Chef John’s Apple Fritters

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Description

I didn’t think I liked apple fritters, but turns out I just don’t like chunks of almost raw apple, surrounded by a doughnut. Maybe I’ve just been going to the wrong shops, but I’ve never enjoyed the texture, and always wanted to try them with cooked apples.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 large Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 large egg
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • ½ cup sparkling apple cider
  • 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
  • ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, or more as needed
  • 1 tablespoon sparkling apple cider, or as needed to make glaze

Instructions

  1. Melt butter over medium-high heat and cook until it turns golden brown
  2. 2 to 3 minutes. Add apples and cook over medium-high heat until apples just begin to soften around the edges
  3. 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon sugar and continue cooking another 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain in a strainer; let cool to room temperature.
  4. Whisk flour
  5. baking powder
  6. salt
  7. cinnamon
  8. ginger
  9. and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl until well combined.
  10. Whisk egg
  11. 1/4 cup sugar
  12. and melted butter together in a separate mixing bowl. Add cooled apple pieces and sparkling apple cider; add the flour mixture. Stir just until flour is incorporated.
  13. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spoon about 2 tablespoons batter per fritter
  14. into hot oil
  15. slightly flattening them out. Cook in batches. Fry on one side until small bubbles appear on the surface
  16. about 2 minutes. Carefully flip fritters over and fry the other side until richly browned
  17. about 2 more minutes.
  18. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain grease. Cool slightly before glazing.
  19. Whisk powdered sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Add enough apple cider
  20. 1 teaspoon at a time
  21. to form a smooth glaze that is just runny enough to drizzle over fritters.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Servings: 8

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