A lot of what I cook is inspired by Larry’s cravings. My least favorite part of cooking is deciding what to make – I’m overwhelmed much of the time by the number of cookbooks and recipes at my disposal.

We all have our childhood guilty pleasures (mine: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese), and Larry’s is the fried apple pies from McDonalds. These hand pies aren’t fried, but they’re awfully good.

The pastry is as easy as whirling a few ingredients in the food processor, and it’s easy to work with and super flaky. I love the brown butter addition to the apples.

I cut my pastries into squares for triangular pies. The apples need to be chopped – the recipe says “chopped thinly”. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I cut my apples (mutsu, my favorite baking varietal) into thin slices, then roughly chopped them. The chopped apples will make it easier to fill and close each pastry.

Half of the batch went straight from the oven to my Wednesday writing group (LOVE those ladies!), and the rest stayed home. Larry liked them quite a bit. Maybe not the best hand pies I’ve ever made, but they’re up there.

• Brown Butter Apple Hand Pies (White on Rice Couple)