Apricot Hand Pies Recipes

FRUIT-FILLED HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together fruit, sugar, orange zest and juice, salt, and cornstarch; mix until well combined. Set fruit mixture aside.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one piece of dough to a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Trim to 15-by-10 inches. Cut into six 5-inch squares. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour. Working with one square at a time, place 2 tablespoons of reserved fruit mixture in the center. Brush two connecting edges with beaten egg and fold on the diagonal over the filling, pressing to seal. Repeat process with remaining squares.
• Repeat entire process with remaining pate brisee. Place hand pies on prepared baking sheet. Brush pies with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Using a pair of clean scissors, snip the center of one side of each hand pie to allow steam to escape.
• Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake until crusts are golden brown and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm.

APRICOT MINI HAND-PIES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, cook dried apricots in 1/4 cup water, until tender and soft.
• Add cornstarch, sugar, salt, and butter to pan. Mix well with the apricots. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Add additional water, if needed, to thin mixture out a bit.
• Once mixture thickens, remove it from heat. Pour into a small bowl, cover and chill completely. Once chilled completely, make the pastry dough and roll out on a lightly floured work surface. Using a biscuit cutter or a glass, cut 3 inch circles out of dough.
• Spoon about a Tablespoonful of the filling into the center of one half of the dough. Do not overfill or fill to the edges or the filling will run out while you are crimping the edges!
• Once pastry circles have been filled, pull over half of the dough to cover the filling. You should now have a half circle of dough. Use a fork to "crimp" around the edges of the half circle to seal the two pieces of dough together. This is very important, or the apricot filling will leak out while cooking!
• Preheat oil to 375 degrees. When oil is very hot, carefully place fruit pies in skillet. Cook a couple of minutes on each side. The dough should be golden brown before you turn them or remove them from the pan. Drain fruit pies on paper towels (to absorb extra oil). Making sure the oil in skillet is still very hot, repeat the process until all hand-pies are done cooking. Let hand-pies cool slightly (they will be hot inside!), then serve and enjoy!

JOEY GALLAGHER'S APRICOT HAND PIES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll one disk of dough into a large round, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 12 rounds. Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheet; refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Repeat process with the remaining dough, using a 4-inch cookie cutter to make 12 more rounds; do not refrigerate. Remove chilled disks from refrigerator.
• Using paper towels, blot the poached apricots halves to eliminate excess liquid; place one in center of each chilled round. Brush cold water around edges of dough; cover each with an unchilled round. Gently press edges together to seal. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove tarts from refrigerator. Using a paring knife, slash the top of each tart in a crosshatch fashion. Brush with water, and generously sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Or let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

APRICOT-ALMOND HAND PIES

Steps:

• In the work bowl of a food processor, place flour, thyme, salt, and sugar; process until combined. Add cold butter, and pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add almond extract, pulsing until combined. With processor running, add ice water, 1 tablespoon (15 grams) at a time, pulsing just until dough comes together. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to ¼-inch thickness; cut dough into 4-inch squares. Place 1 tablespoon Apricot-Almond Filling in center of each square. Brush edges of dough with water. Fold dough over filling, creating triangles, and crimp edges with a fork. Cut vents in top of dough to release steam.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon (15 grams) water. Brush tops with egg wash, and sprinkle with almonds.
• Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes; serve warm.
• In a small saucepan, bring apricots and water to cover by 1 inch to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cook until apricots are softened, about 20 minutes. Drain apricots, reserving 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cooking liquid.
• In the work bowl of a food processor, place warm apricots, reserved 2 tablespoons (30 grams) cooking liquid, sugar, butter, and cinnamon; pulse until mixture has the texture of jam. Stir in almonds; let cool completely.

PEACH FRIED PIES

Steps:

• Blanch peaches: Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Make a small, shallow X in the bottom of each peach, just to break the skin. Place each peach in the boiling water for 10 seconds; immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water. Peel the skin with a paring knife. Remove the pits, and cut the peaches into slices.
• Cook filling: Place the peach slices, sugar, lemon juice, and cardamom in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir together cornstarch and water; stir into simmering peach mixture. Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil; boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in butter. Transfer to a bowl, and chill until ready to use.
• Make pies: Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Generously flour both sides of biscuits, and roll each into a 5 1/2-inch circle (about 1/8 inch thick). Place a heaping tablespoon of the chilled filling in the center of each dough circle, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Do not overfill. Using a brush or your finger, dampen the edge of the circle with water. Carefully fold the dough in half, pressing the edges together to make a half-moon shape. Press edges with a fork to seal.
• Fry pies in batches: Melt shortening in a Dutch oven over medium; heat to 325°F. Fry pies, in batches, until deep golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes on each side, turning as necessary to ensure even browning. Remove and drain on paper towels; if desired, dust with powdered sugar.

