Amish Apple Fry Pies

These Amish Apple Fry Pies are irresistible. The filling is simple with just a hint of spice. The crust is tender and flaky and just a little crunchy. And the glaze? It dries into a crackly sweet coating that seals in all the goodness.

These Amish Apple Fry Pies are perfect for Autumn snacking.

If it weren’t for the Mr. I would definitely be the creepy lady on the block passing out homemade Amish Apple Fried Pies to the Trick or Treaters. I know we’re taught to give anything that doesn’t come in a plastic wrapper the suspicious side eye, but you have to admit, these pies beat out piles of Tootsie Rolls and Jolly Ranchers any day.

Perhaps it’s old fashioned of me, but I feel a little sad my Apple Fry Pies would most likely cause parents to hustle their children away from my door step. I mean, how great would it be if Trick or Treating actually involved receiving fresh baked goods from all of your neighbors?

Instead of mini candy bars and Laffy Taffy, your children would come home with warm chocolate chip cookies, gooey Rice Krispy treats, and fudge brownies. Rest assured, I would swallow every ounce of dignity I have and take my 27 year old self to the streets for some treating of my own.

I suppose I’ll avoid a lawsuit and some stern looks if I keep these Apple Fry Pies away from the little Trick or Treaters, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share them with all of you! If I could, I’d ship you all your very own pie. No creepiness about that, right?

Glazed and deep fried, these Amish Apple Fry Pies are sure to be a hit!

If you’ve never heard of a fry pie before, they’re pretty self explanatory. Pie crust is wrapped around a fruit or cream filling then fried and glazed. In some places they’re called fried pies, but at the Amish bakeries I’m familiar with, they always go by fry pies.

I don’t think I need to explain why these are so popular. They’ve got a lot going for them. First, PIE.  Second, FRIED pie. Third, HANDHELD fried pie. And fourth, GLAZED handheld fried pie. If there were an Amish state fair, these would be the signature dish (except maybe they’d be on a stick).

Glazed Amish Apple Fry Pies are a special fall treat!

For my first foray into fried pies, I decided to go with a classic, seasonal favorite–apple. This filling is simple with just a hint of spice. The crust is tender and flaky and just a little crunchy. And the glaze? It dries into a crackly sweet coating that seals in all the goodness.

This Amish Fry Pie recipe lets you create this country bakery favorite at home!

Now imagine yourself being able to take the sweet, familiar, homey flavors of apple pie wherever you go. The portability of these means you can grab them for breakfast, eat them in your car (not responsible for any eyes-rolling-back-in-head accidents), pack them for a late-Autumn picnic, or one hand them while you fold some laundry. Actually, that last one may not be true. Test at your own risk.

Wherever and however you choose to eat these, they’re sure to be a hit. Except maybe on Halloween night. Don’t be the creep. Use the Snickers instead.

What could be better than pie? How about deep fried and glazed apple pie?

If you’re looking for more awesome Amish recipes, be sure to check out my Amish Chicken and Noodles and Homemade Amish White Bread!

Amish Apple Fry Pies

Amish Apple Fry Pies

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Classic Apple Pie Flavor, in a glazed crust makes these Fry Pies the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth on the go!

Ingredients

For the filling:

  • 2 large apples, peeled, cored, and diced
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons cider
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

For the dough:

  • 2 cups flour, sifted
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup HOT milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the glaze:

