Nothing should taste this good and no one should eat these because I'm willing to bet they're about one jillion and two really bad calories for you.
Having said that:
They're amazing. And you can substitute any fruit filling for the cherry pie filling, just be sure to crimp the edges tightly with a fork.
Sweet cherry pie filling:
4 cups pitted frozen dark, sweet cherries
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
Heat frozen cherries and water in 4 quart saucepan on stove over medium heat. I cover them so they defrost and heat more quickly. Once cherries are thawed, mix sugar and flour together in one bowl and add to cherries. Stir, cooking over medium heat until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cool.
Dough: Go HERE and follow the directions for my pie crust.
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| It is never a bad idea to have little kids help you with pie crust. It may take a little longer, but the memory may last forever. So that's worth it, right? This is Mary Ruthy... How adorable is she???? |
I use a 5-6 inch bowl to cut the "rounds" but you can go smaller if you want. I like "hand" pies that are similar to the really bad-tasting ones they sell at the grocery store. It's like holding a folded piece of deliciousness-pie in your hand. How could that ever be wrong, right?
So roll out your piece of dough and cut as many circles that will fit:
Fill the circles about 1/3 full with pie filling. The recipe for my sweet cherry pie filling follows, and it's easy-peasy so DON'T BUY IT.... Those are mostly cornstarch sauce, I mean really, is it worth the ten minutes to buy the can? I submit it is not! ;)
Fold the top half of the mini-pie over and crimp edges with a fork. I crimp them twice because I'm paranoid.... Or thorough. Yeah. Let's go with the latter!
Now slip them into a deep fryer preheated to 375 degrees. My fryer has baskets and you can fry two of these babies in each basket but I usually do one at a time to avoid an all out pastry battle in the fryer. I have a chronic abhorrence to BIG MESSES IN THE FRYER!
Remove when golden brown, drain on paper towel, paint glaze on with pastry brush and let cool.
And here's how they look ready to serve for a luncheon or a party or a shower... and these babies freeze beautifully, they're sealed with glaze, so they stay fresh for days. What an awesome plus that is, right????
Finished product. When I have time I make a bunch of batches and freeze these babies. I double wrap them so they stay fresh, crisp and tender/flaky all at once.
Love them!
OH. MY!!!
ReplyDeleteSo not fair.
I want a dozen to go, please.
On the way!
DeleteYou had me until 'deep fryer'. Not happening in my house. Uh-uh - no way. Could I bake them do you think? Like making mini-pies?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check and see if we have frozen cherries. I've never seen them before. I think your recipe sounds scrumptuous -- way better than the tinned kind. They always taste, well, tinny to me. :-)
Sure, you can bake them. They will be dryer.... And the edges brown too easily, I'd wrap them in strips of tin foil.
DeleteBut I love fry pies. That's the Southern Gal in me that comes out, now and again!
Okay, Ruthy. I think you've sold a dozen here, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Kav - no deep fryer - but I love these. It takes me back to when those grocery store ones actually tasted good...
(What do you think? Do we remember that stuff tasting better because of the distance of time, or was it really better than it is now? I think it really was better because the food companies have had to cheapen their ingredients so much to keep their prices down.)
I'm with you on not buying the canned filling, too. It's just too easy to make pie filling, and it's so much better when you do!
Hey, Jan! I emailed you at your juno email addy. Do you still have that?? If you don't, can you email me at my missytippens [at] aol.com addy, please? I have a proposition for you. :)
DeleteThat sounds ominous...
DeleteI'll check my inbox again - if I didn't get it, I'll email you.
LOL! Nothing too terrible. :)
DeleteI got your message, Jan, and just resent mine. If you don't get it, check your spam box. Some providers hate AOL. :)
DeleteI got it and replied...
DeleteYour first one wasn't anywhere. I think I just got to ambitious with the delete button.
I love that your e-mail blocked Missy. That just makes my day, LOL!
DeleteOh, my! My hubby's grandmother used to drive up to the mountains to get fried apple pies at the apple orchard. She'd bring them back and share them when we'd go to eat lunch with her (we went to eat with her every Tuesday for the years we lived nearby). They were just like these! I'm sure they'd taste the same. SO GOOD!
