Vegan Apple Fritters
By kilax, March 20, 2010 6:32 am
We used to always share food with our neighbors (who moved), and they would often say, “we feel less guilty eating your treats since they are vegan!”
Believe me – you can make UNHEALTHY vegan food. Oh yes. Like Vegan Apple Fritters!
My sister and her boyfriend are visiting, so we took this as the perfect opportunity to try making Vegan Apple Fritters yesterday. They turned out amazing – just like the ones you buy in a donut shop, just not as thick – we will probably make them thicker next time.
Steven modified a recipe from recipezaar.com to make it vegan (we also modified it to work with the ingredients we already had).
Warning: this recipe takes a long-ass time to prepare (we made the apple filling in advance and got up at 6:30 yesterday… so these would be ready by 10:00!). And it is one LONG-ASS recipe, so click “continue reading” to read on…
Vegan Apple Fritters
Ingredients:
- Vegetable Oil for frying
For the Dough:
- 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
- 2/3 c. soy milk
- 3 1/4 c. unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour (plus additional flour to texture)
- 4 flax egg replacements (4 tbsp. ground flaxseed plus 8 tbsp. warm water)
- 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1/3 c. apple juice
- 1/2 stick vegan margarine, melted
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
For the Apples:
- 1/2 stick vegan margarine
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 7 golden delicious apples (2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes to equal 7 cups
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
- 1 c. apple juice
For the White Glaze:
- 3/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4 c. soy milk
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Directions:
- To prepare the dough: Place the yeast in the bowl. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, heat the soy milk until around 115°. Pour the soy milk over the yeast, 1 to 2 minutes (to make sure it proofs). Add 2 cups of the flour to the soy milk mixture, without stirring. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the surface of the flour cracks, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- In a small bowl combine the prepared flax egg replacement and sugar. Add the juice, melted margarine, oil, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and 1 1/4 cups of the flour and mix until combined. Add this mixture to the yeast. Mix by hand until well blended (about two minutes). Add extra flour as necessary to form a solid dough, but it should be very sticky. Note: we added oil since we weren’t using whole milk. But it made the dough more like batter, and a bit difficult to work with.
- Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface; scrape the dough out of the bowl, onto the work surface. Clean the mixing bowl and lightly coat it with vegetable oil. Gather the dough and return it to the oiled bowl. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
- To prepare the apples: In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the margarine and add the vanilla extract. Heat the margarine until bubbly. Add the chopped apples, tossing to coat them with margarine. Add the cinnamon and sugar, and saute 3 to 5 minutes until slightly softened and the majority of the apples are deep golden. Add the vinegar and juice, and reduce over medium-high heat. Cook until most of the liquid is gone (about 20-30 minutes). If the apples are becoming too mushy, turn the heat up, so the liquid reduces quickly. If they are still very firm, turn the head down to reduce slowly. The apples should be cooked, but still slightly firm to the touch. Place the apples on a baking sheet to cool.
- Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and stretch into a rectangle about 2 inches thick. Spread half of the apples over the dough and fold into thirds by bringing the bottom up and the top down, patting with your hands to flatten slightly. Scatter the remaining apples on top and fold into thirds again. Gather the dough together by tucking under the edges and return it to the oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Fill a 10 to 12 inch skillet up halfway with vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 375 degrees.
- Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and gently roll or pat it into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick, flouring the surface of the dough as necessary. Dip a 3 1/2 inch round cutter in flour and, cutting as closely together as possible, cut out the fritters. Place them on a floured surface and allow to rest for 10 minutes, no longer.
- To prepare the glaze: In a small stainless steel bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water, combine the powdered sugar, soy milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Heat until just warm, stirring frequently. The glaze should be thin and translucent; if necessary, thin it down with more soy milk.
- Dip your hands in flour, and stretch the fritters by pulling them gently elongating the round shape into an oval. Don’t worry if you puncture the dough as you stretch it. Drop directly into the hot oil and fry until dark brown on each side, flipping once (about 1-2 minutes).
- Brush the fritters with glaze while they are warm.
Themocracy
Holy moley…those look totally decadent. 😀 They remind me of apple picking, because the place where I go is always selling these (not vegan though, I’m sure!) and they smell absolutely heavenly. 😀
Oh my goodness… apple fritters are one of my favorite dessert foods on earth. Seriously. And I love when people will say to me that all vegan food is healthy, or that I must eat super super healthy since I’m vegan. Uh, hello, Earth Balance? 😉
OMG that looks absolutely mouth wateringly delicious!!!!
Apple fritters are my favorite but I can only eat them once or twice a year because…blub blub! I am going to totally try this recipe…thank you!
I told Steven that I wouldn’t be having them again today. I ate WAY too many yesterday and felt like a blub!
These look so good!! I think it’s funny when people automatically associate vegan with healthy. Notttt true!
You have my utmost respect for even attempting such a long and complicated recipe!
You know it was all Steven 😉
That is one amazing recipe…kudos to you guys for even attempting such an involved dish. The results look SO worth it though! Delicious!
Yum! But…I am not sure I could be up at 6:30 to bake anything, even that delicious! 😉
oh those look so tasty!
Oh my goodness–heavenly! Looks like a must try for a special occasion.
wow those look crazy good ….and yet so bad
YUM! It’s funny to me that people think “vegan” means “always healthy.” French fries are vegan. Hello! I remember Alicia Silverstone calling onion rings “dirty vegan.” Haha. I buy these vegan chocolate chip cookies and my husband is convinced that he can eat 8 in one sitting because they’re vegan. I’ve tried to dispute this…to no avail.
I love apple fritters! I had no idea making them would be such a process, but every now and then its so worth it!
this is absolutely ridiculous. i want it soooo bad.
Those look phenomenal. As much as I LOVE travel, I always miss having a proper kitchen and cooking. (Hostel kitchens, while well-equipped and manageable, just never inspire me the way home does)
Oh… but SO worth it!
Wow that sounds like an intense recipe! But worth it!!
Last time I had an apple fritter it was seriously the size of my head! DELICIOUS!
Those look really good. My mom use to make corn fritters and serve them with maple syrup.