And then I realized something. You might want to brace yourself. Cover the eyes of any small children wandering through the room. Pumpkin is not my favorite. I do love Sara’s Pumpkin Crumble. And there was that time when my husband and I were newlyweds and I was working at Kneaders and I brought home a loaf of pumpkin bread (much like this one) and ate the whole thing and told my husband I gave it to the neighbors. And there are these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (my argument about not loving pumpkin is becoming less and less convincing.) But I would probably (okay, definitely) say no to a slice of pumpkin pie. And all that pumpkin-scented stuff hasn’t appealed to me since I had morning sickness with my second and third offspring during October and November. But. I am decidedly, unabashedly, passionately in love with apples and pears. Those are my fall flavors. My love language, if you will. And ever since I was a little kid, if I had my pick of anything in a doughnut shop, it would either be a maple bar or an apple fritter. Except now, all the apple fritters I can find in central Louisiana are gross and that makes me sad, so of course, I have to make my own. Turns out it’s easy. So easy. Ridiculously easy. You know how with doughnuts, you have rising and cutting and waiting and rolling and scraps and flour and messes? And that’s all before you fry stuff. Fritters, on the other hand, are like fried biscuit dough. Apple biscuits. Spiced apple biscuits, dropped in hot oil, fried to golden perfection in just a few minutes, then dunked in a sweet, spiced, apple-y glaze. This is a chance for all your dreams to come true (as long as your dreams relate to fall fruit pastries or wearing fat pants.)
You’re going to need 2 cups of all-purpose flour (lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife; that’s 10 ounces if you’re using a kitchen scale), baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and apple cider (the non-alcoholic, murky, dark apple juice that you can find in produce departments and roadside stands; if you can’t find the stuff in the gallon jugs, go for something like Simply Apple.) You’re also going to need 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 eggs…
and some Granny Smith apples. The recipe I got this from said 2, but the only Granny Smiths I could find at the store were tiny, so I did 2 1/2, which ended up being about 12 ounces of apples.
You’ll want to peel them, core them, and chop them into 1/4″ pieces, then spread the prepared apples in a single layer on paper towels and pat dry with paper towels. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Whisk the cider, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl.
Stir the apples into the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients…
and stir until incorporated.
Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees (use a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer to check.) Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to carefully drop batter into the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan (I can’t make more than 3 at a time.) Fry, adjusting the burner as necessary, to keep the oil between 325-350 degrees. Cook about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Carefully remove from the hot oil and allow to drain on the wire rack. To make the glaze, you’ll need powdered sugar, apple cider, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
When the fritters have cooled for 5 minutes, dip the top half of each fritter into the glaze and return to the cooling rack. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes.
