Fried Apple Fritters

Hands up everyone who loves a delicious fried confection for breakfast!  I know I do.  I have an unhealthy relationship with doughnuts as it is, but apple fritters have always been a favorite of mine.



Kroger's bakery has them fresh in their little pastry case every day.  About 6 years ago when I worked at a convenience store I would get one every time I went to the nearby bank to drop the deposit.  I was so addicted that I started getting embarrassed to eat them in front of my co-workers.  Tina, the girl I usually worked with, would make comments about getting fat from watching me eat (which hurt my feelings a lot at the time because not only did I weigh probably twice as much as her, but my weight used to be a sensitive subject that I have just recently come to accept and even love) so I ate them in the car so she wouldn't know.

As I was saying though, apple fritters are one of my all-time favorite special treats.  I was watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (because let's face it, I watch ponies for me as much as for Bailey) and since they're ponies they eat a lot of apples.  They keep talking about apples all the time.  They even have characters named Big Macintosh, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith, and one of my favorite cousins: Apple Fritter (who is just adorable, look at this).  They talk about apple dumplings and apple pies and apple fritters and I just can't help but long for a delicious apple fritter.

So I searched apple fritters on Pinterest and found the perfect solution to my sudden craving.  The blogger says that the original recipe is from Pioneer Woman whose recipes I absolutely trust without question.  I didn't bother to backtrack to the original source and just went with the ladies from Inspiring Pretty and jumped in with both feet.  The result was a wonderfully light, fluffy, crispy on the outside, and not too sweet fritter.  I am absolutely putting this in my weekend breakfast rotation along with our new doughnuts.

Fried Apple Fritters

Fritters:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced (cooking apples such as granny smith or honey crisp)
vegetable oil for frying (or shortening or coconut oil or canola oil)

Optional Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  In a small bowl or a liquid measuring cup combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Mix well, then add the butter.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just or even not quite combined.  Gently fold in the apples.

Heat a few inches of oil in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Drop a small amount of batter in to test the oil.  If it sizzles and floats the oil is ready, however if it burns quickly then the oil is too hot.  Once the oil is just right drop spoonfuls (Pioneer Woman does teaspoons size drops while Inspiring Pretty said she did tablespoons.  I probably did somewhere between teaspoon and tablespoon size) into the oil and allow to fry until both sides are golden brown.  Remove the fritters from the oil and move to a plate lined with paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Optional Glaze:  Mix all of the ingredients for the glaze together in a small bowl.  Once the mixture is smooth you can either dunk the fritters in the glaze or drizzle some over top of each fritter.  I went with the drizzle this time.

These reheated in the microwave for dessert on Sunday night just perfectly.  I popped a pair in for about 15 seconds and they were just as good as they were at breakfast.