Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Fried Apple Pies

Fried Apple Pies

There’s nothing that speaks more of fall than Fried Apple Pies.  They were a staple around our house every fall season. Mama would dry her own apples–she never used apple sauce. She usually made her own dough, but many times she would use the leftover scraps from biscuit dough. The mashed up apples gave a more definitive apple taste, and fried to a golden brown were delicious. Eaten hot or luke-warm, it didn’t matter. The combination of fried apples and cinnamon were mouth-watering good and one pie was never enough.

They were kept, if there were any left, in the warming closet of the old cookstove and provided snacks for hungry kids after school when they came home starved. (Remember how hungry you were when you came home from school each day?) They were also packed into lunch boxes for working men who had to take their lunch to work.

As I remember, Mama used lard in making the dough. And she fried them in bacon grease she saved in a tin cup she kept at the back of the stove for seasoning everything from fried chicken to green beans. Every kitchen had that little tin cup for storing bacon grease, as I recall. It occurs to me that this is the reason food tasted so much better back then. Housewives knew how to season food.

You can get these tasty treats at the many apple barns that are open across the area. And for the most part they are good. I used to buy several to take home when I visited apple orchards and barns because they kept so well. Each bite was a reminder of how good they tasted when I scarfed them down in my younger days.

Today I’m sharing a recipe I found in Southern Living for this old-fashioned Southern treat. I would advise you to make several because they will go fast.

FRIED APPLE PIES – Southern Living

Yield: Makes 1 1/2 dozen

Ingredients – Dough
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup buttermilk
 
Apple Filling
1 (5-oz.) package dried apples
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt

Cinnamon Sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Remaining Ingredient
Vegetable oil

Preparation
1. Prepare dough: Stir together flour and sugar. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 12 to 24 hours.
2. Meanwhile, prepare filling: Bring apples and water to cover (about 3 1/2 cups) to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.
3. Drain apples; place in a large bowl. Coarsely mash apples with 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar and next 4 ingredients. (A pastry blender does a great job.) Cover and chill 12 to 24 hours.
4. Prepare cinnamon sugar: Stir together 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon.
5. Pour oil to depth of 2 inches into a dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat to 350°. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 18 portions; shape into balls. Flatten into 3-inch circles; roll into 5-inch circles. Working with 1 circle at a time, spoon 1 Tbsp. filling into center of each circle; brush edge with water. Fold dough over filling. Press edges with a fork to seal.
6. Fry, in batches, in hot oil 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle both sides of hot pies with cinnamon sugar.