1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
Approximately 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 packet Red Star Yeast Platinum Instant Sourdough (or 1 packet active-dry yeast)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Vegetable oil , for frying
Cinnamon apples:
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups apples , peeled, cored, and chopped small (about 4 medium apples)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Maple glaze:
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
Prepare sourdough: Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat until butter is melted. Let cool about 5 minutes (if mixture is steaming, it's too hot) until 120-130°F. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine 2 cups flour, Red Star Yeast Platinum Instant Sourdough, salt, and sugar. Add warm milk mixture and eggs and mix until it forms a wet dough. Add remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time while kneading on medium low speed until dough clears the sides of the bowl but still sticks slightly at the bottom. It should feel tacky to the touch. You may not need all 4 cups of the flour. Continue to knead as needed until dough is smooth and elastic, and when pulled it should stretch for several inches before breaking. If it breaks sooner, keep kneading. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place somewhere warm to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Gently punch down the dough and reshape into a ball. Let rest for about 10 minutes. Prepare cinnamon apples: While dough is resting, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon and stir until sugar is dissolved. Cook for 5-7 minutes until apples are softened and juices are thickened. Set aside to cool slightly. Assemble fritters: On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a large rectangle (roughly 12x15 inches but no need to be exact. Spread cinnamon apples over one half of the dough lengthwise, leaving a one inch border. Fold the other half of the dough over the apples. Use a bench scraper (or a pizza wheel) to cut the dough and apples in strips about 1 inch wide. Cut the dough and apples again at a perpendicular or slanted angle. The goal is lots of uneven chunks of dough. Gather the dough chunks and apples back into a row. Use the bench scraper to divide the row into 15 even portions. Use your hands to smash the dough and apples of each portion together so that it will all stick and hold (if they aren't stuck together, they'll come apart during frying). Flatten and shape into a disk. Place on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 30 minutes. Fry fritters: While prepped fritters are rising, add vegetable oil to a heavy bottom pot to at least 3 inches deep. Insert candy/deep fry thermometer. Set pot over medium high heat and heat to 375°F. This may take 15-20 minutes. Once oil is hot, fry 2-3 fritters at a time (depending on size of pot) for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove fritters from oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. While oil is heating, prepare glaze. Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, salt, vanilla and boiling water in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Dip in glaze: Dip warm fritters in glaze, flipping them over to make sure they are completely covered. Transfer to a wire rack set over a sheet pan to set up. Enjoy apple fritters while they are warm! And they are best the day they're made, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.