Fried apple pies are a very popular dessert in the south. Just like cornbread, almost every household seems to have their own "right" way of making the prefect fried apple pie. Most southern bake sales are sure to have at least one variety of these delicious fried treats.

My first attempt to make fried apple pies ended with a house full of smoke and the smoke detectors going crazy. In my fried apple pie adventure I had used too much oil in a pan that was too small. Consequently, oil ended up on the burner and began to burn. Making mistakes like that aren't so bad though, as long as I learn from them.

The recipe below is a combination of different techniques and ingredients from a couple recipes that have been graciously shared with me.

Fried Apple Pies
2 cans plain biscuits (avoid flaky style)
4 large tart apples; peeled, cored, and sliced
3 tablespoons water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Cooking oil for frying

In a large saucepan, combine apple slices and water. Cook over medium heat until the apples reach an applesauce like consistency. Add sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and continue to cook apples for 5 more minutes, stirring often. If your apples appear very runny you can add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the apples while they are cooking to help thicken them up. Remove from heat and let cool.

While apples are cooking and cooling, take biscuits out of the can and separate. Roll out each biscuit until dough is about 5-6 inches in diameter. If the biscuit starts to stick, sprinkle some flour on the counter and on your rolling pin. Dough should be very thin.

Spoon 1 1/2 tablespoons of apple filling onto each dough circle. Gently spread out the filling on 1/2 of the dough but so not spread right up to the edge. You need some of the edge free from filling so you can seal the pie.

Fold 1/2 of dough with no filling over the 1/2 with filling. Your pie should be in a half moon shape. Using your fingers or the tines of a fork press the edges together to seal. Prick the top of the pie once with the tines of a fork to let steam escape while frying. Repeat for remaining pies.

Fill the bottom of a large frying pan or electric skillet with 1/4-inch of oil. Heat oil throughly over medium heat. It is best to keep it at medium heat because if your oil gets too hot it will burn the outside of your pies and not cook the inside. Oil is ready for frying when a small piece of dough thrown into the oil sizzles.

Fry two-four pies at a time, depending on how many can comfortably fit in your pan or skillet. Fry until one side is golden brown, then turn and fry the other side. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Variations
-If you prefer you can use any type of pastry dough or pie crust dough instead of biscuits.
-If you don't want to go through the trouble of preparing apples, you can just used premade applesauce or apple butter.
-Experiment with different types of fillings such as; pizza ingredients, pumpkin butter, canned pie filling, chicken with veggies, and so on.
-For a healthier version of the above recipe instead of frying you can baste dough with egg white and bake at 350°F on a cookie sheet until golden brown.