A couple months ago (almost), at the height of apple picking season, I agreed to do a post, review and giveaway from My Blog Spark and Pillsbury for their ready-made pie crusts.  But I had neglected to send them my new address and to my dismay, they shipped a package to me at our old address in Kansas.  Oops.

Well, I was lucky enough to be shipped a new package so I could try out Pillsbury's pie crust, receive some other fun goodies, make something yummy with apples and pie crust, share it with you and give away some of those same goodies!  I think that’s pretty cool.

So here’s the deal.  I had never used Pillsbury’s pie crusts before.  I make my own.  BUT, I was happy to try their crust, so I made some great Apple Strudel Pockets with some sweet Golden Delicious apples I’d picked right from the grocery store.  (I really am bummed that I didn’t make it to an orchard, we are for sure going to do that next year!)  Now is the time of year where you CAN get some great apples in your grocery stores, and maybe still at your local fruit stands.  And now is definitely the time of year that you NEED to be baking up some yummy desserts with apples!  I have recently made two different apple pies, so with the Pillsbury crust, I wanted to do something different. I’ve been seeing lots of different blogs posting their versions of homemade Pop Tarts and the like and decided that is what I wanted to do.

These are so light and flaky and easy to make.  They aren’t really like Pop Tarts, but more like Toaster Strudels.  I just made up the apple filling.  And I spooned a little glaze over them.  They are really good!

I would totally make these again and I have decided that I need to keep a box of Pillsbury pie crusts in my freezer for certain things!  I had fun with scraps of the dough and made some mini sized ones that were like apple filled ravioli.  I think making a bunch of the smaller ones would be a great mini dessert for a party.  They boys liked these, the husband ate one or two and I liked them a lot (enough to convince myself they weren’t here so I didn’t eat too many)!  Here’s what I did to make them.

Apple Strudel Pockets, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 box Pillsbury ready-made pie crusts, thawed

2 apples of choice (I used Golden Delicious), peeled, quartered, then grated

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4-6 tablespoons brown sugar (to taste, I started with 4 and ended up adding more)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste)

Powdered Sugar Glaze-

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk (or to desired consistency)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel, quarter and grate the apples.  Put the butter in a medium sized saucepan and melt over medium heat, once it has stopped bubbling, add the brown sugar.  Let the mixture caramelize a bit.  Add the apples and cook for about ten minutes.  About halfway through the cook time, add the cinnamon.  Set aside to cool while you roll out the dough.

Unroll one pie crust.  Cut edges so it is a square.  Roll out to flatten a bit and to smooth together any holes in the dough.  Cut into desired sized squares/rectangles using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter.  Spoon some of the apple filling onto every other shape of dough, not too much, leaving about a half inch border around the edges.  “Paint” water around the edge of the dough with a pastry brush or your finger.  Lay a matching-sized piece of dough over each one.   Press the tines of a fork all around the edges of each one to seal the dough together.  Repeat with second pie crust. 

Lay them on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden.  Let cool.  While cooling, make the glaze.  Combine powdered sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium sized bowl.  Add milk one tablespoon at a time, whisking together.  Add the other tablespoon a little at a time until desired consistency and whisk until there are no lumps.  Spoon and smooth a little of the glaze over each pocket.  Let dry.  These are great for an on-the-go breakfasts or a treat/dessert!

Want to win some fun stuff for your apple baking from Pillsbury provided by My Blog Spark?  Here’s what you need to do to enter--

*Leave me a comment here telling me two things—do you put lemon juice/zest in your apple pie?  (I have recently discovered I don’t care for the lemon zesty taste taking over the apple taste.  So I was just wondering what ya’ll think.)

*Enter again leaving a separate comment telling me something you have made with pie crust and/or apples lately.

*”Like” the Love the Pie page from Pillsbury on Facebook and come back to leave me a comment here telling me that you did.

In the prize package—measuring cups, apple slicers, apple cutting board, glass pie plate, hot pad, apple timer and one coupon for Pillsbury pie crusts. 

You have until Tuesday, November 23, at midnight, MST to enter.  Limited to US residents only.  A winner will be selected at random and notified via email (so make sure I have a way to contact you).

Thank you to Pillsbury for providing me these products that you could also win if chosen.  They were provided by My Blog Spark.