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Apples and I are having a thing at the moment.
And by that, I simply mean I am in full on apple mode. Gimme all those delicious crispy apples so I can put them in, on and with EVERYTHING. No seriously, that’s how it’s going down these days. All the apples please!
Watch the how-to video here:
Pumpkin Spice, Maple Glazed Apple Fritters from Half Baked Harvest on Vimeo.
So let’s see, where should I start today? I actually don’t have all that much rambling to do. I rambled a whole bunch yesterday about my new cute little black cat, Snape, so I don’t know, I guess I am outta breath today.
Well, maybe not completely.
I mean, I have PLENTY of breath energetic fingers to tell you all about these maple glazed apple fritters!
First? They are AMAZING, but you probably guessed I would say that, huh? It’s the full on truth though.
Basically these are doughnuts, stuffed with apples and drizzled with a maple glaze. Come on, how could they not be good. I find them best enjoyed with a steaming cup of hot chocolate, coffee (guys, can you believe I drink coffee now?!?!) or apple cider…but you know I really just want the hot chocolate.
Hey, you can’t blame me. It was twenty-six degrees this morning, I am allowed to be delving into all things cozy…with mugs and mugs of hot chocolate. Gosh, I really love fall, it’s my favorite….and it officially begins tomorrow…hands clapping, fists pumping, huge dorky smile on my face…yup, that’s me right now.
Also, also!! I am getting way too excited for Halloween. Next week, Asher and I may be having a three-day sleepover filled with all the spooky things we can come up with.
I’m basically filled to the brim with excitement at them moment. Yesssss
Triple also, Asher wants me to buy all these Halloween decorations and make all sorts of spooky foods. Thoughts? Ideas?? Just putting this out there now, but we can chat more on that next week.
For now, let me fill your brain with delicious apple fritter thoughts.
You’re going to want to run to the store now, because in about thirty or so seconds you will quickly realize that you need these fritters in your life. And you need them NOW.
Sorry, I am so dramatic. In real life I don’t really talk like this, but all that I am saying is true.
You start with a yeast dough spiced with….yup, pumpkin spice! I just couldn’t resist, I had too! The dough is also made with apple cider, so it’s extra sweet and special. Perfect – just the way I like it.
The apple filling is pretty simple. Apples, butter, brown sugar and vanilla. You could eat it with a spoon, it’s that good! Or over ice cream would be amazing too. Or, OR, you could serve your fritters WITH ice cream. YES. <— do this.
While these fritters are fairly simple to make, the tricky part is keeping all those apples inside while you are forming the fritters. Try not to fret about any apples that fall out of the dough or that are sticking out. You can just simply pop them back in. The important thing to remember here is that these are fritters, they DO NOT need to be perfect in any way, shape or form. Seriously remember this.
AND you’ll just be covering these little fritters in glaze anyway, so their looks? They really don’t matter. Just stuff those apple in there, fry, glaze and eat! Oh, and eat them warm. These are best warm. Trust me!
So go on now, have a fritter frenzy!!
Pumpkin Spice, Maple Glazed Apple Fritters.
Servings: 18 Fritters
Calories Per Serving: 226 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/4 cups warm apple cider
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter softened/lightly melted
- 1 egg
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Apple Filling
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 5 Honeycrisp or green apples chopped
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon apple cider
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
Maple Glaze
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- seeds from 1 vanilla bean
- 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl (I like to use my stand mixer), combine the warm cider with the yeast and sugar. Allow the mixture to sit 5-10 mins or until the mix is foamy and smells like bread. To the bowl, add the butter and egg, mix a little to combine and then add 3 cups flour, the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. Knead the dough using a dough hook or your hands until the dough comes together and is smooth, about 3 minutes with a mixer and 5-10 by hand. If the dough seems too sticky, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour. The dough should come together, but be slightly sticky to touch. Grease a large bowl and place the dough ball inside. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place while you work on the filling, but at least 30 minutes.
- To make the filling, heat a medium size skillet over medium heat, add the butter. Add the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon, cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the cider and continue to cook the apples until they are caramelized, about 5 minutes more. During the last minute add the vanilla and cook another minute or until the apples are all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- When the dough is ready, Punch it back down into the bowl. Add the cooled apples and knead the apples into the dough. Lighlt flour your work suface and dump the dough out. Now roll the dough out gently into a rectangle about an inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16-18 squares. Use your hands to roll the rectangles into balls, pushing any apples that fall out back into the dough. Don't worry if some of the apples are exposed.
- Place the shaped fritters on a parchment-lined baking sheet and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 15 minutes or until the fritters puff and almost double in size.
- Meanwhile, heat a large pot of oil to 350-375 degrees F. Place a wire rack on a large rimmed baking sheet
- Carefully lower 3 to 4 fritters into the hot oil. Fry on one side for 30 to 60 seconds or until golden brown, then flip the fritter and fry the other side for 30 to 60 seconds or until golden brown. Remove fritters from the oil with a spider or slotted spoon. Drain on the prepared wire rack. Repeat with the remaining fritters.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the maple syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla and instant coffee.
- Drizzle the glaze over the warm fritters and EAT!
With a side of hot chocolate…cause YES. Tuesday, you are so sweet!
I love your recipes. I made your graham banana bread a lot. I was wondering if I coule bake them instead of frying. I do not like to fry anything.
Thank you
Hi there! Yes, you can bake them! xT
Could we substitute something for the apple cider?
I believe apple juice should work fine! xT
These sound amazing! Can I make the dough ahead of time, freeze, thaw and fry with same results? Thank you
Sadly these didn’t work for me at all – I let the dough rise even longer than you suggested and it puffed up nicely, also the fritters puffed up in the second rise. But when deep frying the pastry just turned really hard and tough, almost brittle, and all of the apple pieces just fell out – so in the end I had deep fried apple pieces and small, tough, deep fried dough pieces. I don’t know where I went wrong….
Hi Yasmin! I am so sorry these didn’t work out for you, is there anything you did differently in this recipe? xTieghan
Hi…I love all your posts. The food always looks sooooo good and we eat with our eyes so I am always hungry viewing your posts. I have been wanting to make these for a while. I made homemade cider last night so I could use that. The dough was way too sticky to handle. I followed the recipe and it rose but stayed sticky. Definitely took more than 30-60 seconds to cook but maybe that depends on temp as you said 350-375. Taste was good. I just wish I could get the dough right. Thank you for doing this as I truly enjoy your posts.
Hey Becca,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, next time just trying slowly adding a touch more flour so the dough is actually workable. I hope this helps! xTieghan
I absolutely love this recipe and Apple fritters are some of our favorite donut pastries. We just got an air fryer for Christmas and I’m wondering how to alter cook time to make these with the fryer!!??!!
Hey Amy,
I am so glad you have enjoyed this recipe, so I have not tested this in the air fryer. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan