Pittsburgh Cookie Table: 18 Cookies and Secrets Behind the Wedding Tradition Families Bake by the Hundreds

A Pittsburgh cookie table is the sweetest wedding tradition in America, a long table piled with hundreds of homemade cookies baked by moms, aunts, grandmas and neighbors in the weeks before the big day. The custom runs deep across western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, from Pittsburgh to Youngstown, where Italian, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and Croatian families brought their old-country recipes and kept baking them by the hundreds. Guests fill little boxes to take home, and nobody leaves empty-handed. The tradition has grown so beloved that bakers in Monongahela set a record in 2019 with a table of more than 88,000 cookies. The same trays now show up at Christmas parties, showers and church dinners all season long. Here are 18 cookies and secrets that make a true cookie table, each with what you will need and easy steps..

How a Pittsburgh Cookie Table Comes Together

Ask anyone from western Pennsylvania and they will tell you a Pittsburgh cookie table is never ordered from a bakery. Planning starts months ahead, when the bride’s mother hands out a list and every aunt, cousin and neighbor claims a cookie. Freezers fill with tins, and the week before the wedding the trays are carried in like treasure. The table sits out from the cocktail hour to the last dance, and guests graze all night long. It is about family as much as dessert, and that is the whole point..

You will need: A guest count, a shared sign-up list, about 10 to 12 cookies per guest, freezer tins, tiered stands and platters, white tablecloths, small take-home boxes and plenty of willing bakers.

How to make it: 1. Count your guests and plan 10 to 12 cookies per person, so 150 guests means about 1,500 to 1,800 cookies. 2. Make a list of 12 to 20 cookie types and let each baker claim one or two. 3. Bake sturdy cookies first and freeze them in tins with parchment between layers. 4. Bake delicate cream-filled cookies no more than 2 days ahead. 5. Set up tall stands at the back and flat platters in front so every cookie is easy to reach.

Lady Locks, the Queen of the Pittsburgh Cookie Table

No Pittsburgh cookie table is complete without lady locks, the flaky pastry tubes filled with fluffy white cream. Older bakers still call them clothespin cookies, because the dough was once wrapped around clean wooden clothespins before baking. Today most people use metal cream horn forms, but the idea is the same: thin strips of buttery pastry spiraled into tubes, baked golden, then piped full of sweet filling. They are fussy, so the family member who makes them usually becomes a local legend. They vanish first, every single time.

You will need: 1 package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, 1 cup shortening, 1 cup butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup marshmallow creme, cream horn forms and powdered sugar for dusting.

How to make it: 1. Cut the thawed pastry into 1/2 inch strips and wrap each strip around a greased form, overlapping slightly. 2. Brush with egg wash and bake at 400 F for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. 3. Cool 5 minutes, then twist the forms out and let the shells cool completely. 4. Beat the butter, shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla and marshmallow creme for 8 minutes until very fluffy. 5. Pipe the filling into both ends of each shell and dust with powdered sugar.

Pecan Tassies: Tiny Pies in One Bite

Pecan tassies are little pecan pies baked in a mini muffin pan, with a tender cream cheese crust pressed in by thumb. They are the cookie that makes people stop and say, did someone really make all of these? The crust is forgiving and needs no rolling, and the filling is the same brown sugar and butter mix you know from Thanksgiving pie. Bake them a week ahead and freeze them, because they hold up beautifully and taste just as rich once they thaw at room temperature.

You will need: 1/2 cup softened butter, 3 ounces softened cream cheese, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 egg, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt and 2/3 cup chopped pecans.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter and cream cheese, mix in the flour, then chill the dough for 1 hour. 2. Roll into 24 small balls and press each into a mini muffin cup, up the sides. 3. Whisk the egg, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt, then stir in the pecans. 4. Spoon the filling into the shells until about three quarters full. 5. Bake at 325 F for 25 minutes until set, cool 10 minutes and lift out.

Buckeyes, a Pittsburgh Cookie Table Favorite From Next Door in Ohio

Buckeyes come from just across the state line in Ohio, where they are named after the shiny brown nut of the state tree. Creamy peanut butter balls are dipped in chocolate, leaving a little circle on top so they look like the real thing. They need no oven at all, which makes them the go-to job for teenagers and busy cousins who want to help. A Pittsburgh cookie table without buckeyes would cause a family meeting, and every tray needs at least two dozen of them.

