Before I ever went to Tim Hortons, I thought apples fritters were fried apple rings in a light batter. That’s what I had eaten somewhere, sometime long ago. I loved them and never forgot the taste. The crunch of apple with sweet crispy batter.
This fall, a surfeit of apples made me remember these. Looking for ways to use up apples when even the deer and horses can’t keep up with them. So I googled apple fritters, apple rings, deep fried apples etc. Out of many, many recipes, I found one person who knew what I was talking about: Katerina at Diethood.
I adapted Katerina’s recipe a bit (ok, took the simple option). She makes her own batter, and it sounds easy and delicious. I used pancake mix from a box. I used one large apple for my first batch of six rings (with only enough batter left over for a tiny pancake for the chickens). The directions below give the quantities I used. They can be proportionately increased.
Apple Fritters Recipe
- 1 large apple, sliced in 1/4″ rings
- 1 cup pancake mix
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- vegetable oil for frying
Add water to pancake mix, stir well and pour in a wide shallow bowl.
Mix sugar and cinnamon together in a small shallow bow.
Slice apples and cut out the middle core part of the slice (I think an apple corer would work well). I used a paring knife. Katerina uses a small round cookie cutter.
Heat oil to 375° over medium-low heat in a large frying pan (I dropped a bit of batter in to see if it sizzled). You just need enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add more if needed as you cook the batches of fritters. (An electric frying pan would work well too.)
Dip apple slices in batter mixture and cover both sides. Then put them in the hot oil and cook 1 to 2 minutes until golden. Turn over once to cook other side.
Remove each ring from the frying pan and put in the bowl of cinnamon sugar. Flip over to coat both sides and edges.
Eat at least one while they’re hot, but they’re good cold too. To dress them up for dessert, put one in a small bowl with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.
