My friend, Dusty, grew up making these pies with his family and now knows the recipe by heart.  He hesitated to share them with me because there is a surprise shortcut.  Needless to say, I love a good shortcut when preparing meals as long as the outcome is delicious!  Dusty was kind enough to share and let’s just say, my family is pretty happy that he did!  I think my daughter would have eaten these pies for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I can’t blame her one bit!

These individual fried pies are perfect for picnics.  They have a rustic vibe and a delicious flavor- and they are pretty when stacked high and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  You could also wrapped in paper and tied with a ribbon. I often buy patterned food-safe paper in the baking section of Michael’s Craft Stores and use it to wrap sandwiches, pies, loaves of bread, etc.  I haven’t found it online, but I find it in store.  It’s handy and pretty!

Dusty's Fried Apple Pies

Lydia Menzies

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Ingredients

  

• 2 apples chopped
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 TBSP cornstarch
• 1 TBSP water
• 1 TBSP cold butter
• 32 oz. refrigerated cans large southern style biscuits
• all-purpose flour (to use when you press out the dough)
• 2 cups shortening
• powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• In a small-medium pan, heat chopped apple pieces, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon over high heat and bring to a boil. When it boils, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a tiny bowl, stir together cornstarch and water and then add into apple mixture.
• Increase heat and bring to a boil again. Boil until mixture is thickened (takes about 1 minute). Remove from heat and add in butter.
• Put mixture into a heat-safe bowl and set aside. Refrigerate so that you can work with the mixture more easily in the next steps.
• On waxed paper, sprinkle flour to prevent dough from sticking.

  Flour each side of a biscuit and roll out/flatten into a thin circle. Circle will be almost 6 inches wide.
• Spoon 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of the circle and leave a border around the edge to be able to close the pie. If you add too much filling, it will make it hard to seal the edges of the pies.
• Fold the circle to create a half-circle. To seal the edges together, dip a small brush or your finger in a bit of water and go around the edges of the dough with the water. The water and dough combination will act as a glue to keep the edges together. Press with the tines of a fork to seal and create the lined edges of the pie.
• To fry the pies, melt shortening in a Dutch oven. To test if the temperature is high enough, sprinkle a drop of water in to see if it sizzles. If it does, the oil is hot enough. A candy thermometer would read about 325 degrees (F). It should not be so hot that it smokes. If smoke begins, turn off heat and remove pot from heat.

  Add 2-3 pies to Dutch oven and fry for 4-5 minutes on each side. The pies will be golden brown when done.

  Have a plate lined with paper towels ready for when you remove the pies. Place pies on the plate with paper towels to absorb oil.

  Top with sprinkled powder sugar.

As a note, Dusty suggests making a glaze to frost the pies.  I opted for simply dusting with powdered sugar, but I wanted to share Dusty’s option.  It is so delicious, too!  Pick your topping- you can’t go wrong!  Here’s the icing/glaze…

Whisk 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar with 2 TBSP milk until it has thickened.  Drizzle on pies and enjoy!

Cheers, Friends!  I hope you enjoy an indoor or outdoor picnic with your friends and families.

Enjoy,

Lydia xo