A recipe for classic Apple Fritter Doughnuts - bumpy and covered in a sweet glaze!
Ingredients:
For the Dough:
- 2¼teaspoons1 packet active dry yeast
- ⅔cupwhole milk(warm to the touch)
- 3¼cups+ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour(divided)
- 4egg yolks
- ½cupgranulated sugar
- ⅓cupapple cider
- ¼cupunsalted butter(melted)
- 1tablespoonvanilla extract
- 1teaspoonkosher salt
- ½teaspoonground cinnamon
For the Apples:
- ¼cupunsalted butter
- 1vanilla bean
- 7Granny Smith apples(peeled, cored and chopped)
- ¼cupgranulated sugar
- ½teaspoonground cinnamon
- 1cupapple cider
- ¼cupapple cider vinegar
For the Glaze:
- ½cup+ 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ¼cupheavy cream
- ½teaspoonvanilla extract
- ½teaspoonkosher salt
For frying
- 2quartsvegetable oil
Directions:
- 1. Make the Dough: Place the yeast in a mixing bowl. Pour the milk over the yeast a let sit for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of the flour to the yeast and milk mixture, but do not stir. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the surface of the flour cracks, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Add the apple cider, melted butter, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, 1¼ cups of the flour and whisk until combined, then add to the yeast mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat the dough on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium for another 30 seconds. The dough will be VERY soft and sticky. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1½ hours.
- 3. Make the Apples: Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the pan with the melted butter and drop the vanilla bean pod in as well. Heat the butter until it is bubbling, then add the chopped apples, tossing to coat them with butter. Add the sugar and cinnamon and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the apple cider and vinegar, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until all of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and transfer the apples to a baking sheet to cool.
- 4. Assemble the Doughnuts: Scrape the dough out onto a well-floured surface and pat into a rectangle 2 inches thick, flouring the surface as necessary. Spread half of the apples over the dough, leaving space around the edges. Fold the dough into thirds (like a letter) by folding the bottom up and then the top down.
- Use your hands to again pat the dough into another rectangle about 2 inches thick. Spread the remaining apples on top and fold into thirds again.
- Gather the dough together in a rough ball and return it to the oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- 5. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees F.
- 6. Scrape the dough out again onto a well-floured surface and gently pat it out to ½-inch thickness, flouring the surface and the dough as necessary. Using a pizza cutter, bench scraper or sharp knife, slice the dough into 1-inch pieces in a checkerboard pattern. Shape 4 ounce portions of the dough into round mounds and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- 7. Make the Glaze: While the dough is resting, mix together the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water over low heat. Heat and whisk occasionally until the mixture is warm to the touch. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
- 8. Fry the Doughnuts: Very carefully drop each mound of dough into the hot oil, only adding as many as will comfortably fit in the pot so they are not crowded (I found I could do 4 or 5 at a time in my 7¼-quart Dutch oven). Fry until the underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes, then using a spatula or spider skimmer, carefully turn them over and continue to cook until the other side is golden brown as well, another 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the doughnuts to a paper towel-lined pan or a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts, allowing the oil to come back up to temperature between batches.
- 9. After removing each batch of doughnuts, allow them to sit for about 5 minutes, then brush with the glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes:
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Nutrition:
Calories: 429kcal
Fat: 22g
Saturated fat: 15g
Cholesterol: 80mg
Sodium: 263mg
Potassium: 196mg
Carbohydrates: 54g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 27g
Protein: 5g
Vitamin A: 405%
Vitamin C: 4.4%
Calcium: 36%
Iron: 1.7%
Just finished making these, for a second Christmas in a row! This year I made some modifications and they worked out really well. I should note i’m in Calgary Alberta, so adjust for elevation accordingly.
I used only 3 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped. The dough is too wet otherwise. It will still be wet. Use a lot of flour for rolling as suggested.
Reduce the apple cider vinegar because you are reducing the amount of apples. 2-3 tbsp is good.
Form the donuts in 3oz mounds. This will make 17 donuts. After they have their final rest, flatten them before putting in the fryer so they cook evenly and quickly. The dough will have a lot of moisture in the center.
