I’m human. I make mistakes. But this one was massive—bigger than my face!
A few days before our brunch date, my mom and I stopped by a local shopping center in the middle of running errands. She walked into Peet’s for a chai latte caffeine fix, while I wandered over to the donut store for a sweet afternoon snack.
Hoping for a chocolate sprinkle donut, I opened the door and sighed. There were only three donuts left in the glass case: a bear claw, a glazed twist, and an apple fritter. The owner walked over, so I stuttered, “Umm, I’ll… I’ll take the apple fritter please.”
She slipped the glazed twist into the paper bag too, on the house. I saved the twist for Mom—it was like a glorified donut hole, which was what she wanted—and took a nibble of my first-ever apple fritter. And another nibble. And another. And…
By the time we pulled into the driveway, I had eaten the entire thing. Originally light and airy and bigger than my face, the apple fritter now settled like a rock in my stomach. But it was just so good! There has got to be a healthier way to eat a fritter, I thought.
So back at my own house, I did just that—I made baked apple fritters!
These taste just like the insides of apple fritters, just without all of the grease! Add a little cinnamon if you like spices in your apple treats.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly coat a muffin top pan or baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the diced apple. In a separate bowl, stir together the oil, applesauce, milk, ¼ cup sugar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet, stirring just until moist.
- Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin top indentations, OR drop batter onto the prepared baking sheet into 12 blobs. Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray, and sprinkle the remaining 1½ teaspoons of sugar on top. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes. Cool in/on the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
UPDATE: The votes are in, and the Basics of Food Photography Composition series will start this Friday! It will run 8 weeks, and each technique will be posted just before the weekend so you have a little time to play around with it yourself. I’m really excited to share these tips with you, so stay tuned!
OMG… I LOVE apple fritters. Living in Georgia close to the North Georgia mountains, there are an abundance of apple fritters to try. And believe me, I’ve tried too many! But this healthier version sounds AMAZING! I will definitely be trying this.
And I’m SO excited about the Food Photography series! Yay! You just made my weekend!
That would be so deadly for me to live where you do… Unless people made mini fritters. Then I might be able to contain myself. (Emphasis on “might!”)
Reading your comment just made MY day!! I’m glad you’re looking forward to it; I’ve been planning this out for a while now!
How CUTE!! What a great idea. Donuts taste amazing (and I did try an apple fritter when I worked at Starbucks, YUM), but I keep far, far away from them for exactly the reason you do- they make me feel like I’ve eaten a rock for hours after I’ve eaten it. No, thank you. What kind of apple did you use here? I’ve got some granny smith sitting on my counter waiting to turn into a dessert…
YAY for photography series!! Maybe that will be the inspiration I need to start my blog back up again! 🙂
It’d be okay if they made apple fritters the size of donut holes, but they’re just too massive for me to eat since I have NO self-control! I used Fuji apples here, but Granny Smith would work really well too! They just might not be quite as sweet, but it’d probably be hard to tell the difference.
I hope so! I’ve been missing your recipes showing up in my email inbox. :]
Once again, I would have eaten the whole thing too ;). I love the idea of BAKED apple fritter though. YUM! I’m stoked for the photography posts!
Are you sure?… You exercised some AMAZING self-restraint with those free donuts you got a while back! ;]
Just followed a tweet conversation you had with Sally’s Baking Addiction to your blog and am enjoying it so far… What a fun idea for a twist on apple fritters! I definitely want to make these. 🙂
Aww thank you, I’m surprised that anyone has found me through Twitter! :] I couldn’t let the donut stores have all of the fun; I wanted to make my own too! Hope you enjoy them!
These look great girl! My kids love the local donut shop and when we go there, I usually just have a glazed donut hole, but sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself to a good old fashioned donut and when I do, I don’t feel guilty, because it’s so worth it. I just make sure to hit the gym extra hard the next day 🙂
Old fashioned donuts were my second or third favorite after the chocolate sprinkle ones! (I’m also a sucker for the cinnamon sugar crumb donuts too.) Exactly — the donuts are always worth an extra mile on my running route! :]
Baked apple fritters – AMAZING! A life saver. I love apple fritters but not all the calories that come along with them!
Exactly!! I love sweets and desserts so much, but the nutrition information from commercially made ones makes me faint! There has to be some sort of happy medium of enjoying the flavors without eating all of my daily calories in one donut… Although sometimes, that donut really seems like it’s worth it. ;]
I can go for these cookies in a big way. Great idea and thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome! They’re healthy and addicting — the perfect combination! (And thank YOU for sharing this post on Twitter!! :])
Im so excited to find your recipe. I have been looking for something easy but good and you have it. I think I can also make these gluten free which will work fabulous for me.My hubby is thanking you bunches and so is my tummy your awesome. Thank You so much for the great recipe/
My pleasure Missy! I really hope both you and your man enjoy the apple fritters. If you do make them gluten-free, I’d love to hear what flour(s) you use!
I love apple fritters but not all the calories and extra stuff they’re made with. These sound delicious. I will be making them soon!
Thanks Theresa! I’m the same way — I’m okay with a few bites of a regular apple fritter, but I’d much rather eat a healthier baked version. I hope you enjoy them!