If you haven’t had it yet, the McDonald’s Holiday Pie is a delicious handheld pie filled with creamy vanilla custard that tastes like a sugar cookie! It’s my favorite dessert item on their menu, and my homemade version is even better!
McDonald’s Holiday Pie
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. The only issue is, the chain only releases these pies for a super limited time. So, what was a food blogger to do?
Make my own, of course! And dare I say, as much as I thoroughly enjoy the drive thru treat, my homemade recipe is even better. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself!
Are these exclusively Christmas pies?
Sadly, McDonald’s only makes these desserts during Christmas. However, we’re not McDonald’s!
While this sugar cookie treat is a wonderful holiday dessert, all you need to do is change the color of the sprinkles to match whatever you’re celebrating. I love making them with rainbow sprinkles for birthday parties, and pink sprinkles for Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients
The pies themselves will need the following ingredients:
- Pie Crusts: I like to use my homemade pie crust recipe, but you can also use store bought pie crust.
- Cream Cheese
- Instant Vanilla Pudding
- Dry Yellow or White Cake Mix: the cake mix is optional but helps with the sugar cookie flavor!
- Milk
- Vanilla Extract
Optional egg wash ingredients:
- Large Egg
- Water
For the glaze, you’ll need:
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Christmas Sprinkles
How to Make McDonald’s Holiday Pies
You can use your oven or air fryer to make these festive treats!
Preheat. If using an oven, preheat it to 400 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk the ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vanilla pudding, cake mix, milk and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
Mix it all up. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until it’s light and fluffy. Then, add the pudding mix to the cream cheese and blend it all together until it’s fully combined.
Prepare the pie crust. Gently unroll each pie crust and cut off the rounded edges to make one large square. Then, cut each square in half to create a large rectangle.
Fill the pie crust. Spoon the creamy 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. In a small bowl, beat the egg and water together until well combined. Brush the egg wash over the tops of each pie. This step ensure that your pies will turn out golden brown!
OVEN: Transfer pies to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
AIR FRYER: Spray your air fryer with cooking spray. I recommend using one that’s butter flavored to compliment the pie crust. Then, place in 2 pies at a time. Air fry at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining pies.
Make the glaze. In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk. You want a thick glaze, but may need to add another tablespoon of milk to get it to a perfect drizzle-able consistency.
Serve. Drizzle each holiday pie with glaze and sprinkle your heart away. Enjoy!
Whether you’re leaving them out for Santa or making a batch just for fun, these copycat McDonald’s Holiday Pies are going to have everyone grinning from ear to ear.
Need more fun, festive Christmas recipes? Try making a stack of Grinch pancakes. Of course, reindeer poop is always my kid’s favorite pick! And you really can’t go wrong with M&M Christmas Cookies!
McDonald’s Holiday Pie
Ingredients
- 4 9- inch uncooked pie crusts
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1 3.4 ounce 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
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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