I used a Breville Smart Fryer and set my custom setting to 325 degrees. They will still be quite dark. Cook 3 min then flip and watch them. 2-3 min on the other side was all that was needed.
I quadroopled the glaze and just had enough.
Other than that, following the instructions as written, I had great donuts two years running!
I’ve just made this recipe, and the glaze is cooling on my fritters as we speak. I like this recipe but I’d change a few things…First off, I’m in Canada at about 3000ft above sea level. I made the recipe as stated, weighing everything out. My dough was beautiful. The texture, the rise, it was perfect. Once I first started adding the apples, because my dough was so lovely it didn’t need much extra flour. This became problematic after the last rise when you roll out your final ball having folded in two portions of apples. The moisture from the apples significantly dampened my dough, but this was not the time to remix flour so I had to “roll” with it. I’d certainly reduce the apples to maybe 3-4 granny smiths instead of the 7 to have an overall more uniform dough consistency. Secondly, I thought with my batter being so wet that weighing out 4oz portions would take a long time to cook. I measured out 3oz and rested for 10min. I used the Breville SmartFry to cook my donuts. I set it to custom, 375 degrees and tried a test fritter. It took a very long time to cook, and was close to burned when cooked through in the middle. So, I reduced the heat to 350 degrees, and sliced all my 3oz dough mounds in half to make smaller fritters. These cooked lovely. The fryer held a constant heat at 350 degrees, and 2 minutes on each side provided a fully cooked, slightly darker than golden brown fritter.As for the glaze, using all my will power not to eat it by the spoonful, if you use my suggestions you’ll need to double or triple your glaze quantity. More smaller fritters, more surface area for the ooey gooey delicious glaze.All in all its a great recipe. I’m looking forward to trying it again with half the apples and seeing if I have better luck with a lower moisture dough for frying.
This recipe has too many steps and the many rests times needed for the yeast to rise make this a whole day project. I got frustrated at the end of the work and finished it folding them in a “pastelillos” shape and fried them. That’s not to deny that they are good, but it is too much work. I’ll continue to buy them from 7-11 for now
Sounds great
Thank you for this recipe! Can they be cold proofed overnight? I made these for a pre-Thanksgiving party, and would be an awful, terrible person if I did not share this joy with the other half’s family too! Yes, it takes a long time but who said it was too many apples? Shame. lol. I followed your recipe almost exactly. Yes, the four is wet and loose, but it totally works. It is one of those special occasion, labor of love things. Or in my case a little lust for a real apple fritter; which is non-existent in my town. Please let me know if these can be cold proofed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Hi Virginia, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this recipe! I haven’t tried cold proofing, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how it goes!
These turned out wonderful! Exactly what I was hoping for. I am making them again this weekend. Definitely not a recipe for improvising with, just save yourself a headache and don’t take shortcuts!
My first thought was, anything this time consuming has to be good!so I decided to try it and they were a hit! So I decided to do a second batch this time preparing apples night before, cut the time in half , I also found that using plenty of flour on counter while preparing made things easier. Just a note I also used apple juice instead of apple cider I figured if it was going to evaporate while cooking it was basically for flavour. I used salted butter as well , so on positive note this recipie is in my book with EXCELLENT on the top of page ! Well worth the time and effort ! Thanks for a great recipie ! Will be enjoyed by this family for a long time !!!!!!!
well.. a complete waste of a day, food items and fresh picked apples! I followed your recipe TO THE LETTER.. it was the stickiest dough I have ever had the displeasure to work with. ( not i repeat NOT my first time baking.) after making the fritters and letting them rest for 10 minutes to prep for frying,.. they basically fell apart when handling them to put in the hot oil. MESSY MESSY!
family and I went the fun of picking just the right apples at an orchard and they were wasted in this recipe. I am so sick of people posting recipes that are supposedly tried and true when obviously they arent. I am so mad it isnt funny. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING THIS RECIPE. to say it sucks is putting it lightly. grrrr!
