Craving the nostalgic taste of McDonald’s holiday pie? Just wait until you try our homemade version, it is even better! Made with a buttery pie crust and sugar cookie custard filling, the freshly baked warm pies are topped with a sweet glaze and festive sprinkles.
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Years ago, my sister was raving about these pies, demanding that I take her to the drive thru to get one. I’d heard of McDonald’s apple pies, but never their holiday pies. Intrigued, I caved, and took her on a late night drive thru run. As you can tell, I became a big fan! Between the colorful sprinkles, creamy middle and sugar cookie inspired filing, it was hard not to love these pies.
Why Do We Love This McDonald’s Holiday Pie Recipe?
- With simple ingredients and straightforward steps, this recipe is perfect for new bakers.
- It’s the perfect copycat recipe! Great for when this is out of season at McDonald’s.
- You can adapt the recipe by changing the sprinkles to match different holidays.
- Bake them in the oven or use an air fryer for a quicker option.
- Using common pantry ingredients, this recipe is an affordable way to enjoy a special treat.
Check out more of my favorite copycat recipes like copycat Texas Roadhouse rolls, copycat Taco Bell cinnamon twists, and copycat cookies and cream Chik-Fil-A milkshake!
Key Ingredients
With just a few inexpensive ingredients, you’ll have the cutest sprinkled hand pies! Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full ingredient list.
- Pie Crusts: I like to use my homemade pie crust recipe, but you can also use store bought pie crust.
- Cream Cheese: Regular cream cheese (not low-fat) usually yields the best results.
- Instant Vanilla Pudding: Do NOT use actual pudding! You need the powder instant pudding mix for this recipe.
- Yellow Cake Mix: You can use white cake mix instead if preferred.
- Milk: I like whole milk, but any other kind of milk also works just fine.
- Vanilla Extract: Swap this with almond extract for another flavor to play with.
How to Make McDonald’s Holiday Pies
You can use your oven or air fryer to make these festive treats! Please scroll down to the recipe card for full instructions or to watch the recipe video.
- Make the filling: Whisk together the vanilla pudding, cake mix, milk and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside. Then, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until it’s light and fluffy. Add the pudding mix to the cream cheese and blend it all together until it’s fully combined.
- Prepare the pie crust: Unroll each pie crust and cut off the rounded edges. Cut each square in half to create a large rectangle.
- Fill the pie crust: Spoon the filling into the center of each square and fold the dough over. Seal the edges by neatly pressing a fork along each side.
- Make the egg wash: Beat the egg and water together. Brush the egg wash over the tops of each pie.
- Bake: Place the pies on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes.
- Make the glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over the pies and enjoy!
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Use Pre-Made Pie Crust: For a quicker preparation, store-bought pie crusts work well and save time.
- Experiment with Fillings: Try different pudding flavors like chocolate or butterscotch for a new twist.
- Use Different Sprinkles: Customize the sprinkles to match various holidays or themes, like red and pink for Valentine’s Day.
- Make Mini Pies: Cut the dough into smaller squares to create bite-sized versions, perfect for parties.
- Check for Doneness: If you want the centers of the pies to be gooey and a little under-baked, pull them out of the oven a minute or two early.
Storing
Any leftover McDonald’s holiday pies you may have will stay fresh in an airtight container for 2-3 days at room temperature.
McDonald’s Holiday Pie
Ingredients
- 4 9- inch uncooked pie crusts
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding
- ¼ cup yellow or white cake mix, dry mix
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Optional Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons milk
- Christmas sprinkles, optional
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Instructions
- If using an oven, preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together vanilla pudding, cake mix, milk and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the pudding mix to the cream cheese and blend together until well combined.
- Gently unroll each pie crust and cut off the rounded edges making one large square. Cut each square in half to create a large rectangle. Spoon the filling into the center of each square and fold the dough over. Seal the edges by pressing a fork along each side.
