Rosie Makes Apple Fritters.

I have a hankerin' for some apple fritters

and I gotta scratch that itch.

Apple Fritters
1 package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
6 TB sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Granny Smith  apples, peeled and diced
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp each sugar and cinnamon

Add yeast to warm water.  Sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar and stir to dissolve.  Leave it alone until it "proofs."
In a mixer, cream the shortening and sugar.  Beat in the egg, vanilla, yeast, and evaporated milk.
Mix together the flour, salt, nutmeg and stir it in.  Knead for about 10-15 minutes on a lightly floured board.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, cover, and let rise until double.
Remove from bowl and place on a lightly floured board.  Roll into a sheet about 1/2 inch thick.
Peel and dice the apples and put the pieces in the lemon juice to keep them from oxidizing.
Drain the apples and spread evenly over the dough.  Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over top.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into pieces - a dozen or so - and mold into shapes, sealing the apples inside.  Place on a baking sheet and cover with another pan, leaving room for the dough to rise.  Let double in volume.  While rising, check on the dough occasionally.  You may need to reseal some of the pieces.
Heat oil to 350°.  Carefully lower pastries into hot oil, 2 or 3 at a time.  Do not crowd the pan.  Fry 60-90 seconds each side. Place on rack to cool.  Drizzle with icing.

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 TB milk, or enough to make a pourable glaze.

Always proof your yeast.

If it doesn't get poofy and foamy,
it's no good and you should throw it out.

I should've put my hand in there
so you could see the relative size.
It's only a 1/2 cup of water and the bowl holds 1 1/2 cups.
That about 1 cup of poof!

Yes, the dough is a mess when you first turn it out.

But it comes together quite nicely after kneading.

I ended up covering the dough with plastic wrap

and set it outside on the deck overnight.
It was in the 30s.

Next morning, I brought it back in,

and let it warm up and rise a bit more.

Knead it a bit more.

Roll it out to 1/2 inch thick.

Mr. Hawthorne and I bought a set of those mugs
from the gift shop at the Aztec Ruins in Aztec, New Mexico.
Actually, they were ancestral Puebloans, not Aztecs.
 Here's the post from May 2012.

Peel and dice the apples and let the pieces sit in lemon juice

so they don't turn brown.

Spread apples evenly over top of dough

and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Cut into pieces.
That's my new Zyliss pizza cutter.
I have a Zyliss tomato peeler that I love.
 

Place on a floured baking sheet.

I covered this with another baking sheet

and wrapped both in heated wet towels on bottom and top.

Carefully lower fritters in 350° oil.

Fry about 60 - 90 seconds each side,

until lightly browned.

Drain on paper towels.

 Drizzle with glaze when cool.

 For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk in enough milk (about 3 TB) to make a pourable glaze.

Oh my.

This is quite something.

These did not last long at all.

Please make them and let me know how you like them!

You won't be disappointed, I promise.