You will need: 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter, 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 4 cups powdered sugar, 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, 2 teaspoons shortening and toothpicks.

How to make it: 1. Beat the peanut butter, butter and vanilla, then mix in the powdered sugar until a firm dough forms. 2. Roll into 1 inch balls, set on a lined tray and chill for 30 minutes. 3. Melt the chocolate chips with the shortening in short bursts in the microwave. 4. Spear each ball with a toothpick and dip, leaving a circle of peanut butter showing. 5. Chill until firm and smooth over the toothpick holes with a fingertip.

Glazed Italian Wedding Knots

Italian families helped build the Pittsburgh cookie table tradition, and these soft glazed knots are one of their biggest gifts to it. The dough is simple, a little like a tender biscuit, flavored with lemon or anise depending on whose grandmother you ask. Each piece is rolled into a rope and tied in a loose knot, then dipped in a thin shiny glaze and showered with tiny rainbow sprinkles. They look festive on every tray and they keep well for a week, so bakers can make them early.

You will need: 4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup softened butter, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 2 teaspoons lemon or anise extract, 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and nonpareil sprinkles.

How to make it: 1. Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, milk and extract, then stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. 2. Roll tablespoon pieces into 6 inch ropes and tie each in a loose knot. 3. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes until the bottoms are light golden. 4. Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice into a thin glaze. 5. Dip the tops of the cooled knots in glaze and add sprinkles right away.

Russian Tea Cakes Dusted Like Snow

Some families call them snowballs and some call them Mexican wedding cookies, but on a Pittsburgh cookie table they are usually Russian tea cakes. Whatever the name, they are buttery little rounds full of toasted walnuts, rolled twice in powdered sugar so they look like fresh snow. They melt the moment you bite in, and they are one of the easiest cookies to make by the hundreds. Keep them in a separate tin, though, or that sugar coating will dust everything around them in white.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus 1 1/2 cups for rolling, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. 2. Mix in the flour, salt and walnuts, then roll into 1 inch balls. 3. Bake at 350 F for 12 to 14 minutes until just golden on the bottom. 4. Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar and let them cool on a rack. 5. Roll them a second time once cool for a thick snowy coat.

Hungarian Kiffles With Walnut Filling

Kiffles, also spelled kifli, came to the steel towns with Hungarian and Slovak families, and they are still a must on a proper Pittsburgh cookie table. The dough is made with cream cheese, so it bakes up tender and flaky, then it is rolled around a sweet walnut filling and curved into little crescents or horseshoes. Some bakers fill theirs with apricot or lekvar, a thick prune butter, so every tray gets a mix. Dust them with powdered sugar and they look like they came from an old-country bakery.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 8 ounces softened cream cheese, 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups ground walnuts, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg white, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons milk and powdered sugar for rolling.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter and cream cheese, mix in the flour, shape into 4 discs and chill overnight. 2. Stir the walnuts, sugar, egg white, vanilla and milk into a spreadable filling. 3. Roll the dough thin on powdered sugar and cut into 2 1/2 inch squares. 4. Add a teaspoon of filling, roll from corner to corner and bend into a crescent. 5. Bake at 350 F for 12 to 15 minutes until lightly golden, then dust with powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter Blossoms With a Chocolate Kiss

Peanut butter blossoms are the cookie almost everyone learned to bake as a kid, and they earn a spot on every cookie table because they disappear so fast. A soft peanut butter cookie is rolled in sugar, baked, then pressed with a chocolate kiss-shaped candy the second it comes out of the oven. The cookie cracks a little around the chocolate, which gives it that classic blossom look. Let them cool completely before stacking, or the chocolate tips will smudge on the way to the reception.

You will need: 1/2 cup shortening, 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/3 cup sugar plus extra for rolling, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 36 milk chocolate drops.

How to make it: 1. Beat the shortening, peanut butter and both sugars until fluffy, then beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. 2. Mix in the flour, baking soda and salt. 3. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll each in sugar. 4. Bake at 375 F for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly golden. 5. Press a chocolate drop into the center of each hot cookie and cool completely.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies for the Pittsburgh Cookie Table

Chocolate crinkles bring a dark, fudgy contrast to all the golden cookies on a Pittsburgh cookie table. The dough is rolled in powdered sugar before baking, and as the cookies puff and spread the coating cracks into a pretty snowy pattern. Inside they stay soft and brownie-like. They are a smart choice for a big batch because one recipe makes four dozen and the dough can be chilled for two days. Bake them close to the event so the white coating stays bright.