APRICOT HAND PIES

Steps:

• Make the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.Prepare the pies: Combine the apricots, lemon juice, sugar, salt, cinnamon and coriander in a small bowl and gently stir to combine. Put in the refrigerator while you prepare the dough.Take out one disk of pie dough and place on flour-dusted surface for a few minutes to slightly soften. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Use a 4 inch biscuit cutter to cut about 10 circles (you may need to gather the scraps and re-roll). Set them on a large plate and put them in the refrigerator to chill for 10 minutes (don't skip this step-it will make the pies much easier to assemble).Prepare a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper. Then, take apricots out of refrigerator, set a mesh strainer over a bowl, and pour the fruit into it, straining away the excess juice. Return the apricots to the original bowl and add the flour, tossing to coat.Preheat the oven to 375 F.Remove the dough circles from the refrigerator. Put a small spoonful of fruit onto one half of each circle of dough. Using your finger, brush a little cold water along the border of the circle (to help it seal) and fold the top half of the dough over the apricots, pressing the edges gently to seal. Make a decorative edge by pressing the edges of the dough together with the back of a fork. Repeat with remaining dough circles. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the tops begin to brown. Don't worry if some of the filling leaks out. Allow the pies to cool for 15 minutes before eating.

FRESH APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, sprinkle apricots with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add to apricots, toss gently to coat., Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; trim to 1 in. beyond edge of pie plate. Add filling. Roll out remaining pastry to make a lattice crust. Trim, seal and flute edges. Brush with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar. , Cover edges of pastry loosely with foil. Bake 45-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

APRICOT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour and the salt in a bowl; cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Using a fork, mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Working on a floured work surface, roll each ball out into a crust big enough for a 9-inch pie dish with an inch or so to spare. Carefully lift a crust, fold into quarters, position into pie dish, and unfold the crust. Set the other crust aside.
• Mix the sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined; stir in the lemon juice and apricots. Spoon the apricot filling over the pie crust in the dish, and top with the reserved crust. Crimp the edges of the crusts together with a fork, cut away the excess crust, and cut slits into the pie to allow steam to escape. Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake on center rack of the preheated oven until the pie is browned and the filling is bubbling and thickened, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool and sprinkle top with 1 teaspoon of sugar.

MOROCCAN HAND PIES WITH EGGPLANT AND APRICOTS

Steps:

• Make the filling: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook eggplant with 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until tender and slightly golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool.
• Mix together eggplant, meat,apricots, and harissa until justcombined. Divide into 8 portions(about 1/2 cup each). Form eachinto a plump half-moon shape.
• Make the crust: Roll out pate brisee to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out eight 6-inch circles, rerolling scraps if needed. Refrigerate on a baking sheet until slightly firm, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly brush edges of 1 dough circle with egg wash. Top with 1 portion of meat. Fold dough to encase filling, forming a half-moon. Carefully press around edges to seal. Pleat edges using your fingers, or press with a fork. Make a vent in the top using a skewer or a knife. Repeat with remaining dough and meat, transferring pies to parchment-lined baking sheets (4 to 6 per sheet). Refrigerate until dough is very firm, about 1 hour, or freeze for 30 minutes.
• Brush tops with egg wash. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden and filling is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.

APRICOT HAND PIES

Steps:

• Bring the water, granulated sugar, lemon peel, ginger, cardamom, and vanilla-bean seeds to a boil in a saucepan. Cook until sugar dissolves; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, until liquid has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Add apricots to pan. Rinse a double thickness of cheesecloth under cold water, and drape over apricots so fruit is covered by cloth and submerged in liquid. (Alternatively, cut a round of parchment to fit pan and cover fruit.) Continue simmering until apricots soften slightly, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on ripeness. Remove from heat, and let cool completely. Use immediately, or transfer apricots and poaching liquid to a storage container. Make sure apricots are completely submerged in liquid at all times. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 4 days.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of dough into a large round, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out twelve 3-inch rounds. Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining dough, using a 4-inch cookie cutter to make 12 more rounds; do not refrigerate.
• Using paper towels, blot poached apricots halves to eliminate excess liquid. Place 1 in center of each chilled 3-inch round. Brush ice water around edges of dough; cover each with an unchilled 4-inch round. Gently press edges together to seal. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Using a paring knife, slash top of each hand pie in a crosshatch fashion. Brush with water, and generously sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F. Continue baking until pastry is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Or let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.