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Fried Apple Pies!

  
Fried pies are another southern classic that people love.  I don't think people make them much anymore though.  They are actually not all that hard to make, but they do take time.  It just seems that most people don't really know how they are made.  So when I went to cook with my mother last week, we did a batch of fried pies.  

We usually use dried apples for the apple pies, but on this day she had some really good Gala apples so we decided to use them.  You can, of course, used the dried fruit.   We also made the dough for the pastry with a buttermilk baking mix, but a lot of folks do use canned biscuits.  

In my opinion, the taste of the dough you make up is much flakier and better, but the biscuits work.  You will need the large biscuits though.   

 Here is what you will need:

Apple Filling
5 Gala apples or some other firm apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbs.)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup apple juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. cornstarch

Pastry
2 cups buttermilk baking mix (like Bisquick)
1 cup water

1 stick melted butter (for brushing the tops)

Place the peeled, diced apples in a skillet with the butter sugar and salt.  Saute them until they cook down and get tender. 

Mix the apple juice, cinnamon, vanilla and cornstarch together.  Pour over the apples and bring to a quick boil then turn the heat to medium and cook until the juices thicken.  The apples should be cooked until they are mush but should be very tender.  Turn off and let this cool on the stove.  Place in the refrigerator and chill.  It's really best to do this the day before to allow sufficient time to get cold, but you could do it in the morning and have it cold enough by the late afternoon.   If the filling is not cold, it makes it really hard to keep it in the pies when you fry them.

Mix the baking mix and water until you get a soft dough, like biscuit dough.  You might have to add just wee bit more water than the 1 cup. It's really best to do this ahead and chill the dough also, but you can proceed from here. 

Divide the dough into 8 even sections.  Take each section and roll it out on a floured surface.

Cut about a 7" circle from each rolled dough section.  A good way to get a nice circle is to place a large saucer or bread and butter size plate down and then cut around it..voila, pretty circle of dough.  Place about 1//3 cup of the apple filling in the center. 

With a pastry brush wet the edge of the dough all the way around with a little water. Fold the dough over and seal them with the tines of a fork all the way around.  Continue with the other seven until they are all filled and sealed.  It  is a  time consuming little task making fried pies.  This might be why nobody knows how to make these anymore...lol!   Your family will love you for the effort though, so keep going, we are almost there!


Now time to fry and this is where we need to discuss your options.  You can deep fry these in a deep fryer of oil.  Actually, a lot of folks do it this way.  Just heat your oil to about 350 and drop them 1 or 2 at a time in and cook until golden brown.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Or you can fry them in a large skillet with about a 1/2 inch of oil in it. or my mother puts oil on her large griddle (like you cook a batch of pancakes on) and places all of the pies on them at one time.  Take the melted stick of butter and brush the uncooked side with it, then when you turn them, brush the other side with it. and brown the other side.  This actually works great and you can get them all cooked at one time and quickly.  With this method the pies are not as greasy as with the deep fried method, but for some people that is what they like about a fried pie...grease.  This produces a more buttery pie.  We love them like this, but you know between me, Mama and Paula Deen, we keep the dairy farmers in business with our butter consumption...lol!  You can't go wrong with either method...deep fry or pan fry. 



Fried Apple Pies!











58 comments:

  1. I love these! I have never made them myself, but my husband's grandmother made them very week when she was living. Such memories! Thanks for the recipe.

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    1. You are welcome. It's nice how certain foods bring back memories of those we love.

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  2. These look wonderful and just like my nana's..........I shared on Face Book and Google+ - now I just might have to make them myself!!

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    1. Thank you Kelli! I appreciate it and love your comments! I hope you try them. Let me know how they turn out if you do!

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    2. just a little tip I make and sell fried pies to restaurants if you place the rolled dough in the saucer put your filling in pull it over so excess dough hangs over then take the fork using the edge of saucer as a guide to mash then take side of fork and cut the dough your pies will be the same size every time and its much faster as you don't have to worry about perfect circles

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  3. my mom would use the canned bisquits. she would spray a cookie sheet with a butter flavored cooking spray and place the pies on it. then she would spray the top of the pies with the spray. yum yum good.

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  4. My Memmaw made these with biscuits and I could never figure out how she got them big enough for the pies. They were awesome. I've tried to make them but I didn't know you had to have the filling cold. I'm definitely going to try these. Thank you! I hope I can make them as good as hers and yours.
    Thanks again.