You will need: 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling.

How to make it: 1. Whisk the cocoa, sugar and oil, then beat in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla. 2. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt, cover and chill for at least 4 hours. 3. Roll into 1 inch balls and coat them thickly in powdered sugar. 4. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set. 5. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack.

Raspberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprints are the jewels of the Pittsburgh cookie table, little butter cookies with a bright pool of raspberry or apricot jam in the center. Kids love helping because the dent really is made with a thumb, or with the end of a wooden spoon for neater results. Use a thick jam so it stays put in the oven and does not run over the sides. A tray of red and gold thumbprints looks wonderful next to the chocolate cookies, and they are just as welcome on a Christmas platter.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup thick raspberry or apricot jam.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in the yolks and both extracts. 2. Mix in the flour and salt and chill the dough for 30 minutes. 3. Roll into 1 inch balls and press a deep dent into each with your thumb. 4. Fill each dent with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam. 5. Bake at 350 F for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are just golden.

Old-Country Nut Roll Slices

Nut roll is the pride of many Slovak, Croatian and Polish kitchens around Pittsburgh, and slices of it appear on almost every cookie table in the region. A soft yeast dough is rolled thin, spread with a rich walnut filling, rolled up like a log and baked until shiny and brown. Some families bring a poppy seed version to the Pittsburgh cookie table too, and the swirls of light and dark look beautiful side by side. Grandmas guard their dough recipes closely, so if someone shares one with you, it is a real honor.

You will need: 1 packet active dry yeast, 1/2 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup sugar, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sour cream, 3 cups ground walnuts, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 beaten egg.

How to make it: 1. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar, then mix with the flour, sugar, butter, yolks and sour cream into a soft dough. 2. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour. 3. Simmer the walnuts, sugar, milk and butter for 3 minutes, add vanilla and cool. 4. Divide the dough in two, roll each into a rectangle, spread with filling and roll up tightly. 5. Brush with egg, rest 30 minutes and bake at 350 F for 30 to 35 minutes, then cool before slicing.

No-Bake Butterscotch Haystacks

Haystacks are the easiest cookie on the table and maybe the most fun. Crunchy chow mein noodles and peanuts are stirred into melted butterscotch chips, then spooned into little piles that really do look like tiny haystacks. There is no oven, no rolling and no fuss, so they are perfect for a first-time baker on the Pittsburgh cookie table sign-up list. Their salty, sweet crunch balances all the buttery cookies around them, and older guests always smile because they remember them from church suppers decades ago.

You will need: 2 cups butterscotch chips, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 can (5 ounces) chow mein noodles, 1 cup salted peanuts, parchment paper and small paper candy cups.

How to make it: 1. Melt the butterscotch chips and peanut butter together in 30 second bursts, stirring until smooth. 2. Gently fold in the noodles and peanuts until everything is coated. 3. Drop heaping tablespoons onto parchment and shape them into little stacks. 4. Let them set at room temperature for 1 hour or in the fridge for 20 minutes. 5. Tuck each one into a paper cup for the cookie table.

Bright Lemon Bars

Every good Pittsburgh cookie table has a few bar cookies to fill the platters fast, and lemon bars are the bright, tangy favorite. A buttery shortbread crust is topped with a silky lemon custard, baked until just set, then dusted with powdered sugar. Cut them into small squares, because guests like to sample a bit of everything. One 9 by 13 pan gives you about 36 pieces, which makes this one of the most efficient recipes for the volume a big wedding needs.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and powdered sugar for dusting.

How to make it: 1. Mix the butter, powdered sugar and 2 cups flour, press into a lined 9 by 13 pan and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. 2. Whisk the eggs, sugar, 1/4 cup flour, lemon juice and zest. 3. Pour over the hot crust and bake 20 to 25 minutes until the center is set. 4. Cool completely, then chill for 2 hours for clean cuts. 5. Cut into small squares and dust with powdered sugar right before serving.

