Apple pie

When I was a child and apple season came, my mother often made this fried apple pie. It wasn't the festive dessert of the weekend, but something quick to prepare between other chores. The aroma of fried dough and apples with cinnamon filled the kitchen almost every time someone brought apples from the garden. I ended up making the recipe a few times myself – the ingredients are always at hand, and the method is simple, without complicated techniques.

Quick Info

Total Time: about 1 hour and 15 minutes (includes dough rising)
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Servings: 6-8, depending on how thick you cut the slices
Difficulty: easy
Recipe Type: traditional fried dessert, suitable for a snack

Ingredients

500 g flour
200 ml warm water, divided
a pinch of salt
1 cube of fresh yeast (25 g)
4-5 firmer apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons sugar
500 ml oil (for frying)

Preparation Method

1. For the dough, place the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast, 100 ml of warm water, and the pinch of salt. Stir gently with a spoon only in the center to dissolve the yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes until you see the yeast starting to 'bubble' and rise.

2. When the yeast is activated, pour in the rest of the warm water. Start kneading the dough by hand until it forms a ball and is no longer sticky. Don’t overdo it, just enough to be homogeneous.

3. Gently heat 50 ml of oil (just warm, not hot). Gradually add the oil to the dough and knead briefly until it is well incorporated and becomes elastic, soft but not wet. Let it rise in the bowl, covered with a towel, for about 30 minutes in a warm place.

4. While the dough is rising, peel the apples and grate them. Mix the grated apples with sugar and cinnamon. Set them aside to let their juice come out.

5. When the dough has risen to about double its size, sprinkle flour on the table and roll it out into a rectangular sheet, not too thin (about 1 cm thick).

6. Squeeze the grated apples in your hands to remove excess juice; otherwise, the dough will get too wet when frying. Spread the squeezed filling evenly over the sheet of dough.

7. Roll the sheet tightly into a log. Seal the ends well so the filling doesn't leak out. With a sharp knife, cut the log into slices about 2 cm thick. Don’t rush the cutting to avoid flattening them.

8. Heat the oil in a deep pan. Place 3-4 slices at a time, depending on the size of the pan, and fry over medium heat. Turn them on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, especially due to the apple filling.

9. Remove the pies onto paper towels to drain excess oil.

10. They can be served warm or at room temperature. You can dust them with a little sugar if you want, but it’s not mandatory.

Why I Make the Recipe Often

It’s quick to make and doesn’t require sophisticated ingredients. You can use almost any variety of apple, and the dough is easy to work with and can be adapted to how much you feel like kneading. The fried pies disappear quickly – they don’t have time to dry out or take on a fridge taste.

Tips and Variations

Tips

Be careful not to roll the dough too thick or too thin when you roll it out. If it's too thick, it won’t fry well in the middle; if it's too thin, it will tear and the filling may spill out.
Don’t overcrowd the pan so they fry evenly and the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much.
Squeeze the grated apples well – the drier they are, the airier the dough will be after frying.

Substitutions

Apples can be replaced with firm pears, but the taste will be different and sweeter.
If you don’t have fresh yeast, you can also try using dry yeast (one packet, 7 g), but the texture may vary slightly.

Variations

You can add raisins to the filling if you like.
For a slightly different taste, you can replace the cinnamon with a little vanilla sugar.
If you want savory options, use cheese or greens fillings, but the dough remains the same.

Serving Ideas

You can eat them plain or with powdered sugar. They are good warm, but also at room temperature on the day you make them. They are suitable as an afternoon snack or a quick bite for a short trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why didn’t my dough rise well?
Most likely, the yeast was not active or the water was too hot/cold. Fresh yeast should bubble after sitting for a few minutes in water with flour.

2. What do I do if the apples are very juicy?
Squeeze them well by hand or place them in a strainer to drain. You can use the leftover juice for something else.

3. Can the pies be baked in the oven instead of frying?
The recipe is designed for frying, but if you want to try baking, brush them with a little oil and place them on baking paper. The texture will be different.

4. How much oil should I use for frying?
The oil should be enough to cover the pies halfway so they don’t remain raw. The leftover oil can be recycled or discarded after frying.

5. Can they be made with whole wheat flour?
You can use whole wheat flour, but the texture will be denser and it might need a little more water while kneading.

Nutritional Values

Estimate for one slice (out of 8 servings): approx. 270 kcal, 8 g fat (from frying), 45 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein, 12 g sugars (from apples and added sugar). Values vary depending on how much oil each pie absorbs and the size of the slices. It’s not a diet dessert, but it’s filling and simple.

Storage and Reheating

These pies are best on the day you make them. If there are leftovers, they can be stored at room temperature, covered, until the next day, but the texture won’t be as pleasant. For reheating, you can use a dry pan or the oven for a few minutes, but they will dry out a bit. I do not recommend storing in the fridge.

 Ingredients: 500 g flour, 200 ml warm water, a pinch of salt, 1 cube of yeast, 4-5 apples, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 500 ml oil