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.