Amish Apple Fry Pies
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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.
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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?
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).
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.
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.
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
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Repeat with remaining pies.
- 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.
- 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!
Hello, I’m reading your recipe and it doesn’t state where to put egg mixture in. Any suggestions?
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!
I made these using peach filling and OH MY JEEZ they’re so good! My husband is already asking me to make more.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing!
Should the butter be cold when adding to the flour?
I made these minus the apple cider and cornstarch in the filling. They were outstanding!
Hi! I live in PA and specifically go to farmers markets in search of fry pies!! I just love them. I’m going to try this recipe and was hoping you’d elaborate a bit on how you crimped them? They’re so pretty! I’m guessing you sealed them and them sort of crimped like you would for a regular pie?? I’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!!
I use the pinch method for crimping–you can find it here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJRY1vdCMkQ. I haven’t tried with cream cheese, but that sounds delicious! I’m going to have to give that a try and report back!
Peach and cream cheese! Ever since I left Ohio, that’s what I’ve been missing. I’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?
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!
Can I freeze just the filling for when I’m ready to make it? If yes, what would the correct process be?
Thank you in advance:)
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!
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!
I’m so glad to hear that! I usually use my homemade pie crust for savory baked pies, but if you’re doing a fried pie (like empanadas, for instance), this recipe would probably work great!
I made these before and this time I’ve tripled the recipe , cannot get my dough to come together !! Ive been kneading it for 30 minutes and it’s still crumbling !
Could these fried pies be made up and then deep fried … then allowing them to cool completely … 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?
Can these pies be made up ahead of time and frozen before deep frying?
I haven’t tried this myself, but I think it would probably work!
I will try this recipe for fried pies.
My husband’s grandmother made the best fried pies but no one really had her recipe. It wasn’t pie crust nor was it a biscuit like dough. It was both. This dough recipe is perfect. Thank you so much!
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!
I’ve made fry pies most of my life. But yours sound great will diffently try them.
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.
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!
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!
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. 🙂
I have my grandmother’s sweet dough recipe, would that be okay to use. I like my dough on the sweeter side lol
That should work fine if it’s a dough similar to pie crust!
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!
Thank you so much for sharing this with me! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much!
Need a quick fix? Use canned biscuit dough & apple butter filling. The glaze really makes it! Sweet like a donut. 😋 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. ❤️❤️❤️
I might have to give canned biscuit dough when I have a big craving and just a little time. 🙂
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