Iced Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs for a Pittsburgh Cookie Table

Iced sugar cookies let a family personalize the Pittsburgh cookie table. Bells, hearts and wedding cakes for the reception, trees and stars for Christmas, maybe the couple’s initials if someone is feeling brave. The cookie itself is a sturdy vanilla dough that holds its shape, and the icing dries hard so the cookies stack and travel well. Pick two or three colors that match the wedding and the whole table instantly looks planned, even when forty different people did the baking.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup and gel food coloring.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter and sugar, add the egg and extracts, then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. 2. Chill the dough for 1 hour and roll it 1/4 inch thick. 3. Cut out shapes and bake at 350 F for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges barely color. 4. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk and corn syrup into a smooth icing and tint it. 5. Outline and flood the cooled cookies, then let them dry overnight before stacking.

Buttery Spritz Cookies From the Cookie Press

The cookie press comes out of the cupboard every wedding season and every Christmas, and spritz cookies are the reason why. A soft butter dough is pushed through a press or piped with a star tip into rosettes, wreaths and swirls. They bake in about eight minutes and a single batch makes dozens, so the aunt with the press usually signs up for a few hundred for the Pittsburgh cookie table. Tint the dough to match the wedding colors, or dip the ends in chocolate for an elegant touch.

You will need: 1 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a cookie press or piping bag with a large star tip and optional food coloring.

How to make it: 1. Beat the butter and sugar until very light, then beat in the egg and extracts. 2. Mix in the flour and salt, and tint the dough if you like. 3. Press or pipe shapes onto a cool, ungreased baking sheet. 4. Bake at 375 F for 7 to 9 minutes until set but not browned. 5. Cool on a rack and store in airtight tins for up to 2 weeks.

Mini Cheesecake Cups

Mini cheesecakes add something creamy to the Pittsburgh cookie table, and they are easier than they look. A whole vanilla wafer or a spoonful of graham crumbs goes in the bottom of each paper liner, then a smooth cream cheese batter goes on top. They bake in a regular muffin pan in about twenty minutes. Top them with a dab of cherry pie filling, a swirl of jam or a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Keep them in the fridge until the table goes out.

You will need: 16 ounces softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 24 vanilla wafers or 1 cup buttered graham crumbs, paper liners and cherry pie filling or cinnamon sugar for topping.

How to make it: 1. Line two muffin pans with paper liners and put a wafer or a spoonful of crumbs in each. 2. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. 3. Fill each liner about three quarters full. 4. Bake at 325 F for 18 to 20 minutes until just set in the center. 5. Cool, chill for at least 2 hours and add the topping before serving.

Seven-Layer Bars for the Pittsburgh Cookie Table

Seven-layer bars, also known as magic bars, are a bar cookie that tastes like a little bit of everything on the Pittsburgh cookie table. A graham crust is layered with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts, then sweetened condensed milk is poured over the top and everything bakes together into a gooey, chewy square. They take about ten minutes to put together, which is why busy cousins love to bring them. Cut them small, because they are rich.

You will need: 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, 1 cup butterscotch chips, 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut and 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

How to make it: 1. Stir the butter and graham crumbs together and press them into a lined 9 by 13 pan. 2. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the crust. 3. Layer the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts on top and press down gently. 4. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes until the edges are golden. 5. Cool completely, then cut into small bars.

Secrets for Your Own Pittsburgh Cookie Table

The secret of a great Pittsburgh cookie table is variety and abundance. Mix shapes, colors and textures, put the showstoppers at eye level, and keep extra trays behind the scenes to refill as the night goes on. Label anything with nuts. Leave a stack of boxes or bags at the end so guests can pack a few for the road, which is half the fun. The same trays also work for holiday parties, and our church bake sale recipes are full of more classics that sell out. You can read more about the history of the cookie table tradition here.

You will need: Tiered stands and platters, white or colored tablecloths, doilies, small labels, extra tins of backup cookies, take-home boxes or bags, tongs and a volunteer or two to refill trays.

How to make it: 1. Group cookies by color and type so the table looks full and easy to browse. 2. Place tall stands at the back and flat trays at the front edge. 3. Label cookies with nuts or peanut butter for guests with allergies. 4. Refill trays from backup tins every hour. 5. Set the take-home boxes at the end of the table and invite guests to fill one.