This is the traditional way to make cream-filled puff pastry cookies, also known as Cream Horns or Clothespin Cookies, by making homemade puff pastry. If building all those layers of dough & shortening are too much work, then try our simplified Easy Clothespin Cookies!
Ingredients
- For the pastry dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups water
yellow food coloring
solid vegetable shortening
- For the cream filling:
2 cups water
10 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup margarine or butter
1 cup solid vegetable shortening
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow fluff or cream
Directions
- Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, place the flour and salt. In a small bowl, place the water and add a few drops of yellow food coloring. Dump the water into the flour all at once and knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Divide this into fourths. For each fourth: roll out onto a floured board into a rectangle. Keeping it as much as a rectangle as possible. Spread with a layer of shortening, as if you were buttering toast. Fold down 1/3 and spread this side with shortening. Fold up the bottom 1/3 spread this with shortening. Fold over the other 1/3 side and spread with shortening. Then spread the front and back with shortening and wrap this package in plastic wrap. Repeat with the other fourths of dough. Refrigerate these for at least 2 hours. For each fourth, repeat the whole process of rolling, spreading shortening, and folding once more. The purpose is to build up many layers of dough/shortening, which is what gives the pastry its flakiness. Refrigerate for at least 2 more hours. Repeat the rolling and folding steps a third time, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375F and prepare several old-fashioned style clothespins (such as these) by wrapping them in aluminum foil. Alternately, set out cream horn molds (available here). Roll out each package of dough onto a floured board into a rectangle. Cut into 1/2″-3/4″ strips. Wrap each strop around clothespins or molds, overlapping as you twirl, to form a tube or cone. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375° for about 15-20 min or until very lightly browned. Remove from clothespins or molds immediately after removing from the oven.
- Make the filling:
- Combine water and flour in a saucepan, stir well and cook over medium heat until thickened; set aside. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, shortening, vanilla and marshmallow cream. Add the thickened flour mixture to the marshmallow mixture and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Assemble the Ladylocks:
- With a pastry bag or cookie decorating apparatus, fill each cooled cone with creamy filling. If desired, roll in powdered sugar before serving.
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.
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