The Art of Cooking Real Food: Apple Pocket Pies

It's always funny to me when pie lovers learn what goes into pie crust. They seem unanimously surprised by "all that butter". Even my husband, who,while watching me make the dough for these little individual apple pies, vowed never to eat more than one slice at a time for fear his heart would stop working before he was done chewing. Really, when you think about it, each serving only contains about 2 Tbs butter, so it's not exactly awful. Poor butter has been wrongfully demonized over the years, but because it is a simple, real food, it is infinitely more healthy than its margarine and shortening counterparts; my husband knows this because since we kicked "fake" foods to the curb many years ago, his overall cholesterol count magically dropped from frightening danger zone levels to normal, healthy levels (more on that in future posts). Still, I guess, it's hard to completely break that psychological connection between "all that butter" and "poor health".

Just to be clear, though, I'm not advocating sitting down and licking a stick of butter for health reasons - that would be crazy. I'm just saying pie is good. And it's even better with whipped cream on top.

These mini apple pies are sweetened with maple syrup and thickened with instant tapioca. Personally, I like the texture of fruit pies thickened with tapioca; the filling is never runny and the fruit seems almost suspended in a thick, juice infused liquid that provides just the right amount of hold for fruity pies. I don't love flour as a thickener because all too often it has resulted in runny pies or I can taste the starchiness of having too much flour. It's not going to be very often I suggest a fairly processed product on this blog, but instant-type, granulated tapioca is absolutely fantastic for pie filling.

I have no idea what kind of apples I used. My parents have three large apple trees that we are fortunate enough to pick from each fall (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and they can't remember what kind they are. Our own trees are only three years old and not bearing too terribly much fruit yet, and I can't remember what those are, either. That's fine with me, though. I understand that different kinds of apples lend different flavors and textures to different preparations, but as far as I'm concerned the free apple is the best apple, and they all taste good to me. So, if you are an apple connoisseur, choose some nice, equally tart and sweet apples for these little pies.

For the dough, I used a basic pie crust dough:

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Put those ingredients into a food processor bowl and pulse to mix. Add:

2 sticks butter (16 Tbs), chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

Pulse several times until all the butter is incorporated and the flour is mealy. Add:

6-8 Tbs ice water

Pulse a few more times. When you can pinch the mixture with your fingers and it holds, it's ready (it will still look mealy in the bowl). If it doesn't, sprinkle with a little more water (1 Tbs at a time) and pulse a few times until it does. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, using your hands, bring together to form a ball. Cut the ball in half. Pat each ball into a 6x6" square. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 -60 minutes, or until ready to use.

Apple Pocket Pies
makes 8 individual pies

Dough for a two crust pie (see recipe above)
4 c chopped apple, peeled if you like
1 tsp lemon juice (to maintain color)
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
few grates fresh nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tbs instant tapioca granules

2 Tbs maple syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a large bowl, combine chopped apple, lemon juice, 1/2 c maple syrup, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and tapioca. Stir well and set aside.

Lightly flour a work surface. Working from the middle outward with a floured rolling pin, roll out each square of dough to form a 12 inch square.

Score into equal quarters with a knife.

Stir the apple mixture to incorporate all the juices pooled on the bottom of the bowl. Place 1/2 c apple pie filling in the middle of each square, leaving no less than 1/2 inch edge.

Fold over to form a triangle. Gently, but firmly, press down on the edges to seal. Crimp and trim away any excess. If you make a hole, use some of the excess dough to mend the tear.

With a sharp knife, make three 1" slits in the top of the pie. Continue the process with the rest of the dough and pie filling, making sure to stir the apple mixture each time.

Place 4 pies on each of two ungreased 10x15" baking trays.

In a small bowl, mix together 2 Tbs maple syrup and 1/8 tsp cinnamon. With a pastry brush, lightly baste the pies.