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

Instructions

  1. To make the filling, combine the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until juices start to form, about 3 minutes. Make a slurry by whisking together the cider and cornstarch. Stir this into the pan, turn the heat up to high, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened, about 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. For the dough, cut the butter into cubes then use a pastry cutter to work it into the flour. Continue to cut in the butter until it's in small pea-sized lumps. In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and salt together. Slowly pour in hot milk, stirring constantly. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir together until a dough begins to form. Turn the dough out onto parchment or wax paper, and knead it until it smooths out, about 1 minute.
  3. Divide the dough into 6 equal sized pieces and roll them each into a ball. Use a rolling pin to roll them out to about 6 inch circles. Fill each circle with 2 Tablespoons of apple mixture. Fold the dough in half over the filling and pinch the edges together to seal. You can flute the edges or use a fork to crimp them. If the edges aren't sealing properly, wet them with a little water.
  4. Heat the oil in a deep sauce pan to 350 degrees. You can test to see if the oil is ready by sticking a wooden spoon into the center of the pot. If small bubbles form around the handle, you're ready to go.
  5. Place the pies in the hot oil one at a time and fry until golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to dry.
  6. Repeat with remaining pies.
  7. While the pies fry, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth. It's best to glaze the pies while they're still warm. I use a pastry brush to brush the glaze on one side then let it dry, flip them over, and glaze the other side. You can put two coats of glaze on for extra sweetness if you like, but wait for the glaze to harden in between coats.
  8. Pies can be stored uncovered for 2-3 days. If you want the glaze to remain hard, do not place the pies in a plastic bag or sealed container. Just leave them on a wire rack or pan.

Notes

Wondering what to do with those extra egg whites? Check out my collection of over 50 leftover egg white recipes!

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a review, or head over to Instagram and share a photo! Tag your projects with #neighborfoodies!

105 Comments

  1. i did not have quite enough time so i made the dough first, wrapped it up and put in the fridge for few hours. then i rolled it all at once, cut up in small squares to end up with 10 rectangular pies. i then placed them in the fridge and fried them an hour later when i finally had time.
    despite all the delays everything worked perfectly well and the results are delicious.
    very good recipe, thank you.

  2. I have not tried your recipe yet as I just found it but I make these little pies but bake mine and sell them at the Farmer’s market in my area. They go like “hotcakes”. People love them and I bake mine. I have had people say they like them better than the fried one but I did it mostly for health reasons for my family. I am sure either way is delicious. I pre freeze them with air holes and bake them frozen–this keeps the filling from coming out when baked(most of the time). Will be trying this recipe before market time.

    1. Hi Kathy, in step 2, you’ll see you whisk the egg yolks and salt together, add the hot milk, then that entire mixture gets added back to the flour and butter to make a dough. Hope that helps!

  3. I made these using peach filling and OH MY JEEZ they’re so good! My husband is already asking me to make more.

  4. Hi! I live in PA and specifically go to farmers markets in search of fry pies!! I just love them. Iโ€™m going to try this recipe and was hoping youโ€™d elaborate a bit on how you crimped them? Theyโ€™re so pretty! Iโ€™m guessing you sealed them and them sort of crimped like you would for a regular pie?? Iโ€™d appreciate some tips.
    Also, have you tried putting the cream cheese in them? Those are my favorite ones but I can figure out how they do it!!

  5. Peach and cream cheese! Ever since I left Ohio, thatโ€™s what Iโ€™ve been missing. Iโ€™m trying to find peach and cream cheese or cherry and cream cheese or blueberry and cream cheese fry pie recipes! Has anyone tried adding cream cheese to the recipe?

    1. Wow! I’ve never had a fry pie with cream cheese in it before, but I might have to try experimenting. That sounds delicious. Sorry I can’t help you more right now!

  6. Can I freeze just the filling for when Iโ€™m ready to make it? If yes, what would the correct process be?
    Thank you in advance:)

    1. Absolutely! Just cool the filling and store it in a freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze and thaw overnight before you’re ready to use. It might need a little stir before filling your pies, but otherwise should be good to go!

  7. I made these with almond milk and country crock (dairy allergy). They were amazing! I need to find a way to reduce the dishes, but otherwise it’s perfect! They are a bigger, better version of caramel apple empanadas, one of my favorite desserts. Have you ever used the crust for a savory pie, like beef or chicken? Be careful with the juice too, one of mine leaked. I let it sit till last, and it firmed up enough to fry without losing too much filling!

  8. I made these before and this time Iโ€™ve tripled the recipe , cannot get my dough to come together !! Ive been kneading it for 30 minutes and itโ€™s still crumbling !

