These delicious pies are just the right size and so easy to handle while eating. When you want the beautiful combination of flaky pastry and fruity filling you still have in this decadent Amish Fry Pies.
Why Amish Fry Pies Work For Me
When my children were growing and had little palms and fingers, they would hardly eat a pie without the filling dropping out of the crust.
You can only imagine how the table looked after a dessert or worse off the floor, when one boy would zoom across the hallway with a fruit-filled pie in their hands.
Amish Fry Pies came to my rescue and fixed this problem. Handling became easier, especially for my lefthanded boy. The after-eating mess was reduced by 90%!. With our favorite fruit filling nestled in a flaky pie crust, we were good to go.
Jump to:
The Amish Influence
In recent years, we have been learning a lot from the Amish lifestyle.. Things are changing for the younger generation.
With the inquest of the internet, some are unable to resist the urge of using electronics which was strictly prohibited in their culture.
Almost every transaction, learning, and communication is now happening online, I can't imagine life without a phone honestly! Few of them have left the Amish but remain in the Christian faith. They are lovely peace-loving people and best of all is when they make their sweet desserts!
Also, Check Out: Amish Buttermilk Cookies Recipe.
Walnut Creek Vintage fair
Over the years we have had a chance to visit the Amish Vintage Fair at Waldorf creek almost yearly.
After a day of going around the fair stands, the car trunk would be filled with all manner of vintage and repurposed items.
Though one of the items I would closely cling to would be my favorite Amish Recipe books. I enjoyed recreating these recipes at home. I learned a lot of my cooking from scheming and gleaning through their recipe books.
The Amish Heritage
The Amish and Mennonites have held tight to their culture, religion, and traditions for hundreds of years.
From generation to generation they have faithfully and fervently handed down their practices to their children. The Amish arrived in America, fleeing persecution in Europe during the religious protests.
They set up bases in several states and later spread across the Country. Their population grew as they continued to faithfully practice their conservative lifestyle.
They do not believe in using modern conveniences such as vehicles, phones, and anything that is run on electricity. The Amish and Mennonite recipes are influenced by European Countries where their forefathers came from.
They have adopted several American recipes and made them famous such as the Amish Peanut Butter Cream Pie.
Amish Pretzels Recipe. Click to Read.
Why I love Amish Recipes
Eating what you grow
Most of the Amish and Mennonite communities plant most of their food.
Their recipes call for ingredients that grow in their gardens or those commonly found in local grocery stores.
I love when I can grow and eat my food, at least we practice organic farming. This practice makes the meals more nutritious and less loaded with harmful chemicals.
I am excited to share my version of this Amish Fry Pie recipe, it has easy steps that you can follow and the results might get your children asking for more.
Ingredients And Substitution
Pie dough
All-Purpose Flour: you can use regular all-purpose flour to make the hand pies. This ingredient can be substituted by pastry flour if you can access it.
Butter: Butter expands during baking creating layers in the dough. In addition, butter enhances the flavor of the Amish Fruit pies. However, butter can be substituted with lard or vegetable margarine.
Milk: adds moisture to the pastry dough as well as adds a milky flavor. Plant-based milk can be used instead of dairy milk. Sour cream and buttermilk work perfectly fine too.
Sugar: we add a little to the dough to enhance the level of sweetness. However, sugar can be omitted because the filling is sweetened sufficiently.
Baking Powder: is the leavening agent in the pastry dough making it light and airy.
Egg yolks: adds moisture and silkiness to pastry dough as well as increase the nutrient value of the Amish Fruit Pies.
Pie Filling
Apples: Form the major part of the filing. You can use any fruit of your choice as a filing. In this recipe, we used peaches and pears, and the results were unforgettable to our taste buds. You can be adventurous, choosing your favorite or available fruit to make the filling.
Brown sugar: adds a depth of sweetness to the fruit filling as well as molasses flavor.
Cinnamon: This spice gives a sweet and warm flavor to the filling.
Vanilla essence adds a mildly sweet flavor to the filling.
