It will be very irresponsible of me if I didn’t give you all the necessary warning for this recipe. First of all, you will make a huge mess and you will have a ton of dishes to wash. Second of all, this recipe makes about two dozen and a half fritters (you can halve it if you want). Third of all (and lastly), these fritters are addictive. It may cause you to lose all self control. So…, you’re welcome. (muahahaha *evil laugh*)
Ingredients:
- 1.75 cup (425 ml) warm milk
- 2.25 tsp (7 grams) active dry yeast
- 0.25 cup (50 grams) sugar
- 2 tbsp (40 grams) honey
- 3 eggs
- 5 cups (640 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (225 grams or 2 standard sticks) unsalted butter, divided
- 4 large Granny Smith apples (after peeled, cored, and chopped to small pieces, this should yield roughly 2.5 cups or 600 grams)
- 0.5 cup (75 grams) brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.25 cup (50 ml) bourbon (I used the family favorite: Heritage Distillery BSB 103)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 6 cups (1400 ml) vegetable oil
- 5 cups (1000 grams) powdered sugar (yes, yes, it’s a lot and you’re welcome to use less but this is the reason they taste so good)
- 0.5 cup (120 ml) milk
- 0.5 cup (120 ml) bourbon
Directions:
- Combine warm milk, yeast, sugar, and honey in a large bowl. Whisk all the ingredients together and let stand for about 10 minutes to bloom the yeast. Beat the eggs together, and after the yeast has bloomed, add the eggs and all the flour into the mixing bowl. Cut up 0.75 cup (170 grams or 1.5 sticks) of the butter into small cubes and add them to the mixture.
- If you are using a mixer, use the dough hook to beat the dough. Start slowly and then increase the speed to medium and let it mix until the dough pulls from the sides. Be sure to also scrape the sides of the bowl a few minutes in so that all the ingredients are incorporated well. If you are not using a mixer, you can get your workout in for the day by mixing with a large spoon/spatula at first and then continuing with kneading. It will take a little more time but as I say, you will get some good cardio here.
- Form the dough into a big ball. This is a very sticky dough, so don’t expect to have a smooth, baby bottom-like surface. Leave the dough ball in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for about one hour. If your house is on the cold side, you can leave it in the oven as it’s usually a little warmer there, just be sure you do not accidentally turn your oven on.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the apple filling: in a large nonstick pan, melt the remaining 0.25 cup (55 grams or 0.5 stick) butter over medium heat. After the butter has browned slightly, add the apple pieces and stir for a minute or two. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon, and stir again, tossing a few times to make sure that all the apple pieces are evenly cooked. The apples should start releasing some juices as well, so let the mixture simmer for a few minutes.
- In a small cup, mix in the 0.25 cup (50 ml) bourbon with the cornstarch. Pour this mixture into the apples while stirring constantly until the entire mixture become thick (or thicc). Let it cook another minute or two and then take off the heat. At this point, I spread out the mixture onto a sheet pan so that it will cool down faster. You can definitely skip this step but just make sure your apple mixture are completely cooled before you incorporate it into the fritter dough.
- Flour your work surface, and then dump out the fritter dough. As much as you can, roll out and shape it into a rectangle roughly the size of a large splayed open dictionary (does anyone own physical dictionaries anymore?), approximately 18×12 inches (46×30 cm). Scatter the cooled apple mixture on top of the dough, making sure to spread them evenly.
Fold the dough on top of itself into thirds, like a pamphlet. Shape the dough back into a ball. This will be a nearly impossible task but don’t stress. Any apple pieces that fall off should just be stuck back into the dough wherever you can fit them. It’ll all be okay in the end. Trust the process. Put the entire dough ball back into the mixing bowl, cover it again with another plastic wrap and then let it rise for 1 more hour at room temperature.
- Re-flour your work surface and then dump the dough out again. They will look like a hot mess but even hot messes can be pretty amazing, so once again just trust the process. Roll out as best as you can, to about 1-inch (2.5 cm) thickness and then cut them into small squares about 4×4 inches (10×10 cm). For me, this yielded about 28 pieces. You can cut them smaller if you like because they will expand when you fry them. Set the fritters aside on well-floured sheet pans to prevent sticking.
- Heat up the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium high heat. If you have a thermometer, make sure your oil gets up to 375°F (190°C). If you do not have one, test the oil with a wooden spoon or wooden chopstick (I know you have some from that Chinese takeout the other night). When you dip the wooden spoon in the oil, you should see tiny bubbles coming up rapidly. No bubbles mean the oil is not hot enough. This is important because if the oil isn’t hot enough, you’ll end up with super greasy fritters.
- Set aside a sheet pan with cooling rack set on top. This will server as the drying rack after fritters are done frying. Because the dough can be still be pretty sticky and has apple juices leaking on all sides, I found the easiest way to pick them up is by flouring both hands, gently pick up the fritter and pass them back and forth between both hands to flour them a bit. Then, gently lower them into the hot oil. I fry four at a time but if you have a smaller pot, be sure to do only two or three at a time so that they can freely float and it’ll be easier for you to flip them. Fry for about 2 minutes, then flip them carefully and fry for another 2 minutes. Take them out of the oil and lay them on the cooling rack.
- After all the fritters are fried, prepare the glaze: combine the powdered sugar with milk and bourbon and whisk until smooth. You want a mixture that’s about as thick as honey. Add more sugar or more milk to reach the right consistency. Dip each fritter by the surface and then lay it back down on the rack. After you dip all the fritters, then go back and dip them one more time for a double glaze.
- Enjoy with some hot tea or coffee. They make great breakfast pastry, or afternoon snack, or late night. Or whenever. I won’t judge. 😉
A Dash of Yoyo 