Growing up in the south, fried fruit pies were really a treat. My husband’s grandmother used to make the absolute best fried fruit pies out of dried fruit. I can also remember stopping in Lewisville, Arkansas at Burge’s Smoked Turkeys and Hams to buy their fried fruit pies which were equally as good.
I searched around a lot trying to find a recipe that I thought was as good as those, and I finally found the perfect one.
You start by making the pastry. Mix together 3 cups all purpose flour and 1 tsp salt. Then cut in 1 1/2 cups shortening or lard until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Lightly beat one egg with 5 tbsp ice water and 1 tbsp white vinegar. Sprinkle the egg, water, vinegar mixture over the flour mixture, stirring until well combined.
Form the dough into and ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.
While the dough is cooling, cook the fruit. In a non-reactive pan on very low heat simmer 3 cups dried fruit cut into bite sized pieces in 1 1/2 cups water for 30 – 45 minutes until very tender. Add water to prevent scorching if needed. Allow to cool, mash slightly, stir in the sugar and spices, and cool to room temperature.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut into four pieces, then cut each into 3 pieces for a total of 12 golf ball size balls.
Roll each ball into a 5 to 6 inch circle.
I use plastic fried or baked pie cutters to form the final pies. Fill each with approximately 2 tbsp of pie filling and seal using a water/egg mixture around the inside edges to make a good seal.
Deep fry at 350 degrees for about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1½` cups Lard or Shortening
- 1 Egg lightly beaten
- 5 tbsp Ice Water
- 1 tbsp White Vinegar
- 3 cups Dried fruit of your choice
- 1½ cups Water
- 6 tbsp Sugar or more to taste
- ¼ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Allspice
- Mix together the flour and salt
- Cut in the lard until it resembles coarse crumbs
- Lightly beat the egg and mix with water and vinegar
- Sprinkle the egg, water and vinegar over flour mixture, stirring until well combined
- Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for one hour
- Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces for a total of 12 golf ball size balls.
- Roll each into 5 - 6 inch circle
- Fill with 2 tbsp of filling and seal using a water/egg mixture around the inside edges to make a good seal
- Fry at 350 degrees in deep fryer about 3 - 4 minutes or until golden brown.
- In a non-reactive pan on very low heat simmer the dried fruit in the water for 30 - 45 minutes or until very tender, adding more water as needed to prevent scorching.
- Allow to cool and mash slightly, stir in the sugar and spices and cool to room temperature.