    1. Could these fried pies be made up and then deep fried โ€ฆ then allowing them to cool completely โ€ฆ and then frozen for later use? When you want some to eat, could you place the still frozen deep fried pies on a baking sheet and simply warm them/heat them up before serving?

  9. My husbandโ€™s grandmother made the best fried pies but no one really had her recipe. It wasnโ€™t pie crust nor was it a biscuit like dough. It was both. This dough recipe is perfect. Thank you so much!

  10. Several people comment about using bisqiit dough. Why would you want to spoil a wonderful recipe by doing that?? To me, bisquits are the most awful tasting thing there is!

  11. Curious about the hot milk. What temperature is “hot”? And as someone else asked, why hot milk when usually everything is cold when doing pastries. If that is how you received the recipe, fine but I’m curious as to what it does for this recipe. Do you rest the dough after the kneading? Your reply is most appreciated.

    1. Hi Rebecca,

      That’s a great question. That is the way I received the recipe in one of my favorite Amish cookbooks. The original recipe specifically calls for hot milk and has IMPORTANT in parenthesis beside it, so that’s always what I’ve used. I’m sure you could probably make a standard pie crust recipe with cold ingredients and it would work fine, but this is just the way I’ve always done it. I usually don’t need to rest the dough after kneading, but if you find it springs back when you try to roll it out, short 15 minutes rest should take care of it!

  12. YOU are so right about the whole trick or treat issue, when my children were young they came home with all kinds of wonderful homemade goodies, in particular, a lady up the street from us made the most amazing popcorn balls!! they were so good! my grandchildren are never going to know this type of thing being given. I will have to try these , they look delicious!! take care from Iowa you link was featured on The Homestead survival thank you!

    1. Thanks so much for including me. I know I would love to get popcorn balls for Halloween. I guess we’ll have to settle for making all the homemade goodies ourselves. ๐Ÿ™‚

  13. I have my grandmother’s sweet dough recipe, would that be okay to use. I like my dough on the sweeter side lol

  14. These pies are FANTASTIC! I made them with a group of 12 homeschooling kids in our cooking class and they LOVED them! We even made them the night that we invite all of our family and friends to show off what we had learned after 12 weeks of cooking class. We made 24 pies and they were gone in MINUTES! people were raving about how fantastic they were! This recipe is a keeper. I will have to share it with my Amish friends!

  15. Need a quick fix? Use canned biscuit dough & apple butter filling. The glaze really makes it! Sweet like a donut. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Happy to find this recipe!
    For those that preferred dried apple filling…the apple butter is a close 2nd! Especially if you get it from the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge, TN. โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ

  16. I’ll be making these for sure. So I was rolling out my pasta dough and cutting it into fettuccine strands and thought doing the same with pie dough, cut into strands, deep fry and serve in a bowl like you would pasta and adding an apple/crumb topping sauce. What do you think?

    1. Wow! I have never thought of deep frying pie dough noodles but that sounds amazing! If you try it, come back and let me know! I’d love to know how it works!

  17. I read your remarks about trick or treat and the stern looks etc…..you are right it is sad. But I’m happy there are still good folks in the world and I love your recipe

  18. Hi, Apple cider is really expensive where I live, I was wondering if it could be substituted with lemon juice?

  19. Wondering…how many days will these pies last before they become soggy? Im thinking of going into business of selling these pies and trying to find out.

  20. Omgoodness! This is one recipe my mom didn’t put in her book. She just said “I make it like apple pie”. She didn’t put that recipe in her book either. LOL.

  21. Haven’t made these in a long time. I need to make them for my grown children to remind them of the after school snacks they used to enjoy. Thank you for sharing. Great reminder.

  22. I would like to make these for an October wedding. Since I will not have time to make these on the day of the wedding or the day before, can these be frozen?

    1. I haven’t done this myself, but I don’t think it would be a problem to assemble them completely then freeze the unbaked pies until the day of. Unfortunately, I don’t think they would do well baked and then frozen and thawed. I would definitely try a test batch first, but I think assembling them beforehand would be a great option!

