Fried Apple Pies

Many of my best childhood memories involve time spent in the kitchen. There was always something delicious coming out of the oven or simmering on the stove and I treasure the many down-home recipes I inherited from my Mom and my grandmother. I hope to share lots of these recipes with you in the coming months, but you do need to understand that many times I'm shooting from the hip when it comes to measurements. You see, they don't make measuring spoons and cups marked "about that much" and "just a tad". And that happens to be the way much of the cooking is done around here. : ) Still, I'm giving you my best estimates and in some cases I have actually measured out the ingredients to make sure they're as accurate as possible.

That being said, you need to know that this particular recipe is not one of those that was accurately measured. ; )

Just try it. They're pretty tough to mess up and everyone loves them!


***When I name a specific brand of an ingredient, it is a matter of personal preference, trial and error with other brands, or simply what I think works best. I am receiving no reimbursement from any product manufacturers and should that ever change, you'll be the first to know! : ) ***

Fried Apple Pies

Baking Mix (your favorite brand, or if you have your own biscuit recipe...use it!)
cooked apples
Crisco shortening
a good nonstick skillet (I adore my WearEver hard anodized!)
cooked apples or *shudder* CANNED pie filling (Seriously...cooking apples is not that difficult!)

Here are my starting ingredients:

My baking mix is from Save A Lot and the brand is Ginger Evans. I know everyone doesn't have a Save A Lot store nearby but if you do, it's worth the trip there to get this baking mix.
IT. IS. THE. BEST.

The bowl of filling is the result of some Golden Delicious apples I had forgotten were in the fridge and by the time I stumbled across them, they were somewhat withered and perfect for cooking.

Peel (though you don't have to peel them), core, slice, and cook with a little water, butter, sugar and cinnamon. Makes the house smell great, too. : )

{ The most important thing in this pic is the fork right there in the front. In this house, it is lovingly referred to as a 'Mawmaw Fork'. : ) It is a piece from my Mawmaw Jones's everyday flatware. I have only a couple of the forks, a couple of the spoons and a handful of the knives. I use one of these forks to mix pretty much anything I make. And I'm tellin' ya, that's the secret to my kitchen success. : ) }

Mix your biscuit mix according to the directions on the package, but add a little extra mix to make a not-so-soft dough. For rolled and cut biscuits you want a softer dough. When you need to pat it out, fill it and lift it into a frying pan, stiffer is better. ; )

Sprinkle some mix on the counter where you're working. Take a ball of dough about 1/3 cup in size and pat it into a circle about 1/4" thick.

Before filling, lift dough to be sure it is not stuck to the counter. There is nothing worse than getting the filling in there and then discovering the dough is stuck.
Really.
Not that I've done that much.

Now spoon on some yummy, sweet, cinnamon-laden apple deliciousness.

Fold over the dough and press the edges to seal.

Now place the pie in the heated skillet.
You should have about this much Crisco in there:

(Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.)

You will have to add more throughout the cooking process,
but I don't like to have them floating in grease.
That's why a nonstick skillet is good.

Now start adding pies! : ) Fry them on low heat.
Nothing worse than a pie that's black on the outside, gooey on the inside.

Fry for a couple of minutes on each side, or until golden. You do NOT want to turn the pies more than one time. Trust me. Turning multiple times just makes them really greasy.
And as soon as you turn one over, sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar.
Then you get to make it do a little trick.
Once it is nice and golden brown on both sides, you get to teach it to stand, like this:

Sometimes that little bit of dough around the edge doesn't get quite done if you forget this step,
so be sure to give it at least a minute or so standing on edge.

And in the end, you get this:

Do those look delicious or what???

TIPS AND TRICKS
*Don't make up more pies than you have room for in the skillet.
They need to go into the hot grease as soon as the edges are sealed.
Otherwise, the apples make the dough soggy and it's impossible to get them
to the skillet in one piece.*

*Be generous when sprinkling your work surface with baking mix.
Unlike making some breads, these fried pies won't get overly tough
because you added too much flour.
That doesn't mean you want to make the dough completely dry!
Just add enough to make it manageable.*