On the Amish Workshops post, Ann Whitaker brought up a favorite Amish treat:

Traveling to Randolph tomorrow! Will be eating a good “fry” pie in your honor!

This caused me to reflect on one of my favorite Amish desserts:

You know fry pies will never go out of style. I wonder if Keith and Laura carry a fry-pie holster of some sort, so you could tote around 3 or 4 with you strapped around your waist at all times (just in case the fry pie munchies hit).

amish fry pie

Behold the Amish Fry Pie in its natural habitat (with a Monster Cookie companion)

I could really see an Amish leather fry-pie holster making a splash. Look, Amish craftsmen are so creative, couldn’t this be next season’s hot item? You know how we North Americans are really into portability with our on-the-go lifestyles. You could even have an embroidered version for the ladies.  You heard it hear first!

A few fry pie deep thoughts:

  • The fry pie just has a lot of things going for it–it’s pocket-sized; the compact “casing” prevents messiness you get with a regular pie; plus, if you’re into it, the surprise factor–unless it’s labeled, it’s hard to tell what flavor you’ve got. How can you beat all that.
  • When I was growing up, you had the Hostess Fruit Pies, in flavors like cherry, lemon, and apple. Was that just the fry-pie concept, taken to a mass-production level? I loved those things, though I hardly ever got my hands on one. Plus I have a feeling the ingredients list would read like a chemical engineering student’s final exam.
  • When I’m in Ohio, I get my fry pies at Hershberger Truck Patch and Bakery. I think of Hershberger’s as the Amish baking mega-plex. Their free coffee keeps you moving.
  • On fry pies, Keith adds: Our friend Paul (the one you met in Michigan) and his wife are big supporters of their children’s Amish school, and their most popular fundraisers involve making and selling fry pies. The parents and kids from the school team up to make more than 3,000 fry pies in flavors like peach, blueberry, lemon, and my favorite, black raspberry, which they sell to the greater community at large. Seems like I’m always visiting either right before or right after a fundraiser, but I sure would like to be there to help make them. I have discovered, however, that more than two at one setting is not a good idea. Too much is too much!
  • I think Keith’s right. Two seems like the sweet spot. With regular pie, I usually max out at two pieces, and I’m guessing one fry pie is about the equivalent of one regular slice of pie.
  • Here’s a photo of a snitz fry pie “moon pie”, via Karen Johnson-Weiner.  This version is made by her Swartzentruber Amish friends.  Snitz pie is eaten after Amish church service, but I’ve never been to one where fry pies were served:snitz fry pie
  • Has no one yet done the “Shoo-fry Pie“?? What?! (I can’t believe I’m not charging for these ideas!)
  • Add your fry pie thoughts, tributes, poems, hot-spots, etc. below!

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