This is the last chance for peaches this year, they are still at the grocery stores so I decided to make these fried pies. The shape comes from a pocket pie mold that I ordered from Williams-Sonoma. However, you can fold yours over instead of using the mold. The important part here is the taste. Individual desserts are now more popular than ever and serving these are much more convenient than cutting a whole pie. This recipe makes 10 pies.
Fried Peach Pies
adapted from the book Screen Doors and Sweet Tea
Ingredients for Pastry
3/4 cup of milk
6 tbs vegetable shortening
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water (set aside for sealing edges of pie)
Sift all dry ingredients together. With a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening until mixture is a coarse meal with the largest clump being pea sized. Using a fork, add the milk until all liquid is combined. Take out of bowl and lightly knead for 1 minute and return to bowl. Cover bowl and refrigerate.
Ingredients for filling
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 tbs cider vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups chopped, peeled peaches
Add the peaches, brown sugar and allspice to a saucepan. Set pan on stove at medium heat and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and peaches are juicy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Then pull out a small bowl and mix together cornstarch and vinegar. Once the cornstarch is dissolved, add to peach mixture and put saucepan back on medium heat and stir constantly until thickened. This should take about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and transfer mixture to a bowl to cool.
Ingredients for topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbs granulated sugar
Combine cinnamon and sugar in a medium plate or pasta bowl. Set aside.
Take your pastry dough out of the fridge and roll out very thin, 1/8 inch. Then cut in 10 circles, using a 6 inch plate as a guide. Place 2 tbs peach filling at the center of the circles. On the edges of each pastry circle, brush 1/2 inch line of egg mixture.
Fold dough in half over the filling, pressing out any air pockets. Then seal your pie by making indentations on the edges of the cut dough with the ends of a fork. Then make one punch on top of the dough with the fork for air to escape while the pie is frying.
Heat 1 inch of canola oil in a skillet (I used an electric skillet) to 375 degrees. Put paper towels on a baking sheet to absorb the oil of the pies.
To fry the pies, place only two pies in the skillet with pierced side up. Fry two minutes and then turn, frying an additional two minutes on the other side. Remove and place on paper towels for a quick absorption of oil. Then then roll in cinnamon mixture. Put on plate to cool. Continue this process until all 10 pies are completed. If serving immediately, pies will need to cool at least 5 minutes first.