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    1. I roll my canned biscuit dough to the size of a large dinner plate. I think the bisquick mix would absorb too much grease??

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  5. Thank you for sharing,,,, I always look forward to the things you post! BTW,,, you have the most beautiful dinnerware! Reminds me of stays at my Grandmother's house. I always loved the blue and white.

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  6. Thank you so much, Lady Michael. I appreciate that so much! I love dishes and the older looking patterns are my favorite.

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  7. My Mother would go out and pick apples off the tree in the back yard to make fried apple pies. She would call me at work to say come by this afternoon I will have fried apple pies coming out of the skillet when you get here. Of course I never turned her down. She made her dough from scratch, nothing store bought. I sure do miss her and her apple pies.

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  8. I make them with dried apples, but am going to make some like these.. They really look good and I am sure yours are..

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  9. These bring back so many wonderful memories as do most all of your recipes, of cold winter mornings and cooking with my grandma on her old wood burning cook stove .

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  10. My mom also use to make these all the time and I just loved them. Thanks for the memories and I have to try making them to. Yum!

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  11. Judy December 2, 2012December 2, 2012 at 1:03 PM

    WOULD YOU HAVE THE RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE AND PEACH FRIED PIES? LOVE THEM ALL..

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  12. my grandma used to make these when she mad homemade bread. very good.

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  13. I remember my mother making these with dried apples, but she used a pie crust, even the pillsbury rolled ones. Then she fried them in Butteer flavored Crisco. Delicious!

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  14. My grandmother always made these and I am so glad to find this recipe. She passed away in 1999 and I haven't had them since. I am making them right now with some apples I had left over from our trip the the apple festival in Ellijay. Nana always sprinkled a little brown sugar or dusted confectioners sugar on top as soon as they came out of the oil. I can't wait to taste them again, and making them makes me feel close to her. Thank you so much for this!

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    1. Ellijay, Georgia? My Grandfather and his brother were from Ellijay....!

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  15. My husband has always loved fried apple pies, but I have always been intimidated by them for some reason. With your instructions and picture help, I'm going to tackle these. He will be thrilled... Question: Why does the last picture of the fried apple pies look different than the picture with the fork tin closures? Those don't look like they were made that way. Very pretty... Thank you so much.

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  16. If we decide to use a canned biscuit, what brand/type would you recommend? Next question is about how to go about making the biscuit big enough. When I try rolling them I tend to get them too thin or too small diameter. Even with the Grands you might get them to about six inches and 1/4" thick. My guess is this is going to be a scaled down version, maybe great for those of us with a weight problem.

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    1. You could try the canned croissant rolled our somewhat and then doubled up, in other words one for the bottom, add filling then one on too and crimp the edges after moistening lightly

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  17. I would love to try this receipe with dried apples. I dried some apples and now I have something to do with them. have you ever made a gingerbread cake with the apple pie filling?

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  18. The best memories of my childhood would be Mama Brown's fried apple pies. She was a wonderful cook: biscuits, fried chicken, chocolate pudding, and BEST "fried apple pies". I would love to give my grandchildren such memories.

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  19. My Mama would use canned biscuits and a jar of apple sauce, then she would fry them on a very hot,greased grill. They would melt in your mouth,they were so good!

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  20. My grandmother used to make these only they were peach or apricot. My aunt who is 81 still makes them and they are delish! Her dough is from scratch though. Thanks for sharing, I love the step by step process.

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  21. We love fried pies. I have mad them with dried apples which I lov best and other apples. At some old time festivals I have seen them made and fried in an iron skillet, yummy.My Mother used to make different kinds using canned fruit filling. I even remember pineapple. They wer all good. Thank you for all of your recipes, as I love your site. I come to it often. You sure have some great old time recipes, and II love them.

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  22. When I was a child, they would be fried peach pies and sprinkled with powdered sugar. What a treat!

