Vegan apple fritters with apple cider glaze

First make the filling 

In a frying pan or cast iron skillet, melt the vegan butter over a high flame. After 60 seconds when the butter is liquid and hot and foamy, add the apples and sauté them for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. You are just trying to take the raw edge off the apples here, not cook them to death.  

Reduce the flame to medium and add the evaporated cane juice, molasses, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla extract. Continue to sauté the apples for one minute until all sugar has dissolved, and all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Remove the apple filling from the pan, and allow it to cool fully before using it to make the fritters.

Then set up the dough

Warm the plant-based milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches slightly over 105-110 degrees.  The milk should have the feel of warm (not hot) bath water. You can check it with a candy thermometer to make sure it has not exceeded 110 degrees. 

Turn the flame off under the pot, and whisk in the yeast and sugar  Allow the yeast to proof in the warm sweetened milk for 5 minutes until the surface looks foamy and active. Add the vegan butter to the pot, and allow it to melt slightly for 2 minutes.

Add the contents of the pot to a stand mixer along with the flour, nutmeg and salt.  Mix on low speed with a dough hook attachment for 4 minutes until elastic. Allow the dough to rest and hydrate for 5 minutes and then mix for an additional 4 minutes on medium speed.

Place moistened warm dishcloth over the mixing bowl and allow the dough to bulk ferment for 60-minutes at a comfortable room temperature. Some people use plastic wrap to cover the bowl, but I really hope you don't send non-biodegradable junk to the landfill in order to make this project. If your kitchen is a little chilly, allow for slightly more rise time until the dough has roughly doubled in size. 

While the dough rises, throw together the easy glaze

Place all ingredients into a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and mix together until the powdered sugar has fully dissolved and the glaze is smooth and thick.

Place the glaze into a double boiler over a low flame while you form and fry the fritters so that the glaze is warm and loose when it’s time to be used. You can save any leftover glaze in an airtight container to use in future donut making bonanza 

Now make the fritters finally!

Once the dough has bulk fermented and risen for an hour, punch the dough down and flip it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, ½ inch thick. The exact size and shape of the rectangle don’t matter for these fritters.

Spread the apple filling around the full surface of the dough. Sprinkle the apple filling with 3 tablespoons of flour. Roll the dough into a log as you would a cinnamon roll.

Using a sharp knife cut the log of dough into strips on a bias, making cuts every ½ inch or so. Then make another set of ½ inch cuts, crossing the first set, essentially chopping the dough up into ½ inch cubes. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little additional flour to absorb some of the extra juice and encapsulate the moist filling. If the filling is extra juice and messy, use slightly more flour.

Press the messy chopped-up log together by hand forming a fractured loaf. Pressing the loaf with a little pressure from your hands helps the moisture of the apples and the extra flour bond together a bit. Allow the loaf to sit for 5 minutes to relax. 

Using a knife or bench scraper, divide the loaf into 12 roughly even portions, and with floured hands, lightly press each portion together into somewhat flat, irregular fritter shapes. Don’t worry if the fritters seem messy, or like they aren’t holding together 100% completely.  Cut out 12 squares of parchment paper, and lightly spray or brush them with oil. Place each loose fritter onto each piece of parchment, and set them onto a baking pan in your oven. Place a glass baking dish at the bottom of the oven and fill it with the boiling water. Close the oven door and allow the fritters to rise in the warm steam for 20 minutes. Do not turn the oven on, just use it as a proofing box to let the dough rise without developing skin from drafty air.

While the fritters proof in the oven, start heating your frying oil.

If using a deep fryer, just keep in mind not to overcrowd the fryer with the fritters.  Most normal countertop fryers will only be able to accommodate one or two fritters at a time.

If cooking on the stove top, use a dutch oven that has high sides and place 4 inches of oil into the dutch oven. Use a candy thermometer to ensure that the oil temperature reaches and does not exceed 355 degrees. I find that medium or medium-high heat on my stove achieves this nicely. 

Handle the fritters carefully as you place them into your fryer. Drop them into the hot oil with a metal spatula and then remove the parchment paper from the oil with tongs. Do not over crowd your pot.  Most dutch ovens should be able to fry 3 medium size fritters at one time.

After cooking for 2 minutes on the first side, flip the fritters with a slotted spoon and fry them for an additional 2 minutes on the second side. Transfer the fritters to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes until they are just warm and can be handled comfortably. If you don't have a wire cooling rack, you can lay the fritters out on paper towels If you like a fritter that is more crispy on the outside, I recommend allowing the fritter to cool completely to room temperature. Otherwise, the internal warmth of the fritter interacting with the glaze causes that outer most layer of the fritter to soften a little (which some people like, but you do you).

Dip each apple fritter donut into the warm apple cider glaze and allow them to drip off on a cooling rack with a baking sheet under it. Glaze can be messy, so I often line the pan under the cooling rack with some parchment to make for easier cleanup.