We are now entering the last month of the autumn season here in Canada. Fall air is light and crisp—and it carries a signature scent …. a mix of rain, earth, tree bark, and leaves. It’s a scent that always makes you want to take deeper, longer breaths, and just fill your lungs with all the smells of nature. Fall is nature’s most prolific and imaginative painter who loves to splash stunning shades of red, orange, and yellow splash across this canvas we call planet earth.
If fall recipes are known for two things, those things are pumpkin and apples. The smell of the spices in our fall desserts, things like pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon, bring back memories of family Thanksgivings. Not only are these flavors generally found in hot drinks and foods, which are comforting in themselves, their smells are what actually makes them so coveted.
With the abundance of apples available to us this time of year, it’s no surprise our kitchens are often full of the aromas of wonderful baked apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the plethora of smells that often accompany apple dishes. There are just so many ways to incorporate apples into our dishes, both savory and sweet.
Over the years, I have posted many different hand pies, both sweet and savory. So, just as a salute to ‘apple season’, I’m making some apple hand pies topped with a fall motif.
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- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 170 gm white Crisco vegetable shortening
- 110 gm yellow Crisco vegetable shortening
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp vinegar plus enough COLD water to make 3/4 of a cup
- 4 apples, about 525 gm when peeled & diced
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp apple pie spice OR cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter,
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp water
Ingredients
Pastry
Apple Filling
Egg Wash
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- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Cut in white & yellow shortening until it resembles small peas. In a one cup measure, place egg & vinegar; combine. Add enough cold water to make 3/4 cup. Pour all at once over flour mixture, mixing quickly, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. This should only take a couple of minutes; DO NOT OVERMIX PASTRY. Cover with plastic wrap & place in refrigerator until filling is ready.
- Peel & dice apples, toss with lemon juice, brown sugar, spice of choice & salt in a mixing bowl.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, add apple mixture & cook until sugar dissolves completely & the apple pieces are starting to soften.
- Mix cornstarch with cold water & add this slurry to the saucepan. Stir until filling thickens, about 1 minute. Take off the heat & set aside to cool completely.
- Prepare egg wash. Remove pastry from fridge & roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 16 rounds. If you wish cut out some fall designs such as acorns or maple leaves for the top of the hand pies. On each round place a scoop of apple filling (I weighed my filling & divided it between the 16 pastry rounds). Fold in half & seal with a fork or alternately use a perogy cutter to cut, fold & seal.
- Place the mini turnovers on a parchment lined baking sheet & keep in the fridge or freezer while you continue to make the rest of the pastries.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Brush egg wash all over the pastry crusts. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of coarse sugar. Bake for about 14 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
- Remove from oven & place pastries on a wire rack to cool.
