Email to Amy      

Recipe Categories: wldflowersdrm's HOME PAGEAmish APPETIZERS BBQ BEVERAGES Bisquick BREAD BREAKFAST Brownies Budget CAKESandPIES CANDY CASSEROLES Celebrity Cheesecake COOKIES CookingForOneOrTwo CROCKPOT Dehydrator DESSERTS DIABETIC Dinner EGGS ETHNIC FISHandSEAFOOD FOODSTEAMER Frosting FRUIT Gravy HighAltitude HintsAndTips Holiday_Casseroles IceCream Kids Lipton LOWFAT MARINADES McCormick MEATS Mexican Miscellaneous Muffins NONFOOD PASTA PASTRIES PetRecipes PIZZA POULTRY PRESSURECOOKER QuickAndEasy RestaurantRecipes RetroRecipes RICE SALADandDRESSING SANDWICHES SAUCES SideDish SkilletMeals SNACKS SOUPSandSTEWS SpicesAndSeasoning StateRecipes TasteOfHome VEGETABLES VEGETARIAN Venison WeightWatchers

Grandma's Fried Fruit Pies




Source of Recipe


Becky






List of Ingredients



• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 3/4 cup Crisco or other good vegetable shortening
  
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1/4 cup cold water
  
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  
• Filling:
  
• 3 cups dried fruit (apricots, peaches, apples)
  
• 1 1/2 cups water
  
• 6 tablespoons sugar
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  






Instructions



1. The Pastry: Mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender, fork, your hands, or whatever method works best for you, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir together the beaten egg with the water and sprinkle over flour mixture. Sprinkle in the vinegar, mixing lightly, until ingredients are well combined. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for atleast 1 hour.
   
2. The Filling: On very low heat, simmer the dried fruit in the water for 30 to 45 minutes, or until very tender. Add water if necessary to prevent scorching. Allow to cool; mash fruit slightly. Stir in the sugar and spices. This step may be done in advance and refrigerated; however, warm up the fruit (microwave is fine) enough to take the chill off and make it workable before filling your pies.
   
3. Putting It All Together: Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut into four equal pieces. You can then cut each of the pieces into three equal pieces, leaving you with 12 golf ball size dough balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 5 to 6 inch circle. Your circles don't have to be perfect and ragged edges are ok.
   
4. Put 2 generous tablespoons of filling onto one side of the circle of dough. Seal the pie by wetting the inside edge of the dough with water (use your finger) and then fold over the dough, making the familiar half moon shaped pie. Make sure the edges of the dough are even and press and crimp to insure a good seal. You can use a fork to give you a bit of a decorative edge if you like. You can also correct the more ragged edges during this step because the dough is pliable. Just make sure the filling is sealed in and any holes in the dough are crimped.
   
5. Frying: I use two methods and both are good. To deep fry, heat the oil in a deep pan with steep sides or a deep fryer. Carefully lower the pies into the oil, one at a time and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. You don't have to worry about cooking the filling since it's already beed cooked. The frying process merely cooks the dough.
   
6. The second method is pan frying. Fry the pies in about 1/2 inch of oil in an electric frying pan set to 375 degrees. Pan frying takes a little longer and the pies have to be turned, but the end result will be every bit as good. Sprinkle the hot fried pies with confectioners' sugar or cinnamon sugar.
   
7. The pastry recipe will make twelve 5 to 6 inch fried pies.
   






Final Comments


The Filling: Although the basic recipe is listed, please note that for each cup of dried fruit, you need at least a half cup and probably more of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar. If you make a dozen pies, you may want to mix up the flavors. Using the proportions in this recipe, for example, I made six apricot and six apple/cherry by using approximately 1 1/2 cups dried apricots and 1 cup of apples and 1/3 cup of dried cherries. Of course, I cooked the apricots separate from the apples and cherries.