Fried Apple Pies

The town celebrated homecoming this weekend and I babysat my grandchildren while my oldest daughter Fred and her husband went to the celebration and their class reunion. So I decided to fix the kids a treat after supper.  With plenty of apples I thought fried apple pies would be a great dessert treat. These make a wonderful crunchy outer crust when fried. Although you can bake them in the oven until browned nothing beats cooking the apples down fresh and biting into that super crisp crust. My kids and grandkids will tell you this is one of their favorite and most memorable fall traditions.  

First I simply washed and peeled 3 large tart baking apples then cut them into small chunks. I placed them into a cast iron skillet with about 2 Tablespoons of butter, a 1/2 cup brown sugar, and a Tablespoon of cinnamon. Once the apples were soft I added 1/4 cup of flour to thicken the stewed apple mixture and allowed it to cook for another couple minutes to thicken good. Now set it on the back of the stove off the heat and let it cool completely.

You do not want to put hot filling on your Pie crusts because it will melt and soften them to the point that they cannot be handled.

(You can also use frozen pie filling, canned pie filling or purchased pie filling in cans. )

Pie Crusts

Mix 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup all purpose flour  and 1/2 tsp salt in a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl measure our 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour. Cut in 2/3 cup chilled shortening until it resembles a coarse crumb. 

Add flour, water and salt mixture to flour mixture and stir with a fork until it forms a loose ball. If necessary add iced water 1 tsp at a time as needed until dough pulls together.

Chill dough in refrigerator

Makes 2 - 9 inch pie crusts

Now simply roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Instead of 9 inch pie we are rolling out our chilled dough and cutting whatever shapes we wish. Above you can see I used my largest biscuit cutter on some. I also cut some larger ones square and also used a small mixing bowl to cut some larger circles for hand pies. Whatever size you wish. I thought the smaller bite size pies would be easier for 2 year old Hank to eat. 

Simply spoon cooled filling into shapes of pie crust and fold over and seal edges. Do not overfill.

I crimped the edges of my pies with the tines of a fork.

Now place stuffed and sealed pies on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. 

Then I heated about an inch of oil in my cast iron chicken fryer. Drop pies into hot oil and cook on one side until golden brown then flip and brown the other side.

Now place hot pies on a rack with paper towels beneath until cool and drizzle a powdered sugar and apple juice icing over the top of cooled pies. Add a cold glass of milk and indeed you have a dessert fit for a king or the greatest grandkids ever : )

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter