Description
These apple pie bites are sweet, golden-fried pockets of refrigerated pie crust filled with gooey apple pie filling and coated with crunchy cinnamon sugar. They taste just like bite-sized apple pies!
Ingredients
Misc Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable oil
- 2 prepared pie crusts
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup cinnamon
Filling Ingredients:
- 3 medium apples, peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (28g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon (9g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (15ml) water
Instructions
Prepare the filling:
- Peel and dice the apples into small pieces (about the size of a dime), squeeze a lemon over top, and stir to combine.
- Combine the dry ingredients and then toss together with the apples until fully coated. Pour the maple syrup over top and gently stir.
- Heat apples on the stove over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until soft. Stir occasionally. You want the apples to be soft. If the apples are sticking to the pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to the saucepan as needed. Set aside and allow to cool.
Prepare the pie bites:
- Preheat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Oil should reach temperatures between 350°-375° F. It is best to use a candy thermometer.
- While oil is heating, prepare the pie bites. Remove the pie crust from packaging. Roll out slightly to help thin it out. First, cut circles at least 3.25” in diameter and then cut circles in half. Once I ran out of crust, I combined the leftovers and re-rolled the crust to cut more circles.
- Take one half of the circle and spoon some pie filling into the middle, about ½ teaspoon of filling per bite. Use your fingers to pinch the edges to seal. It will be helpful if you have a spoon or butter knife to help keep these stuffed as you are pinching the edges.
- Use extreme caution for the next step. Oil will be very hot. When the oil is heated, carefully place several pie bites in the oil to fry. Use a set of long tongs to turn the pie bites over and the first side begins to turn light brown (about 30 seconds per side).
- After each side is browned, use tongs to remove from oil and place on a plate lined with paper towels to cool to the touch.
- In a large Ziploc bag, combine cinnamon and sugar. Once you have about a dozen pie bites, brush each side of the pie bites with melted butter using a pastry brush. Place into the Ziploc bag and seal the bag. Gently shake the bag until pie bites are coated with cinnamon and sugar. Remove from bag and serve. Allow oil to cool completely before cleaning up.
Notes
- You may have leftover pie filling. I had about ¼ cup of pie filling leftover after filling my apple pie bites (perfect for apple pie filling dip!) or add on top of your pancakes.
- Halve the recipe for. smaller batch. If you don’t need as many bites, you can use only one pie crust instead of two for this recipe. In that case, halve the filling recipe.
- These are meant to be bite-sized and make a large batch, but if you prefer large ones, skip the step of cutting the circles in half. You should be able to fill them with 1- 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling. You may need an additional minute or two of frying.
- Pie filling: You can use any store-bought or homemade pie filling, such as cherry, strawberry, blueberry, or peach pie. Try pumpkin pie bites for another fall variation.
- Baked, not fried. You can bake these apple pie bites in a 375ºF oven for about 15 minutes, though they won’t be quite as crispy as when they’re deep-fried. Afterward, sprinkle or toss the bites with cinnamon sugar. See the Oven Method section for details.