  23. THESE LOOK LIKE A GREAT PROJECT TO DO WITH MY GRANDGIRLS, AND ONE GRANDSON. MY HUSBAND WILL ESPECIALLY ENJOY THESE – HE IS A DEDICATED SWEET TOOTH!!

  24. When we lived in an Amish area of the country these were called Amish Moon pies, same except no glazing, easy to make and make a lot because they go really fast.

  25. I’ve been looking for a good empanada recipe till I stumbled across this. I get off work at 7a.m. I will go straight home n try it. This looks so easy n deliciouse!

  26. Thank you for sharing the fruit pasty recipe. I love everything to take to farmers mkt.. Please keep sharing

  27. This is sad cause these are so good– we had fresh baked goods at Halloween when I was a little girl many many years ago–cookies, cup cakes, taffy, all homemade– so sad that that’s not possible nowadays–

  28. Do you consider this dough to be chewy, with a hint of crunch on the outside or us it flakey crumbly? I buy these at our local Farmers market and they are to die for addictive. The crust is seriously the consistency of the old “Dolly Madison ” lunch box pies . You know, the ones next to the Ding Dongs.

    1. Hmmm…tough question. I would say it’s more on the flakey/crumbly side, but it still has a little crunch.

  29. These look so delicious! If my kitchen weren’t already full of Christmas treats, I’d be tempted to make them immediately. I’m going to pin for future use, though. I even have my own apple trees! Yippee!

  30. Would it be possible to “bake” these in an oven? My husband is diabetic (borderline) and sometimes allows himself a small bite of sweet. Fried foods are not good for him that is why I am asking. I remember my grandmothers fried pies……Oh the good ole days…I am certain these will pass the “sweet” test perfectly.

    1. I definitely think you could bake these, though they won’t be quite as crisp/crunchy as tradtiional fried ones. I would probably brush them with egg white before baking.

    2. Iโ€™ve made them both fried and baked. If you apply an egg wash on them, bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, they turn out perfect! I then glazed them while warm, put it on a rack to cool. My family actually liked the baked version better! But I think both are great.

    1. I have never tried it before, but you could try freezing the unfried made-up pies before frying. I would make sure to thaw in the fridge overnight before frying.

  31. Brilliant receipt, I just love apple pie and now fried, the best is no oven needed so it should be easy to do. Thanks for sharing and give it out to the kids it will do them good unlike the ‘normal’ sweets.

  32. So I have a ton of blackberries, I could probably make little blackberry fry pies, right? The berries are frozen, so I wonder if it would be better to thaw and drain really well, or do them up frozen??

  33. OMG I made these today and am in LOVE with this recipe. It is foolproof for real! Let me just say I am going to try this using bananas and rum glaze just for fun. WIll let you know how this turns out. Amazing recipe and THANKS FOR SHARING!!!!

  34. Yeah I saw Paula Dean uses pre-made buttermilk biscuit dough I thought she was being lazy because she also used canned apples and I just can’t see how canned fruit would be better at all but the buttermilk biscuit dough sounds good I’m going to try it if used in something considering you used it as long as you have. However not for this recipe I love this dough the way it is and so easy to make.. ๐Ÿ™‚

  35. I LOVE YOU I’M A CRAZY LADY TOO!!
    I have looked everywhere you are the best it was easy and good. I’m so sick of these people who put recipes online that just flat out suck and have no flavor.You are my favorite recipe postee ever .BTW my husband is the biggest apple pie eater he says yours blow the hell out of Marie Calendars and the Cheese Cake Factory I was shocked because I always thought Marie Calendar was his mother LOL!!

  36. I absolutely love this recipe! So much so I added it to my ultimate apple recipe roundupโ€ฆI hope you will come by and take a look! Have a great week xohttp://dreamingofleaving.com/2015/09/21/worlds-best-apple-recipe-roundup/

  37. Please help with advice on what went wrong! I was so looking forward to trying this recipe as it sounded just simple and wonderful all at the same time. I followed the recipe to the “t”, made no changes at all and my dough puffed up terribly during the frying stage which resulted in the pies popping open. I’m an experienced cook and did everything to ensure my edges were sealed. I feel like the popping open was a direct result of the extreme puffing of the pastry as it fried but I’m not sure and wanted to check in with you to see if you have any helpful ideas on something I may have done wrong. Your photos don’t appear as if the puffing up was an issue..Thanks in advance for your help!

