Pastelitos
Submitted by franciepad on November 03, 2006 at 4:01 pm

Traditional New Mexican fruit pies, these are a wonderful little treat. They can be made with any dried fruit or combination of dried fruits. I've been playing with these for years to get them close to what my mother-in-law used to make. Hubby said I finally got it right! Whopeeeee!

For Filling:
1 pound dried apricots
3 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
4-6 Tbs. ice water
Topping:
Cream
1 1/2 teas sugar
1/2 teas cinnamon

Place apricots (or other dried fruit) in medium-sized saucepan and cover with water. Cook at medium heat until the fruit is soft and almost mushy. Drain - reserving the water.
Puree fruit in blender with 3/4 cup sugar. You may need to add water to fruit to get the blender to puree it properly. When fruit is pureed, return it to saucepan and cook at medium heat until it is very thick. Set aside to cool.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl and cut in shortening. Add water, a small amount at a time until mixture becomes a dough.

Divide pastry in half and chill for about 1/2 hour. Roll each half on lightly floured board to fit in a 9x11 jelly-roll pan. Line pan with 1/2 the pastry. Spread apricot mixture over pastry and top with second half. Press edges of pastry together with a fork to seal the edges. Return to refrigerator to chill for about 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush top of pastry with cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Make several openings in pastry with tines of a fork.

Bake in 400 oven for 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut pastelitos into small squares.
Yield: 20 servings

Note: Pastelitos are traditionally only as thick as your little finger.