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  23. my mom used to make these when we were growing up in va.she would make a lot as we had a big family .she made them with her own dough ...we never had canned biscuits then or at least my family didn't .. the kids all were on their own my mom and dad moved to ohio to live where 5 of us lived.in 1984 my dad passed away and mom was not in good health at 80 yrs old.so she came to live with me and my husband ..my 5 kids were gone .so one day while I was at work she was talking to my hubby about the fried pies .and him being a buckeye ,he told her he had heard of them but had never ate them ..so that day they were going to suprise me with these pies .they made a batch and they ate them all up and I never got one ..why did they even tell me ? any how she died a couple months later and I think of those pies a lot..have got to make them .now I have a recipe...but not the dried apples she used ...I live alone and my husband has passed away now ...so I will eat them all myself ,

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  24. That was such a sweet story and I am sure fried pies always will remind you of your mother. Isn't it funny how food does that...brings back such vivid memories!

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  25. to make these even more simple..you can also use canned pie fillings.

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    1. So glad to see someone in this site admit to using the canned pie filling!! Was beginning to feel like a "take the easy way out" outcast! LOL! They are delish!!

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    2. I use Lucks fried apples and add some apple pie spice. I have learned to stay away from biscuits with butter. When the butter melts you get holes and the filling leaks out.

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  26. my step granny taught me how o make these when I was ten yrs old. she dried her own apples every summer so we would have plenty during the winter.. she used the cheapest biscuits she could find and fried them in a cast iron skillet

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  27. I am making these now, they sound so good. Prob wont be until tomorrow have to wait for the filling to cool. Cant wait to taste them I have never had them, thanks so much for the recipe. Do these freeze well do you know. tia

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  28. I made these and wondering if next time I could use a different batter was not crazy about the bisquick mix that I used. tia

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    1. You can make up your own pie crust from scratch ingredients. The biscuit mix is just easier.

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  29. I fry mine in Butter flavor Crisco. YUMMM!!

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  30. Couldn't you bake them instead of frying them?????

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  31. I make these but I usually buy the Pillsbury Grand biscuits to make the dough and deep fry.

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  32. I buy the Pillsbury Grand biscuits to use for the dough

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  33. My Mama and Granny made these with dried peaches. Brings back a ton of memories from my childhood!

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  34. This is wonderful I just love it and your comments we great. thanks so much for sharing

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  35. My Grandmother always fried hers in Lard...♥♥♥ Delish...

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  36. Just learned to make them in June. Love them. A lot of work but well worth it.

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  37. Good with Peaches too, was one of my fav's my mother used to make

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  38. I used to make these a lot,my kids loved them,I made them with my home made biscuit dough.I always dried my apples.It iss hard to do your own dried apples now days,if you don't watch them they get bugs in them.I will have to try some with this recipe.Thanks for posting it.I had never tried peach until I went to a festial & they had fried pies & I tried the peach pies they were made with peach pie filling.I was wondering if you could fix the peaches with the recipe for the apples.

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    1. My mother made peach and apricot, they were the best. Fried in crisco.
      I tasted many a fried pies and nothing even close. At 64 I'm going to try for the first time.

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  39. I fried okra in coconut oil last night.....it was wonderful......so.....I 'm going to try fried pies in coconut oil ! I also love a dried peach or apricot (cooked and sweetened) filling ! Awesome !

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  40. Why can't I post recipes from here to Pinterest?

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  41. There were 11 of us kids growing up. I have fried many apple pies...would have to get up early, help make breakfast then start packing lunches. Sometimes the pies were still warm when I put them in the lunches along with fried egg sandwiches on cold biscuits. Brings back lots of memories!!!

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  42. My mom use to make these when I was a kid. She'd make her own dough. She would make apple, peach, cherry, and chocolate pies. I make them now for my family. My grand children love them.

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  43. ah the local church ladies made these to raise money for events. they also sold them to a cafe. never had enough!!

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  44. Have y'all tried sweet potatoe fried pies .. they are soo good. And chocolate fried pies. Yummy.

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  45. I need to try this!! I have a TON of apples on my trees and they are cooking, not eating apples. I bet you can do this with pears too- my pear tree is going bonkers. Good year for fruits.

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  46. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! Love Fried Apple Pies!!

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  47. Just purchased Granny Smith apples today (on sale), so I will make these tomorrow. I am a fried apple pie addict, lol. My Mom used to make them with her homemade apple butter. Daddy had no front teeth (well, he had them in the cabinet) so she cooked them for him, but I have to say they were yummy.

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  48. My grandmother taught me to make fried apple pies when I was very young. We dried our own apples and made our dough. Thanks for bringing back some great memories. I make them with my grandchildren now and hope to pass on the tradition.

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