Chocolate Fried Pies
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Old-fashioned, made from scratch, chocolate fried pies have no equal. Each fried pie includes a soft flaky outside and the most scrumptious chocolate filling inside.
In the fried pie world, I have two favorites: fried peach pies and old-fashioned chocolate fried pies. For an amazing peach pie like my great-grandmother made, you have to start with dried peaches. Fresh or canned just can’t pack the wallop of flavor that dried ones do. And for fried chocolate pies like I grew up with, you have to make your own chocolate paste out of sugar, butter, and cocoa powder. This is what my Aunt Sue does and you have to use the recipe that I put in my first cookbook like I’m sharing with you here.
My chocolate fried pie recipe is pretty simple to follow, but the results are mouthwateringly good. I mean, can anyone really say no to a rich and decadent chocolate filling wrapped in a flaky pie crust and dusted with sugar? I think not! I’ve heard people say they’re like chocolate pop tarts but better.
The first step is to make the pie dough, using shortening, milk, salt, and all-purpose flour. Then we make the pie filling I mentioned above. Next, pop the paste into the dough to make your pies, and then we fry them! In a few minutes, you’ll have perfectly crisp and flavorful chocolate fried pies. I can’t wait for you to give them a go! They’re irresistible yet so easy to make, which is a win-win situation when it comes to dessert, right?
Now let’s make some chocolate hand pies!
Recipe Ingredients
Crust
- Shortening (like Crisco or coconut oil, I’m using generic)
- Milk
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
Filling
- Sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Chocolate Fried Pies
Place flour, salt, and shortening in a medium bowl. Stir together really well and then cut the shortening into the flour with a long-tined fork.
Or a pastry cutter if you’re feeling fancy.
Pour milk into the flour mixture.
Stir it up really well.
You may need to add more milk, and that is perfectly okay. Add a tablespoon or so at a time until it forms a ball of dough.
Divide that up into 10 ball-shaped portions.
In a separate medium bowl, place melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder.
Stir it up really well. It will form a paste.
Note: This is a gritty chocolate paste and it is utterly delicious.
Alright, now we need to take each of those dough balls and make them into a 6-inch (or so) circle.
Now place about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each.
THEN, dip your fingertips in water and run them around the edges to help them stick together.
Fold over and crimp edges lightly with a fork.
Preheat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet on medium-high for about five minutes.
Then turn it down to medium and carefully add your pies a few at a time, careful not to overcrowd.
Let them cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook until browned on the other as well.
This will just take a few minutes.
Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
Let cool slightly before eating.
Or add some powdered sugar over the top before you enjoy it. Or not, do whatever cranks your tractor!
Share with your friends!
Storage
Store leftover pies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. I like to quickly reheat them either in the air fryer or oven so they’re nice and crispy once more.
Recipe Notes
- For a buttermilk crust, substitute the milk for buttermilk.
- For extra chocolate flavor, add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the pie dough.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use canned biscuit dough?
You can make these with canned biscuit dough but they won’t be the same. will still be good in a pinch though. You can also make these simply by sticking a mini chocolate bar inside each one – but it won’t be the same, either. They will still be good in a pinch, though! Just do what you have time to do and put your heart into it. The most important step in cooking isn’t the ingredients you use or how intricate the preparation is, it’s the process of making something yummy for someone because you love them. That makes everything taste better.
How do you serve chocolate hand pies?
If you want to be extra decadent (I mean, who doesn’t?) chocolate fried pies taste delicious with a drizzle of chocolate syrup or caramel sauce. Or why not serve a with a dollop of or a scoop of vanilla ? YUM.
Check out these other tasty chocolate treats:
Recipe For Easy Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup milk more if needed
- vegetable oil for frying
Filling
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, melted 1 stick
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a long-tined fork. Add the milk and stir until the dough sticks together.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup milk
- Divide the dough into ten ball-shaped portions.
- In a separate bowl, stir together melted butter, cocoa powder, and sugar until it forms a paste.6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, melted, 2 cups sugar
- Pour oil to a depth of 1/4 inch in a large skillet and place over medium-high heat to preheat while you assemble pies.vegetable oil for frying
- On a floured surface, roll or pat each dough ball into a 6-inch circle. Place 2 tablespoons of chocolate filling in the center of each. Dip fingertips in water and run around the outside edges of the crust. Fold over and crimp with a fork to seal.
- After oil has heated for at least five minutes, reduce heat to medium. Carefully add a few pies at a time to hot oil and cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and brown on the other.
- Remove to paper towel-lined plates and repeat until all pies are cooked. Cool slightly before serving and add a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.
Nutrition
Previous Pie Day Friday Posts
- May 31th – Frozen Turtle Pie
- June 7th – Strawberry Cream Pie
- June 13th – Triple Chocolate Brownie Pie
- June 21st – Frozen Oreo Pie
“Everyone has gifts, they just open them on different occasions.”
~Author unknown. Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your own.
Could you use butter instead of shortening? These look SO yummy!
I don’t know that it would work, maybe if you cover and refrigerate dough a bit. It’s definitely an experiment worth doing if that’s something important to you though. Please report back! 🙂
I always use butter when I make pie crust and it comes out perfect. I do keep everything very cold. Yesterday I made peach fried pies using your recipe and substituting butter for the Crisco. I used a pastry blender to mix cold butter into the flour mixture. I put the balls of dough I was not working on at the moment in the fridge to keep them cold while I fried up the first. My husband said they were the best he has ever eaten. They came out crispy and flakey!
This sounds like down-home heaven in a fried pie 🙂 Thanks!
OH, Oh, oh. . . MY GOODNESS. . . “THANK YOU,” so very, very MUCH for this one!! We used to have a small, local DRIVE-IN rest. in the town where I grew up as a child, EVERY SINGLE “Friday,” our family would never fail to whip by and order up some “deep fried chocolate pies!!” YUMMY absolute D LISH, now I will make my own attempt at this one, too!! If this almost “hallowed” long gone recipe has made it’s way back to me. . . well it was simply “written in the STARS!” Chocolate Fried Pies, in peanut OIL!!! Oh my goodness, can’t wait to bake, Oh. . . never mind, FRY me up some PIES!!!!! YUM YUM!! THANK YOU SO MUCH CHRISTY!! You are one in a BILLION, a true jewel!! Blessings to you and yours ALWAYS.
Kaye
Trying new recipes
Do you think this would work with Splenda instead of sugar in the filling?
I do not think splenda will work. this us a crunchy filling and you cannot get this from Splenda.
Oh joy, oh wonder, oh my word! These just look like oh so gooey goodness! I’m gonna have to try them tonight! I just know my family will devour them.
What a wonderful old fashioned recipe. My mother in-law, who was raised in Cushman, Arkansas has told me of these fried pies. She had to make do without much all her life, but she has wonderful memories, and I love hearing them from her. I will give these a try and take her some.
These looks soo good! I’ve never made a fried pie, and I’m not very successful with pie crust, but this makes me want to try again!