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Fried apple hand pies
Half-moon pastries filled with spiced dried apples
AmericanFried pies are a staple of Appalachian bake sales, country stores and Grand Ole Opry-era lunch pails across Tennessee, Kentucky and north Georgia, made from apples dried on the porch roof in autumn. The rich filling of stewed dried apple is folded into rounds of tender pastry, crimped with a fork and fried crisp in a skillet. Chef's tip: let the filling go completely cold and use only a heaped tablespoon; overfilled pies burst in the pan.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
For the filling
- 7 oz dried apple rings
- 2 cups water
- 2 ⅞ oz soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- ½ oz butter
For the pastry
- 10 ½ oz plain flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 ⅛ oz cold butterdiced
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 cups vegetable oilfor shallow frying
- 2 tbsp icing sugar (optional)for dusting
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Simmer the 7 oz dried apple rings in the 2 cups water for 30 minutes, covered, until soft and the water is nearly gone. Mash with the 2 ⅞ oz soft brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp grated nutmeg and ½ oz butter and cool completely.
35 minStep 2: Rub the 3 ⅛ oz cold butter into the 10 ½ oz plain flour, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp baking powder, then stir in the ¾ cup buttermilk to a soft dough. Chill 20 minutes.
25 minStep 3: Roll the dough 3 mm thick and cut 12 rounds of 12 cm. Put a heaped tablespoon of filling on one half of each, wet the edge, fold over and crimp firmly with a fork.
20 minStep 4: Heat 1.5 cm of 2 cups vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan to 350°F. Fry 3 or 4 at a time for 2–3 minutes a side, until blistered and golden brown. A common mistake is oil that is too cool, so the pastry soaks it up.
25 minStep 5: Drain on kitchen paper and dust with 2 tbsp icing sugar sugar. Eat warm or cold the same day.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 270 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does fried apple hand pies take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of soft brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
- What can I use instead of ground cinnamon?
- A cinnamon stick, ground: about ½ tsp per stick.
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