Ingre­di­ents

CRUST
• 2 cups (8½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) gran­u­lated sugar
• ½ tea­spoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ tea­spoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup low-fat small-curd cot­tage cheese
• 4 table­spoons (2 ounces) chilled unsalted but­ter, cut into ½-inch cubes
FILLING
• 1 pound Granny Smith apples
• ¼ cup (1¾ ounces) gran­u­lated sugar
• 2 table­spoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
• ¼ tea­spoon ground cinnamon
• 4 table­spoons water, divided
• 1 table­spoon cornstarch
• veg­etable or canola oil for fry­ing (optional)

Method

MAKE THE CRUST:
1. Pulse the flour, sugar, cin­na­mon, and salt together in a food proces­sor for 5 sec­onds, until evenly mixed. Add the cot­tage cheese and but­ter and process for about 30 sec­onds, until a soft dough comes together.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured sur­face and gen­tly press it into a round. Wrap it in plas­tic wrap and refrig­er­ate for 30 min­utes while you make the filling.
MAKE THE APPLE FILLING:
3. Peel and core the apples, and cut them into ½-inch cubes. Toss in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan with the sugar, but­ter, and cin­na­mon. Heat over medium heat until the but­ter is melted, then add 2 table­spoons water. Cover and cook for 10 to 12 min­utes, until the apples are start­ing to soften.
4. Whisk the corn­starch with the remain­ing 2 table­spoons water and add to the soft­ened apple mix­ture. Cover and cook for 1 to 2 min­utes more, until the liq­uid thick­ens and jells slightly. Remove from the heat.
5. If the apples aren’t as mushy as you’d like them to be (the McDonald’s fill­ing is akin to apple­sauce), you can use a potato masher to gen­tly press them to your desired con­sis­tency. Let the fill­ing cool for 15 minutes.
MAKE THE PIES:
6. If bak­ing, pre­heat the oven to 375?F and line 2 bak­ing sheets with parch­ment paper or Sil­pat lin­ers. If deep-frying, line a bak­ing sheet with waxed paper. Return the chilled dough to the floured work sur­face and roll it into an 18-inch square about ? inch thick. Use a pas­try or pizza cut­ter to slice the dough into 9 (6 by 6-inch) squares.
7. Place a heap­ing table­spoon (more like 1 table­spoon plus 1 tea­spoon) of apple fill­ing on half of each square, then fold over to cre­ate a 6 by 3-inch pocket pie. Seal the edges by crimp­ing them tightly with your fin­gers. Place on a pre­pared bak­ing sheet.
8. If bak­ing: Slice 3 slashes across the top of each pie. Bake for 25 min­utes, until puffed and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 min­utes before attempt­ing to eat, lest you burn your mouth with molten apple filling.
9. If deep-frying: Refrig­er­ate the pies for 1 hour (or freeze for up to 3 months in a sealed con­tainer). Heat at least 2 inches of veg­etable or canola oil to 350?F in an elec­tric deep fryer or large, high-sided pot. Line a bak­ing sheet with paper tow­els and an upside-down wire cool­ing rack (see Deep Fry­ing 101, page 188).
10. Add the pies to the hot oil straight from the refrig­er­a­tor or freezer and fry in batches as nec­es­sary until golden brown. Fry­ing time will vary based on your equip­ment, but should take no more than 2 to 3 min­utes per batch.
11. Trans­fer to the pre­pared bak­ing sheet and let cool for 5 to 10 min­utes before attempt­ing to eat, lest you burn your mouth with molten apple filling.
12. Store the pies in the refrig­er­a­tor in an air­tight con­tainer for up to 3 days.