ReplyDeleteI first started making my own when I read "Sweet Hush" by Debra Smith. I love that book, I love those characters, and that apple farm is the quintessential apple farm in my opinion. And I live surrounded by apple farms here in upstate NY, along the shores of Lake Ontario. Perfect orchard country. Her farm made fry pies and I realized that I'm pretty good with a fryer! :)
DeleteI offset this naughtiness (which I realized today I'd blogged about last year, oy!!!!) with salad and nuts. But I can't deny my love for the occasional deep fried deliciousness!!! And most folks up here don't even own a deep fryer, so I am the temptress.
Fried dough... a child pleasing favorite!
I loved Sweet Hush, too! Love all Deb's books. She's amazing.
Deletethese don't look weight watchers friendly...and I got rid of my deepfryer after gaining too much weight from egg rolls/taquitos/and chicken nuggets..of course I gained anyways so should've kept it..
ReplyDeleteSusanna
Susanna, I"m sure they're a gazillion points! :) Are there still flex points? You could save for a couple of weeks. :)
Delete...or a year :)
Deleteflex pts end at the end of the week and there's only so much flexing a person can do! I'm trying so hard to stick with this plan but still not at 15 lbs yet - I had crept up to close to 220 and I'm only 5'4" - heck the 'chubby' heroines in the romance novels are smaller than me! :-( the gazillion points is probably jsut one and I didnt' get fat by stopping at just one of anything..sigh...where was I when God handed out patience and restraint?! probably eating... :-)
DeleteSusanna
Don't you hate it when you're reading a book and the author describes the fattest person in the room - and you realize you're a good 10 pounds heavier than she is?
DeleteOh, Jan, that's harsh.... the light of truth... OUCH!
DeleteSusanna, that's exactly why I do high protein, low carb. I can eat as much of the meats, cheeses, salads and most veggies that I want, so I never go hungry.
I get "poison-mean" when I'm hungry! I'm a snake. So being able to munch on cheese or burgers or broccoli slaw... Love it! It always takes a couple of days to get used to, but it's so worth it. I think any kind of dieting is just finding a way to trick our bodies into thinking they're happy with what we're giving them. You'll find the right one. I can't do trading points, etc., but I know so many gals that are crazy successful on Weight Watchers... we all just hunt for what works for us. And not being able to stop at just one of stuff... Oh, that's the tough one, isn't it? Bless you for your honesty! You rock, Susanna!
Susanna, losing 15 pounds is fantastic!! You can do it. Just keep up the pace you're on. I've found the slower you lose it, the more likely you are to keep it off. So do it smartly and slowly.
DeleteI'm with the gang of no deep fryers so I'm waiting on Ruthy's baking answer.
ReplyDeleteBest thing about these - no one else in my house likes cherries. More for me. Okay so maybe that's not really a good thing. Thanks for the WW reminder, Susanna. I don't think WW is allowed at the Yankee Belle is it? Or is it that anything baked at the Yankee Belle is only 1 point? I think that was it.
Mary, I don't have a deep fryer either. I imagine you could pan fry these babies. I doubt baking would turn out very well. Of course, you could flip them over and maybe spray them with Pam on each side before baking that side???
DeleteWe might just have to bite the bullet and fill a heavy pot with a couple of bottles of oil. :)
I've seen salads here before :-) every so often there's something low-carb then WHAM you get hit with a dessert like these babies!
DeleteSusanna
Clearly you all need to get deep fryers for Christmas! I'm writing your husbands/friends/parents right now.
DeleteThe consistency of these is changed by baking. Missy, I don't know about pan frying. It would work but it would be a pain... Although I pan fry fish (outside on the burner that's on the grill) and those are delicious, but pastry is trickier.
The lot o' youse needs to just jump in the deep fry party with me and Paula Deen. :) In moderation, of course!
Susanna, I promise: If you eat enough salads and no bread/rice/pasta, you can have one or two of these now and again!
Paula even has a built-in deep fryer! How's that for a southern kitchen?!!
Deleteyep I can have them - may even have an occasion one of these days to make some of these and the other yummy desserts - maybe for work sometime! it's just me at home and making more than 1-2 servings of anything is asking for trouble! i know..freezeable but weight watchers said that 'bout their cookies and lemme tell you those bars and cookies CAN be eaten frozen! the leader was astonished w hen I announced than and at least 10 others nodded their heads.
DeleteI'm reading your new book btw!:-) I want an old house and a hunky hero to fix it all up- they just finished eating pizza and um smooching! :-) then work came in darn it all!