I don't know if it was the trip to the local fair or the colder weather, but I have had a serious craving for some fried dough for a good week. Since I try to avoid donuts at the drive through with my coffee, and making donuts from scratch at home is more work than I was willing to commit to today I opted to make some fritters.

A fritter is a much quicker alternative to donuts and can be cooked immediately after mixing, unlike donuts that need to be shaped, proofed and allowed to rise before their final hot fat bath. Fritters are simply a fairly stiff sweet dough leavened with baking powder and fried. They can be both sweet and savoury, plain or filled with fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and any other ingredients you can think of.

Since local apples are in abundance right now, I though I would make some apple fritters. I have seen them done two different ways: one where the apples are sliced into thin rings and dipped in a batter before being fried, and the other as I had described above, a thick batter with the diced apple mixed through and then fried. Since I was craving donuts, I opted for the second method.

The fritters definitely satisfied my craving! Unfortunately they were so good I had to walk the rest of the plate down to Kirsten and Dan’s so I wouldn’t eat too many.

Apple Fritters
Makes: a bakers dozen
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

1 cup (250 mL) Compliments All Purpose Flour [1]
¼ cup (63 ml) sugar
¾ tsp (4 mL) salt
½ tbsp (8 mL) baking powder
1/3 cup (80 mL) Compliments Golden Raisins [2]
1/3 cup (80 mL) toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup (80 mL) apple sauce
¼ cup (63 mL) apple cider, juice or water
1 large egg, separated yolk and white
1 large Braeburn apple, diced (approx 2 cups)
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
½ tbsp (8 mL) ground cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cardamom
Cooking oil for frying

1. Sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together into a bowl. Mix in the raisins, toasted pine nuts and diced apple, set aside. Separately, whisk together; the apple sauce, apple cider and egg yolk together before mixing it into the flour just until combined, set aside to rest.
3. Heat the oil in a counter top deep fryer or in a large deep pot on your stove top to 350°F (180°C).
4. Once the oil is ready, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks and gently fold into the batter. Carefully drop large tablespoons of batter into the oil, gently swishing them around with a slotted spoon. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes.
5. Carefully lift them from the oil and drain quickly on paper towel. While the fritters are still hot, toss them in a bowl with the spiced sugar.
6. Serve warm.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
Energy: 120 (kcal)
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 2.5 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Carbohydrates: 23 g
Fibre: 1 g
Sodium: 100 mg
Potassium: 85 mg

Happy Fritter Frying!
Chef Ryan Skelton