So many new and exciting things happening so early in the year! It seems just last week that I was posting my last blog of 2011.... oh, wait........ it was last week that I posted it! HaHa...... just kidding! I told you I was going to work on that "procrastination" thing. However, Inspiration is growing by leaps and bounds! I'm itching to get back in my kitchen and try out some new stuff.......... especially now that I painted my kitchen a Beautiful, Sun-Shiny, Inspirational Yellow!! The feelings must be infectious because my niece, Kylee, has bravely tried her hand at baking again! I've been trying for YEARS to get an interest out of her.... and it seems that it's slowly making an appearance.
"You're going to blog about this, aren't you?!" hmm.... what gave it away? The camera in her face? She doesn't fool me! She digs it! and I LOVE that!
Anyway, I mentioned I wanted an Apple Fritter and Ky said, "Why don't you make some?" Being too lazy to do it... I was just going to go buy some. Then she said, "I'll help you." My Heart sang and I didn't hesitate to jump up and find a recipe. I've never made fritters before and although they aren't the Huge, greasy, sugar coated Apple Fritters they make at the donut shop...... they were pretty tasty!
Now, this may not happen for everyone..... but, I just Love when I happen to have the ingredients on hand. Oh, believe me, this doesn't happen as often as you think! I am always loaded with flour and sugar and the 500 bags of powdered sugar stuffed in my pantry is always at the ready, but cans of fruit fillings are not always available, but thanks to the explosions of the 99 cent stores and Dollar Trees....... they are much easier to find.
So, this recipe calls for chopped, fresh apple...... but, since I always look for shortcuts, I thought, why can't I use Apple Pie filling?? Well, I can!! Because I haven't made Fritters before, I did follow the directions exactly, except for the filling, and I found the recipe on a nice little blog that I stumbled upon called........ No Fear Entertaining! Check it out! Actually, you can find so many Amazing blogs out there..... Great reading..... Just look them up!
Apple Fritter's
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups Apple Pie filling
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sugar Icing
3 cups Powdered Sugar
3+ Tablespoons milk
Chop Apple Pie filling into small chunks. In a small bowl, mix 3 Tablespoons brown sugar & 1 teaspoon Cinnamon with chopped filling.
In another bowl sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder & cinnamon. Make a well in the center.
Slightly beat the eggs with the milk and pour into the center of the well.
Gently stir the flour with the milk until all the dry is wet. Be careful not to overmix, you'll get tough fritters! Noone likes a tough fritter........
Once that is mixed, fold in 2/3rds of the Apple Pie Filling. 2/3rds you ask? Well, just hold on... I'll tell you what to do with the rest!
Make sure your oil is hot! Drop a small bit of dough in it. If it bubbles and crackles..... chances are, it's Hot! Drop Large Tablespoonfuls in carefully.
The dough should float immediately. If it doesn't, it's not hot enough. You'll have to play with the temperature so your Fritters don't get too dark on the outside before cooked on the inside. Fry for 2 minutes then flip and fry for 2 more minutes.
See? just a little dark on the outside. We adjusted the fire lower. Place on a paper towel to soak up a little oil for a few seconds then move to a wire rack with paper underneath.
Mix up the remaining milk with 3 cups powdered sugar to a drizzly texture. Isn't Ky Beautiful? She likes to pretend I'm not taking notes of everything she's doing.
Drizzle and smear....... drizzle and smear........ repeat. Let them sit for about 3 minutes, then flip and do the same to the other side. Eat them warm or cold.
You can see it took us a while to figure out the perfect temperature. Either way, they were delicious! Kylee did all the work herself. She was pretty proud of herself and I was pretty proud of her! Her and I are going to be tackling a new project soon....... Teaching her how to cook! I'm considering starting a new blog about it... so many young people go out into the world not knowing how to cook! It's unbelievable! Well, we'll see about the blog..........
Ok, so with the rest of the apple filling.... I cut the recipe in half and used a Tablespoon ice cream scoop to drop into the oil. They came out in cute little Fritter Balls! I wrapped them up and gave them away to friends. Everyone likes a Fritter Ball now and then...........
~ Happy Baking & ..................... don't forget your Apron!
