9 biscuit recipes that also make excellent pie crusts

Double duty biscuits that are so good, you’ll want to use them twice!

Ginger biscuits Source: Chris Middleton

Ah, we remember making our very first pie: so keen to make something, and yet too scared to operate an oven. Enter the hack of all beginner-bakers - the biscuit crust.

The idea is simple: take a (usually store-bought) biscuit, crush it up with enough melted butter for it to resemble wet sand, line a pie tin, and fill. Voila! Instant, effortless pie*. 

Nowadays, we are more than capable of making our pastry, but there’s still a soft spot for these bikkie crusts. Whether you choose to make your own, use a few leftovers, or buy them from the shops, they make an excellent #pantryhack for the midnight munchies, and we never say no to that. 

*Or some people call it a tart. We’re using them interchangeably here - don’t @ us in the comments!

Ginger Monte Carlos

Roasted rhubarb, rosemary and ginger Monte Carlos Source: Billie Justice Thomson

This recipe pairs crumbly ginger cookies with a rhubarb filling, but if you’re using it in a pie crust, just bake a bigger batch of the biscuits, leave them unfilled, and crumble them with melted butter. Ta-dah! A pie crust is born.

Brown butter pecan shortbread fingers

Brown butter pecan shortbread fingers Source: Chris Middleton

Mmm... brown butter. BROWN BUTTER. Brown. Butterrrrrrrr. Need we say more?

Speculaas (Dutch spiced cookies)

Speculaas Source: China Squirrel

This wonder cookie has had many lives: the famous cookie spread being one of them! Which makes them the perfect candidate for a pie crust - if you don’t eat them all, first! Tread carefully...

Okinawan salted shortbread

Source: Steve Brown / Hachette Australia

Jump on the black sugar trend by using these Okinawan salted shortbreads! A famous export from Okinawa, Japan, black sugar lends a mineral, molasses-y flavour to this otherwise European crunch classic. If you can’t find black sugar, you can substitute dark brown sugar, too. Shhhhhh, we won’t tell!

Carrot cake bikkie

Carrot cake biscuits Source: Chris Middleton

These biscuits are perfect for when you don’t quite have the appetite for a slice of cake, but you still fancy a treat. They are slightly chewy around the edges and more cake-like and soft in the centre. The mixture is great to freeze in portions, and then bake on demand.

Chocolate crackle cookies

Chocolate crackle biscuits Source: Alan Benson

Okay, we’re just imagining this with a beautiful, light mousse filling. A word of warning, though: these super-rich cookies are not for the faint-hearted. The crumble in these chocolatey delights are a bit reminiscent of Oreos - just be careful of serving it up on first dates where uh, sparkling white teeth are preferred.

Palm sugar Anzac biscuits

Source: Alan Benson

How can we have a bikkie-list and leave out the most iconic biscuit of them all? The Anzac biscuit is perfect for a pie crust because it’s mild enough to take on any number of fillings, but still has oats and coconut to give it a little texture. Our version uses palm sugar for a little twist, but any type of leftover (ha!) Anzac biscuit would work too.

Cracked pepper biscuits

Cracked pepper biscuits Source: Chris Middleton

A sweet biscuit with cracked peppercorns may sound a bit unusual, but rest assured these biscuits have an intriguing and delicious flavour with a slight kick. If you like a sweet/savoury combo, we recommend these for a savoury pie too - perhaps a quiche or a breakfast bite?

Refined-sugar free ginger biscuits

Ginger biscuits Source: Chris Middleton

Think gingernut, but without the refined sugar! These are sweetened with rice malt syrup, which changes the texture slightly but still marks the beginning of a great pie base.