The fried pie is a staple in southern cooking or at least it was in my family. There were roadside shops where people would sell them and we’d stop and try them on our way east from Arizona, but none were ever as good as Mamaw’s. So let’s dive in and I’ll share her recipe with you below.
If you ask a dozen people you might get a dozen different answers about the proper dough for the fried pies, but one thing I’m certain of is the old school way of making the fried pies was to use one’s secret biscuit recipe. Some folks will say that biscuit dough gets greasy when fried so they use a pie crust recipe. Feel free to try any type of dough recipe you like, even refrigerator biscuits will do the trick or pre made pie crust and please share your experience.
In keeping with tradition I’m going to make mine with biscuit dough. If you’d rather bake them you can also do that, just brush them with a little melted butter first and bake at 350 till golden brown.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and very cold ice water about 3/4 cup
- Note: For a sweeter crust you can add about 1/2 C. of sugar
Filling
-
1-Lb dried apples, cut up. (I bought mine a Trader Joe’s)
-
1 or 2- cups water
-
1-tsp. cinnamon
-
1/2-tsp. cloves
-
1/2-tsp. allspice
-
1/2-cup white sugar
- 1-cup.brown sugar
- Simmer slowly over low heat until fruit becomes plump. Check taste and add sugar or spices as needed to suit your taste. Add water as needed because dried fruit will absorb water differently each time. Keep cooking until mixture becomes thick like jam.
- Remove from heat and let cool , it’s ok to place in refrigerator till cold.
For the dough:
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour until it resembles a course meal.
- Add most of the ice water and gently form the dough into a ball. If it is looking too dry, add the remaining ice water.
- Divide dough in half and work with one ball of dough at a time.
- Sprinkle a work surface with flour
- Roll the dough 1/8 to1/4 inch thick. Cut dough into large circles using a coffee can or large biscuit cutter. 5-6 inches around.
- Add the filling to the center of the round dough, moisten the edges with water , and fold dough in half, making a half moon shape. Crimp the edges with a fork sealing the fruit filling inside.
- Heat about 4 inches of oil in a heavy skillet or a dutch oven. Wait till the oil gets to 350 degrees. Place pies in small batches(2 pies at a time) in the oil.
- Turn pies halfway through the cooking ( when they rise to the surface). Cook until golden brown. Drain them and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon and sugar or make a glaze using powdered sugar and water, and brush on the cooled pies. Wait till pies have cooled a little before serving. Enjoy!
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon water or milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
What a “sweet” memory, Charlie, in many ways. My links to my grandmothers were also made with many cups of sugar. On my Mom’s side, they were first generation Slovene immigrants (roots in pre-WWI Austria Hungary), and Grammy Yoshar’s sweet poppy seed bread roll was a favorite. She called it pogacha, which seems to be a name that was passed around and through several cultures adjacent to the Adriatic Sea. She was also an expert at making mouth watering “kiffles”, super flaky, rolled pastries made from cream cheese and butter dough that are filled with either poppy seeds, apricot preserves or “lekvar” which is a delicious prune butter.
On the other side, we are almost 100% Pennsylvania Dutch (which comes from the word, “Deutsche”, and has nothing to do with the Netherlands!). Grammy Koch (nee, Scheider) was the maven of sticky buns and shoofly pie.
I can imagine some of the memories that flood through you when you smell your Mawmaw’s fried pies and then take a bite. It’s an experience that the fortunate among us can savor and share. Thanks for that!
Barko,
I find it wonderful that you also have such great memories of your grandmothers and their cooking. I would love any of those recipes if possible so we can share them here with the community. Thanks for sharing.
These pies sound luscious! Apple pies are a favorite dessert of mine and I would love to try this recipe. Good to know about the dried apples at Trader Joe’s. I have never used them in baking.
Oh, and thanks for memories, Charlie! — song cue 😉
Hi Bets,
If you do try and make them let me know how they turn out. It’s usually a trial and error thing. If you decide to fry them be very careful as they only take a little time to cook. I answered the phone once while making a batch and they burned in what seemed like 30 seconds!