    1. Hi Gayle! I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you. I can’t be sure what might have happened without being in the kitchen with you, but my first two thoughts would be the temperature of the oil and the temperature of the dough. The oil definitely needs to be kept at 350 degrees. Also, if it was really warm outside and the dough was handles a lot it’s possible it was too warm. I think refrigerating it for a bit before frying would fix the problem. Hope that helps!

      1. Thank you, Courtney! I will give this recipe another try very soon! I loved the texture of it as I was rolling it out. It seemed so perfect! I did find other recipes that said to refrigerate the dough and I found one that worked but still want to try this one again. I’ll report back in! Thanks again! ๐Ÿ™‚

      2. Hi Gayle, I bet that your fried pie pastries burst open, because they needed “vent-holes”; next time just take a fork, & peirce your fried pies with the fork tines. I hope this helps you sweetie! P.s. I grew up with Mennonites & Amish in my hometown community; my Great Granny was a common visitor to these wonderful people, & I learned so much from my Great Granny, (she also owned her own diner in our hometown; “Ellie’s Diner”, & was famous in the area, & even surrounding counties, for her superior cooking & baking! I am still so very proud of her, although it’s been 13 years since she passed… and I still am grieving her… I like to think she’s my Guardian Angel now :)… but anyhoo, my point is,I learned SO MUCH from my beloved Great Granny, & was dually blessed to also get the amazing opportunity to learn from the Mennonites & Amish , as well . Sorry to be so verbose here; but I honestly couldn’t help myself from sharing, & I wanted to let you know why I am so confident in my declaration of piercing the pastries with a fork. In short, they “pop”, “burst”, “explode “, etc., because of the liquid in them that creates steam, basically, the steam in them creates pressure, and needs to go somewhere, and so the pastries may pop open because of the “steam pressure ” inside of the pastries. Best of “Lucky-wishes ” for your next fried pies- go-around. ๐Ÿ™‚ I do hope that I’ve been helpful to you, and that my suggestion works for you. If not, consider experimenting with the temperature of your fryer /frying oil/kettle; all stove ranges & fryers don’t always heat the same; so too-hot oil could also be “The Great-Pastry-Popper-Culprit “. ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. Karol, thank you for replying! It’s been a while but I know I followed the recipe so I’m sure I only used the yolks. I haven’t tried this recipe again but am planning to. As I said to Courtney, the dough was wonderful to work with! I didn’t refrigerate it because the recipe didn’t say to but am planning to try it again and add in that step! Fried pies are one of my favorites but I haven’t made them very often. As a child I remember my aunt making them and it’s one of my favorite “yummy” memories. Sadly, I don’t have her recipe.

  38. Can you tell me what kind of apples you use? I am a cake and cupcake kind of baker and not sure about baking with apples but I really want to try these. For some reason pastry dough has always been intimidating.

  39. Hi Courtney, I’m lactose intolerant. Would it be possible to substitute unsweetened almond milk in place of the milk? I really wanna make these for my family. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks!

    1. Hi Jacqui,

      I think that would be fine, but I’ve never tested it with almond milk before so I can’t tell you for sure. If you can tolerate lactose free milk I would try it with that instead of almond milk. I hope you find something that works for you!

  40. i’m curious as to why the milk should be hot..usually everything is cold for pastry…just wondering…

  41. Seriously, if somebody handed my kid a pie for Halloween, I would totally let them eat it. I mean that is just a risk worth taking. Now who’s the creepy one Courtney ๐Ÿ™‚

  42. Girl, tell you what…I’ll come trick or treat at your place and you can give me all the pies you want. Deal? ๐Ÿ™‚

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.