Apple Fritters
Howdy! This week’s recipe is a fall classic. I’m talking about fresh Apple Fritters. I’m kicking them up a notch using some hot whiskey in the apples and in the icing. Watch the video right here, or you can scroll down for the printable recipe.
Add Flavor to the Apples
Just like my mama and grandma, I start by peeling the apples. If you can take a peeler or paring knife and peel the entire skin off in one shot, you get a million points. They don’t count for much, but it’s a cool party trick.
Tip: Save the apple peels. Dice them up, boil them down to soft, add sugar, apple cider vinegar, a little corn starch, and bake them in a pie crust. Voila! You have Poor-man’s Apple Pie.
Once you’ve got the apples peeled, dice into even sized pieces. Cook in a medium-hot skillet with butter. When the apples begin to brown, add the sugars and cinnamon and stir until it becomes syrup-y.
Tip: Dice the Apple in to equal sized pieces so that the apples will all cook to the same tenderness.
When the sugar and cinnamon, splash a tablespoon or so of Fireball Whiskey. Let the apples cook down and get to making the batter.
Apple Fritter Batter
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl and stir well. In a medium bowl, stir the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add some melted butter – not too hot, now. Beat about two minutes and that will incorporate a lot of little air bubbles in there and create fluffier fritters.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients and add the Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew is going to add a little zing and a lot of great flavor.
Stir the apples in and make sure that the batter is a lot thicker than pancake batter but a little thinner than peanut butter and sticks to the spoon just a little. You want the fritter to fall into the oil but not jump out of the spoon.
Fry the Apple Fritters
This is what I like to call a shallow fry. Heat about an inch of oil over medium-high heat. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side until it’s golden brown all over and cooked in the middle. It’s a pretty simple fry and tastes so good.
Mix up the Icing and Drizzle
The icing is so simple, folks. It’s just two ingredients. Fireball Whiskey and powdered sugar. If you don’t want to use whiskey, no problem. Just use milk or half and half, maybe a little vanilla, and when the frosting becomes the right consistency, drizzle over the top.
Apple Fritters – Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 3 large Granny Smith apples cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Fireball Whiskey
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup Mountain Dew or lemon-lime soda
- Fry oil
Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Fireball whiskey
Instructions
- Peel and dice apples. In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon butter. When melted, add the apples and stir well.
- Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and cinnamon and mix well. When apples begin to soften a bit, add 1 tablespoon of the whiskey and let it reduce down.
- Remove and set aside to let the apples cool.
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix well.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the egg and beat well. Add the ¾ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and whisk until smooth. Gradually, add the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Add the Mountain Dew and mix well. Stir in the apples and mix until well combined.
- In a Dutch oven, over medium high heat, add about 2 inches of oil and heat to 350 degrees F. Then, with a regular tablespoon, dip the apple mixture and drop a heaping spoonful into the oil. Fry about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove and let drain on a wire rack to cool slightly, then glaze and serve.
Glaze
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Fireball whiskey, or milk or half and half
- In a small mixing bowl add the powdered sugar and whiskey and mix well,
- Drizzle over fritters and serve