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Dough:
1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
2 tbs white granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
5 tbs butter (room temperature)
½ cup milk
1 egg
Filling:
5 honeycrisp or granny smith apples
2 tbs white granulated sugar
2 tbs cinnamon
3 tbs butter
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tsp salt
Juice from one lemon
Glaze
1 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs softened butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ tbs milk
To Fry
1/2 gallon vegetable oil
Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. Without stirring, pour the instant yeast into the mixture, making sure the yeast does not touch the other ingredients, besides the flour. This will help prevent the yeast from dying quickly. Then, add cubed, room temperature butter, still making sure not to touch the yeast.
In the microwave, warm up half a cup of milk for about 40 seconds. Add warm milk and an egg to the mixture. Mix thoroughly with a spatula until it starts to form a dough. Add flour as needed if the dough seems too sticky or wet. Then turn out the dough onto a floured working space. Knead dough for a maximum of 4 minutes or until the chunks of butter are no longer visible. Note: over kneading can cause your dough to not rise or to come out too dense. Form your dough into a large ball and place into a clean glass or metal container. Cover the container with a damp towel and allow it to rise in a warm area for two hours.
While our dough is rising, let’s whip up the filling. First, you want to skin and dice your apples into small chunks and set them in the refrigerator to cool. In a large nonstick skillet, heat butter and a pinch of salt on medium to low heat, constantly stirring until butter starts to darken. Once the butter is consistently golden brown add the refrigerated apples, cinnamon, sugar, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Stir mixture until the apples are fully coated. Simmer the apples, stirring occasionally, for about 6 to 7 minutes or until the apples are soft and start to cook down. At this point, take apples off heat and refrigerate.
By now, (2 hours after leaving your dough to rise) your dough should be about double in size. In a large pot capable of frying, heat a gallon of vegetable oil on high to about 360 degrees. ALWAYS use caution when frying. While the oil is heating, form your dough into a ball on a floured surface with your hands and start rolling it out with a rolling pin (if you don’t have a rolling pin, get creative; we used a wine bottle). Roll out until it’s about one centimeter thick. Cover dough with a thin layer of the apple mixture, be careful not to add too much or your fritters will fall apart when frying. It’s okay to have some left over, they are delicious! Spread the apples onto the dough and start rolling the apples in the dough, similar to how you would when rolling a yule log cake. Then, stretch the ends of the dough until it seals, or nearly seals the apples inside.
With a large knife, chop the log into large slices diagonally one way, then from a different angle, slice the log again. Form the mixture back into a log. The point of this step is to chop the dough up with the apples to form clusters of fritter, so don’t worry about being neat. Take the formed log of apples and dough and slice into disks. These are your fritters and they should not fall apart easily, if the batter is falling apart add a pinch of flour and work it into the dough.
Once your oil is 360 degrees, take a disk and CAREFULLY drop it in. Add up to four disks or as many as your pot can hold comfortably. Fry each fritter for about 2 minutes on either side or until the half in the oil is golden brown. When the fritter is fried, set on a cooling rack or a large plate with paper towels. Continue until all your fritters are fried.
Finally, mix together the powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle this glaze over the warm fritters and take a bite! Caution: you may fall in love.
Commentary:
What better way to welcome the fall season than making delicious apple fritters. A staple in most donut shops but now there’s no need to go farther than your kitchen, heck, I made them in my PJs! This is a recipe that requires a time commitment but the outcome is totally worth it. These apple fritters will have your mouth watering and leave you wanting more.
I will leave you with three words any person with a piping hot, homemade apple fritter needs to hear: A LA MODE! Serve it up with some ice cream and you’ve got it made.