- Beat egg and water in a small bowl. Brush over the tops of each pie. This will ensure your pies turn out golden brown!
- OVEN: Transfer pies to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden browned.
- AIR FRYER: Spray your air fryer with cooking spray and place in 2 pies at a time. Air fry at 350°F for 10 minutes. Repeat with remaining pies.
- In a small bowl mix together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. You want a very thick glaze but may need to add another tablespoon of milk to get it to a drizzle-able consistency.
- Drizzle each pie with glaze and sprinkle with sprinkles. Serve!
Nutrition
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This is my favorite guilty pleasure during the holidays! Thank you so much for the recipe. I will be trying this our tonight. God Bless !
I trie the pie at mickey ds so I had to go home and try it they came out great i am going to bake some for new years eve party I am going to have will let you all know how they came out
Just made these tonight and they are fabulous! How do we store them after they are baked? Are we fine to just keep in an airtight container or do they need refrigerated?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Taylor! Store them in an airtight container in the fridge!
I made these for Christmas Eve and everyone raved about them! Do you know if they would work with sugar free pudding? That’s all I have on me at the moment. Thank you!
Yes! Sugar free pudding should work just fine! 🙂
Made this this morning with the kids! We switched out pie crust for crescents and they turned out amazing! Only had two that blew out but they were definitely packed more than the others lol. They were soooo delicious! Thank you so much for sharing! It’s been years since a McDonald’s in my area has carried them so I’m so glad to be able to have them year round!
I used puff pastry this time. Make sure crimp the edges really well, had several blow outs.
Puff pastry is notoriously more difficult to seal the edges, pie crust should not have blow outs like puff pastry. However, puff pastry is extra delicious, so hopefully they were still tasty!
Hello Jessica I m was wondering if u can freeze them after you bake them thank you
Yes! Just wrap them tightly with saran wrap and then a layer of foil (or in a freezer friendly ziplock bag) and freeze!
Just wondering if you can use the cook and serve pudding instead? Foolishly sent my husband to the store and he bought that accidentally (:
Oh No! It won’t really set up correctly in this recipe. You could still try cooking it and then letting it cool and then mixing it in, but I think it might be a little soupy and the incorrect texture. 🙁
I made this today because the area I moved to didn’t put out Holiday Pies this season. This definitely cured my craving! Instead of doing the glaze I was lazy and just sprinkled powdered sugar on top, and for the sprinkles I shook some right onto the pie crust and pressed them in with a rolling pin.(before adding filling of course) The filling was delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!
Can this be made into a regular pie instead of the squares?
Sadly the filling would not hold up or slice if made as a regular pie.
I was so excited to try this recipe, but I did not care for it.
These look delicious! Can the pies be assembled the night before and baked the next day?
Yes, it should work ok! Just make sure to cover them well with Saran Wrap or foil and refrigerate them until you are ready to bake them.
Can I sub oatmilk for this?
Yes, oat milk will work just fine!
Thanks so much for this! I lost my son a few years ago and holiday pies were one of our things every year. He would text me as soon as they were out. 🙂 I haven’t seen them since 2019 in my area. Excited to have an upgraded version of his favorite.
Holly, I”m so sorry for your loss but I am glad this brought back a good memory!
Are you supposed to make the pudding or just use the dry mix?
Use the dry mix!
Omg so glad this had a comment section cuz I was wondering the same thing! Thanks!
I usually don’t comment on recipes, but I have been addicted to McDonald’s holiday pies and decided to try this recipe for our Christmas dessert. I was amazed at how easy and how delicious it was. It tasted better than the holiday pies. The only change I made was that I used puff pastry instead of pie crust. Amazing recipe thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
That is what I was going to ask what if you use puff pastry.
Glad you got your Holiday Pie fix. 😉
Made this tonight because my McDonald’s still doesn’t have this pie and I LOVE it every year. This was SUPER similar and hit the spot. The crust is a little different, but the flavor was all there and I’m not about to try making my own. I cooked mine in air fryer.