It’s obvious that you took as much time and care making the recipe as you did in writing this comment. I know that this isn’t ‘English 101’ (which you obviously did not take or failed) but it also isn’t the place to criticise someone or something for your own incompetence. I’m positive that this was “not i repeat NOT” your first time having a problem in the kitchen. Anyone who cooks, and especially bakes, has run into the mysterious ‘Bad Batch’. When you don’t follow (or change) a recipe, that can be expected. But sometimes things just ‘happen’ and it’s easier to blame the recipe than to admit that you might have made a mistake. There are several people here, myself included, who have made this recipe “TO THE LETTER” and had it come out perfectly over and over (some batches easier and/or better than others). Try again and you may be pleasantly surprised. Or don’t and just sit in the corner and think of how miserable you and your life sucks, “putting it lightly.grrrr!”. You could actually, as some people have, ask a question about why it might have turned out the way that it did. Michelle has been very good at responding to other comments and she might even be able to help you. Just relax, think about your question, ask nicely and you may be eating some incredible fritters in no time. Good luck.
Love that you actually showed some directions just to get an idea of the folding process..will try this recipe tomorrow and post results…good to have a comment line but better if you don’t have to search thru to see the results others have had actually making them…all you read about is how good they look…need to show more actual result comments…
I always seem to show up late for the party! I tried this with plums and OMG! Yummy!
I’m making these, as I type this! ? I’ll keep you posted. So far I am at the point where the finished dough is rising for the one and a half hours, or so and next will be cooking the apples down in the skillet. So far, so good.I’ll admit that I’m enjoying all the little breaks, so I can relax, in the meantime..lol. Just my speed.
I just made these this morning with rhubarb instead of the apples. Amazing! This is a wonderful dough. It’s just rich enough, and fries up nice and fluffy. It is a bit sticky at first, but I gave my folded/fruited dough an overnight rise in the fridge, and found it quite manageable for shaping the next morning.
Absolutely delicious. And made with real ingredients. To those that “don’t have time”. It’s your body. Put what you want in it. Anything homemade is better than store bought.
And ladies just buy a kitchen aid mixer and show your husband how to use it. Tell him how much horsepower it has!! And you will be well on your way
Keep cooking at home
I made this recipe for Christmas Holiday season for the past couple of years and they turned out fantastic! My brother-in-law is an apple fritter afficionado and he came away extremely impressed. This really is a top notch recipe. I could not keep the fritters on the cooling rack, they disappeared quickly. One thing I would recommend, make sure when you’re cooking the apple filling that you cook out all of the liquid as it says. If there’s liquid in the filling, then it leaks out and it makes the dough more difficult to work with when you’re combining the filling and the dough and cutting the fritters. Thank you for a great recipe and incredible family memories. My nephew says that I make the best doughnuts in the world!!
Mine came out yummy but imperfect. I cut the recipe in half because I didn’t want to make too much on my first try in case they didn’t turn out well. I used Red Delicious apples-3 of them. I think everything was okay until I folded in the apples at which point it seems that I may have had too many apples and this caused a disgusting mess of apples and dough, which I put back in the oven to rise… Then, this sticky mess was difficult to roll, cut, etc. The doughnuts are not at all hard, they are soft. Made softer by the glaze. Essentially everything is yummy but they are not hard doughnuts! WHY? Oh why? Is it the use of too many apples?
This recipe is perfect! I believe it is for a more advanced baker! I wouldn’t try it otherwise! It definitely takes a lot of common sense and intuition! These are the most delicious and tasty doughnuts ever! Reading thru all these comments I feel for you girl! Thank you so much for sharing I love your recipes!!
Thanks for this recipe! I have been craving apple fritters and there isn’t a bakery nearby that sells them. So I made these today and I just had a couple of thoughts…I’m a moderately experienced baker, if that helps as I share.
On amount of apples. It’s most helpful for me when a recipe states the actual cup amount of diced apples rather than the number of whole apples. Apple size varies greatly, especially this time of year when they are abundant. Anyway, just a thought. :) I eyeballed it and used 4 very large Grannys. Turned out perfectly.
On the flavor. For taking all day, I’m not so impressed with the flavor of these, though they look gorgeous and fluffy! I think next time I will make an apple cider glaze to punch up the apple flavor.
Overall, yum! Thank you! Took all day, but I learned a lot and glad to have made these. :)