Apple Pastries, Apple Picking and Apple Eating

Since everyone and their mother have been apple picking in the past few weekends, A-Tooch decided to join the fun.

We headed up to Minard Farms in Clintondale, NY — perfect because not only is there apple picking, but also cider brewing and doughnut baking on-site. Very important. If you know anything about apples, you’ll realize we were a little late to the game this season. Still, there were about four varieties of apples for picking on the farm.

We picked Golden Delicious, Fuji, Empire and Rome apples, and scooped up already harvested Sun Crisp, Macoun and others at the shop. This year’s trendy Honey Crisp varietal had already come and gone. Sold out!

It’s probably no surprise that if you Google “apple recipes” a ton of pages come up. That’s because, like me, no one else knows what the heck to do with the bazillion apples they came home with. We borrowed some tips from Kelsey Nixon’s recipe to come up with these super simple and very tasty pastries:

Apple Empanadas à la mode
makes about 8

4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 large baking apples (we used a combination of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced
3 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed according to directions
Flour, for dusting
Pinch salt
Optional: 3 tbsp. dark rum

Preheat the oven to 400º F and lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. In a large saute pan, melt 3 tbsp. butter over medium heat and add the apples, mixing until they are soft. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, rum (if you choose) and salt. Cook for 10 minutes.

Mush the ingredients together until they look like a lumpy applesauce. While the mixture cools down, roll out your puff pastry and, using a pastry cutter (or plastic lid if you’re budget like me), create 8 discs, about 4-5 inches in diameter. Spoon two big tablespoons of the apple mixture on top of each disc, fold in half and pinch the ends closed. Crimp the ends with the tines of a fork.

Place all of your empanadas on the baking sheet. Melt the remaining 1 tbsp. butter and lightly dust each empanada with the butter. Poke a few small holes at the top of each pastry to allow it to vent.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastries begin to look a very light golden brown. Top with vanilla bean ice cream and serve warm. ‘Nuff said.

What is your favorite apple variety?