Apple Fritter Doughnuts
A few weeks ago when I made the pumpkin doughnut muffins, I talked about my lack of doughnut consumption while growing up. I guess you could say I’m trying to make up for lost time. I have been borderline obsessed with the doughnut recipes that I’ve come across on Pinterest over the past couple of months, however there is one recipe that has been alluding me… the apple fritter doughnut. Believe it or not, the first time that I tried one of these beauties was earlier this year while taking a tour of a new grocery store. I had previously seen these doughnuts at other grocery stores and bakeries, and I’ve had my grandma’s apple fritters before, but once I took my first bite of an apple fritter doughnut, I immediately realized I had been missing out big-time. What an insanely delicious treat – it’s part fritter, part doughnut, packed full of apple chunks, and covered in a sweet glaze. Otherwise known as heavenly pillows of fall-spiced bliss.
I have seen tons of recipes for apple doughnuts, apple cider doughnuts, apple fritters, and about a million variations of each, but for some reason I had the hardest time nailing down a recipe for apple fritter doughnuts. I had certain requirements – they couldn’t be round with a hole in the middle, they needed to have that bumpy, craggly surface, and they needed to be covered in that barely sheer glaze that grabs hold of every bump, nook and cranny.
I finally found a string of posts on a recipe forum website and was able to piece together a recipe from what I found there. The result was exactly what I had hoped for – a prominent apple flavor… chunks of apple… a soft interior… a thicker exterior… a bumpy surface… and the perfect glaze.
While I may not have been a doughnut aficionado as a child, I can certainly work to amend that as an adult. I think these apple fritter doughnuts are a fabulous first (or second? or third? or fourth?) step, and a gateway to even more fabulous fried treats!
What is your favorite type of doughnut?
One year ago: Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Two years ago: Homemade Cracker Jack
Four years ago: Buttermilk-Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
Five years ago: Bostini Cream Pie
Apple Fritter Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2¼ teaspoons (2.25 teaspoons) instant yeast
- ⅔ cup (162.67 ml) whole milk, warm to the touch
- 3¼ cups (406.25 g) + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 4 egg yolks
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (78.67 ml) apple cider
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
For the Apples:
- ¼ cup (56.75 g) unsalted butter
- 2½ pounds (7 ) Granny Smith apples (about 5), peeled, cored and finely chopped
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (236 g) apple cider
- ¼ cup (59.75 g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon (1 ) vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- ¾ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (59.5 ml) apple cider
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
For frying
- 2 quarts (1.89 l) vegetable oil
Instructions
- 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.
- 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, with paddle attachmnt, 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.
- Make the Apples: Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. 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. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and transfer the apples to a baking sheet to cool.
- 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.
- Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees F.
- 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.
- Make the Glaze: While the dough is resting, mix together the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, apple cider, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I’m interested in making this, but have a couple questions. I looked through the comments and some were talking about using a vanilla bean in the recipe, but I only saw vanilla extract. Did you update/change the recipe? Also, one commenter was grateful for how you showed some of the folding techniques, but I didn’t see that either. What tips do you have for folding?
Multiple issues with this recipe…. First, this is not a 4 hour project, it will take all day! Do not make this recipe if you’re expecting your fritters to look like the ones shown in the picture, it’s just not going to happen. Plan to reduce the amount of apples, the recipe calls for way too many. After working all day on these only to be very disappointed, I’m too tired to continue listing all the issues with this recipe. Just read the comments and you’ll see the common threads.
Looks amazing. I love Apple fritters and was intrigued by the thought of an apple fritter doughnut. But I have a question. How are these different from a normal apple fritter? The photo looks like a fritter to me. Is it the style of the dough?
Leave yourself plenty of time to make these. It is worth it. They are delicious!! Do NOT make them big or they will not be done in the middle. I thought 375 was a bit too hot. 350 better. Yes, I tripled the glaze. Not enough. The apples need to measure in cups. I think I had too many apples. I will measure next time and tweak the recipe.
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 !!!!!!!