Apple Fritters
MAKES
10 large doughnuts
TAKES
Prep time: 4-20 hours (including both options for dough rise times)
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total: 4 hours 45 minutes-20 hours 45 minutes
✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE
Truly one of the most fun types of doughnuts to shape and make - and in my opinion, also truly one of the most delicious to eat! As much as I love a traditional cider doughnut, this doughnut packs apple flavor (and texture!) and pairs it with my favorite super soft yeast raised doughnut dough. There’s two options for finishing them: they are wonderful simply tossed in cinnamon sugar, fresh from the fryer - but they also are dreamy with a generous drizzle of icing instead.
INGREDIENTS
600 g / 5 cups all purpose flour
50 g / ¼ cup granulated sugar
9 g / 1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 g / ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
less than 1 g / ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
56 g / 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
345 g / 1 ½ cups whole milk
76 g / ⅓ cup water
113 g / 2 large eggs
neutral oil, as needed for frying
360 g / about 2 medium apples (peeled if desired), diced
Finishing Option of Your Choice (see Note below recipe)
Bake This Recipe with Me:
METHOD
1. Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon, and nutmeg to combine.
2. In a small pot, melt the butter, then add the milk and water, stir briefly to combine, and then check the temperature with a thermometer. If it’s at least 110°F/43°C, turn off the heat. If it’s higher than 110°C/43°C, let it cool to that temperature. (You can also do this in the microwave - melt the butteri n a heat-safe container, and then stir in the milk and water - take the temperature, and return to the microwave if not hot enough, or let it cool as needed.)
3. Add the milk mixture to the mixer, along with the eggs, and mix on low speed for 3 minutes until the ingredients combine and form a shaggy dough. Scrape the base and sides of the bowl well, then raise the speed to medium, and mix until the dough is well combined and forms a sticky dough, 5 minutes more.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased medium bowl, and cover the bowl with greased plastic wrap.
If you want to make the fritters the same day as you prepare the dough, let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour 15 minutes - 1 hour 45 minutes.
If you want to make the dough ahead of time, let the dough rise at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, until visibly puffy, then refrigerate the dough for up to 12 hours.
5. Shape the fritters: Roll out the prepared, risen doughnut dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about ½ inch/1 cm thick. The exact size or shape of the dough isn’t really important, because you’ll be cutting it into pieces, but a roughly rectangular shape will make for the most evenly shaped pieces.
6. Use a bench knife, pastry cutter, or knife to cut the dough into long vertical strips about 1 inch/6 mm wide. No need to be precise here—you’ll ultimately be smashing these pieces together to form the fritter, so don’t stress about perfection here!
7. Divide the dough pieces into 10 even portions on your work surface. To shape each doughnut, take about ⅔ of one portion of dough and smoosh them gently together with your hands. Place 60 - 80 mL / ¼ - ⅓ cup of apples on top of the dough.
8. Top the apples with the remaining ⅓ of the dough portion, and smoosh gently to adhere the dough to the apples and other dough. It’s best for each piece of apple to be touching dough in two places (on two sides) - this will reduce the chance of the apples falling out during frying.
9. Cover the shaped doughnuts with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise until visibly puffy, 30-45 minutes.
10. While the doughnuts rise, prepare your frying station. Pour about 2-3 inch / 5-8 cm of oil into a heavy bottomed pot. Attach a deep-fry thermometer (or you can use a probe thermometer) to the side of the pot to monitor the temperature. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet, and have ready a spider or slotted spoon for frying the doughnuts - place this near your stovetop.
11. Prepare your cinnamon sugar or icing by whisking all ingredients together in a medium bowl to combine. Towards the end of rise time, begin to heat the oil over medium heat to 350°F / 175°C (the temperature will drop slightly when you add the first doughnuts, so we want to heat it slightly higher than preferred frying temperature).
12. Working in batches, gently drop the doughnuts into the oil, frying until they’re golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Sometimes, I use the spider or slotted spoon to drop the fritters into the oil, and then use the tool to support the fritter during the first 15-30 seconds of frying, until the dough begins to set, then I can release it and proceed. Aim to keep the temperature of the oil around 340°F / 170°C, adjusting heat as needed.
13. Continue to fry each doughnut until they are golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. (If you’re unsure, you can use an instant read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the very center - it should be at least 195°F / 90°C). Use the spider or slotted spoon to remove the doughnuts from the oil, and transfer to the wire rack to drain.
14. If coating in cinnamon sugar, let the doughnuts cool for about 1 minute, then toss them in the sugar mixture while they are still warm. If finishing with icing, there’s two options: if you spoon glaze onto the center of the fritter while it’s warm, the heat will melt it a bit, and it will be more like a glazed doughnut effect. Or, you can let the doughnuts cool a bit before icing them, which allows it to stay visible on the surface.
15. Serve immediately!
NOTES:
This recipe is delicious with either of the finishing options below:
Cinnamon Sugar: In a medium bowl, whisk 198 g / 1 cup granulated sugar with 6 g / 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and > 1 g / ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
Icing: In a medium bowl, whisk 113 g / 1 cup powdered sugar, 15 g / 1 tablespoon boiled cider or apple cider (see Note), 30 g / 2 tablespoons heavy cream to combine. If needed, add more cream 5 g / 1 teaspoon at a time until a drizzle-able icing forms.
✻ HAVE YOU BAKED IT?
Tag @emcdowell on Instagram or use #happybaking. I’d love to see your bakes!