Apple cider enhances the overall taste of the filling.
Cornstarch thickness the filling, without a thickening agent the filling would be very runny getting the pie crust soggy before time.
Equipment
A Pastry Blender or Food processor is useful for breaking the butter into small pieces.
A Rubber spatula is good for mixing the dry and wet ingredients before you start using your hands.
You need a rolling pin to roll the pie dough before cutting out the circles for the Amish Fry Pies.
Forks help create patterns and seal the fruity hand pies.
A pastry brush is used to apply some water around the Amish Pie Dough. Though clean fingertips would still do.
Parchment Paper is good when refrigerating the pie dough. The parchment paper keeps the pastry dough from sticking to each other.
FAQ Amish Fry pies
These delicious Amish treats store well on the counter for about two days covered by a tea towel.
In my house, I have never had to refrigerate them because of the rate at which they fly off the container lol. The Amish Fry Pies freeze beautifully too in a ziplock bag or a freezer friendly container.
Yes, you can and that will change the name of your Amish Fry Pies to Amish Baked Pie! I fried a batch of 10 and baked the other batch of 10.
We loved both variations. However, if you are counting calories, try baking the pies.
Pro Tips
Making the Amish Fry Pies can be time-consuming. Preparing ahead of time will make the process more enjoyable.
Prep the filling the day before. This step gives the flavors sufficient time to infuse into the chopped fruits taking the fruit filling to another level of deliciousness.
Since the dough requires periodic chilling, it is advisable to prepare the pastry dough a day before. Early prep will save a lot of time as you will be left with assembling and frying.
Amish Fry Pies are my all time favorite snack.
If you tried this Amish Fry Pies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Amish Fry Pies
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 Egg yolks
- ⅓ cup Milk
- 2 tablespoons Oil for frying
Fruit pie filling ingredients
- 2 large Apples or any fruit of your choice
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 teaspoon Apple cider
- 1 Cornstarch
Sugar glaze ingredients
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
How To Make Sugar Glaze
- In a medium-sized bowl sift the powdered sugar and cinnamon powder.
- Pour the milk into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork till the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside, covering the bowl with a plastic film.
How to Make The Fruity Pie Filling
- In a medium-sized saucepan bring to a simmer the chopped fruits, brown sugar, vanilla essence, and apple cider.
- After simmering for about 5 minutes, add the cornstarch and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved.
- When the fruity filling thickens, remove the saucepan from the fire and set aside to cool completely.
How to make Amish Fry Pies
- In a large mixing bowl add the flour, salt, and sugar. Whisk till thoroughly mixed.
- Add the cold butter to the flour and use a pastry blender or food processor to mix the butter with the flour until the ingredients are fully incorporated. The mixture should look like coarse sand with tiny pebbles.
- Make a well in the bowl and pour in the milk and egg yolk. Mix well using a wooden spoon then later your hands. A shaggy dough will form. Move the dough onto the counter and form a ball.
- Chill the dough for about 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry dough into a large circle of about ½ inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter cut out circles. My cookie cutter has a diameter of 5 inches.
- Place the pastry circles on parchment paper and refrigerate them for 30 minutes.
- Once they are chilled, place them on a floured surface. Use a pastry brush to wet around the circle. Spoon the filling into the middle of the circle and cover it into a half-moon shape. Seal the edges with a fork and trim with a pastry wheel to get neat edges. Chill them for about 20 minutes before frying.
- In a large skillet, heat oil to 365F. If you do not have an oil thermometer, drop a tiny piece of dough..if it floats, then you're good to go! Carefully drop the Amish Fry Pies into the hot oil. Fry the pies on one side until they turn golden brown then flip them to cook the other side.
- With a slotted spoon, lift the hand pies from the oil, draining the excess oil. Place them on paper towels to absorb any extra oil.
- Let the delicious pies cool slightly, and drizzle the sugar glaze on each of the Amish Fry Pies. Let the glaze dry before serving or storing.
- Enjoy the treats with a cup of coffee for afternoon tea or as a special dessert.
Leave a Reply