available here), prepare them by wrapping in aluminum foil. Otherwise you can use the cone-shaped cookie forms (available here).
- Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until it forms a 12″x10″ rectangle. Cut into 1/2″ x 6″ long strips using a pizza cutter. Wrap each strip around either a prepared clothespin or a mold, moistening slightly with water and overlapping the edges slightly.
- Bake for 5 minutes then turn oven down to 375F and bake for 10 more minutes. Carefully remove from forms and cool completely.
- Make the filling
- With an electric mixer on high speed, beat together sugar, shortening, vanilla, and milk for 10 min (this is not a typo, you want to beat in a lot of air to make it fluffy). Add marshmallow cream and beat until combined. Color with food coloring, if desired.
- Fill the cones
- Using a pastry bag, pipe filling into cooled cookies. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar before serving. Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies are best if refrigerated until used. May be frozen.
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Notes
- * You will need something to form these cookies with. The traditional way is to wrap the old-fashioned all-wooden clothespins with foil (thus the name Clothespin Cookies). Some people just use wooden dowels cut down and wrapped in foil. You can also use inexpensive cream horn molds that are made specifically for these cookies.
- ** Measurements for about 66 cookies:
1 package of puff pastry dough
10.5 ounces (by weight) of powdered sugar (use a kitchen scale, or 2/3 of a pound)
2/3 cup Crisco shortening
1/3 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk
2.3 ounces (by weight) of Marshmallow Creme (use a kitchen scale, or 1/3 of a 7-ounce jar) - *** This recipe uses shortening (Crisco) so that the cream will hold up at room temperature for long periods of time without softening. You can use half butter (1 cup butter, 1 cup shortening) if you like, for a happy medium, but be aware that the cream will be a bit softer so don’t set them out for too long in a warm environment.
- Our reviewers, below, have posted some great tips!