Southern Fried Apple Pies

I have been craving the food my grandmother used to make. I dreamed about making chicken and dumplings with her a few nights ago. I’ve also been thinking about her fried apple pies, so this weekend I made Fried Apple Pies.

In my minds eye, I can see my grandmother in one of her checked or stripped housedresses, as she let me help her make these fried apples pies. The crust she made was a cross between biscuit dough and a pie crust. She’d roll out the dough and cut out circles or ovals with a knife. She always used Crisco, as she felt it made pie crust so light and tender. She would also melted Crisco in her old cast iron dutch oven to fry the pies. I’m more of a butter person, so this is going to be my take on her recipe.

Serves 10

Ingredients

• Crust
  • 2 cups all purpose (plain) flour plus more flour to roll out the dough
  • 1 cup cold milk
  • 1/2 cup cold butter (stick)
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pie filling
  • 2 1/2 cups of apple sauce that is not runny. My grandmother always made apple sauce while the dough rested in the fridge.
• Vegetable oil or some other light flavored oil for frying, enough to fill a pot 3 inches

Tools:

Rolling pin, fork, dough blender (optional), knife or 6 inch dumpling cutter, wire rack or plate lined with paper towels, large pot or dutch oven, spider or tongs

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together with a fork.
2. Slice the cold butter into 1/2 inch slices and drop into the flour mixture
3. Using a fork or dough blender, cut the butter into the flour until most of the looks like coarse crumbs, but leave some pea sized chunks of butter.
4. Stir in the cold milk, until the flour and butter mixture starts forming a ball. Gather the dough with your hands and if sticky, add more flour and kneed gently into a ball
5. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic and put in the fridge for 30 minutes
6. Right before taking the dough out, pour oil into a large pot or cast iron dutch oven.
7. Sprinkle flour on your bench and rub into your rolling pin
8. Roll out the dough until it is a as thin as a pie crust, between 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch
9. Cut out 6 inch rounds and gather any left over dough into a ball and put in the fridge.
10. Using water or milk, brush 1/4 to 1/2 inch around the edge of the circles
11. Put 2 tablespoons of the apple sauce on half of the middle of the circle, being careful not to get it to the edge
12. Fold the uncovered half of the dough over the apple sauce and press down the round edge with your fingers.
13. Take the fork and press the tines down about a 1/2 inch into the round edge of the pie and do this completely around the round edge to seal the pie up.
14. Make the rest of the pies.
15. Either line a plate with paper towels, or set up a wire rack on a half sheet
16. Heat the oil up on medium-high, until a piece of dough dropped in quickly fries up to a golden brown. (I really should’ve taken the temp of the oil, but didn’t think about it.)
17. Once the oil is hot enough, carefully lower a pie away from you in so that oil won’t splash on you. Then lower another pie in.
18. As soon as the first side of the pie is golden brown, flip the pie over and fry until the second side is also golden brown.
19. Carefully using a spider, tongs, or a slotted spoon, lift the pie out and let drain on the paper towels or on the wire rack.
20. Continue until all the pies are cooked.
21. Any left over dough can be fried as well.
22. Let cool a little bit before eating.

Notes:

This could easily be made vegan by using non-dairy milk and coconut oil in the crust.

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