Here’s my recipe for Fried Peach Hand Pies. I made these pies using fresh peaches and homemade pie dough. I highly suggest you at least make the dough from scratch because it will not taste the same with refrigerated pie dough. Below are the ingredients and the directions to make these delicious peach pies.
Peach Pie Filling
4-5 large fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped in chunks
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
To Make the Peach Filling
1. In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add peaches, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and mix until combined.
2. Add cornstarch and mix until no lumps of cornstarch are visible. Cook peaches for about 5-7 minutes or until the peaches are fork tender. Remove from the heat and set aside. Allow the peach filling to completely cool
Ingredients for Homemade Pie Dough
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons of powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
4 tablespoons of Crisco
½ cup of ice water
In a large bowl ( I used my Miss Lena's wooden dough bowl), add together flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter and Crisco until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water and mix well until a dough ball forms.
Divide dough in half, and shape into 2 disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours or until needed.
On a floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2 inch round cutter, cut into rounds and set aside. Repeat process with remaining dough.
Place approximately 1 tablespoon peach filling in the center of each round. Fold rounds in half, pressing edges together with a fork to seal. Refrigerate pies for 1 hour. Please don't skip this step. The pies will taste better if you fry them chilled.
Add oil to the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Heat to 350° over medium heat. Fry chilled pies, no more than 3 at a time, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on a wire rack. Drizzle with peach or vanilla glaze.
Peach Glaze
1 cup of powdered sugar
4 tablespoons of peach nectar
In a small bowl, add powdered sugar and peach nectar. Whisk will until fully combined. If you don't have peach nectar, use milk instead and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.