Sourdough Apple Fritter Donuts
Pillowy Soft. Cinnamon. That bite of apple. Crisp. Dipped in sweet glaze. This is what I wanted in the perfect Sourdough Apple Fritter Donuts, and after several attempts (and a few flops) - this recipe was born. This donut is made completely from sourdough, has plenty of that juicy apple cinnamon filling, and that melt in your mouth glaze for the perfect bite.
Equipment
- Stand mixer (optional) - for kneading dough. You can also mix by hand but a mixer is easiest.
- Small and medium sized pot - for making tangzhong and glaze.
- Kitchen scale or measuring cups and spoons - for measuring ingredients.
- Rolling Pin - for rolling out donuts.
- Long ruler or tape measure (optional) - for measuring length and width of dough.
- Bench scraper or knife - to cut up the fritter chunks.
- Large saucepan- - to cook apple filling.
- Spatula - to spread apple filling.
- 15 4x4 parchment squares - This make frying the donuts so easy!
- Deep pot or Dutch oven - for frying donuts.
- Frying thermometer - for keeping oil at 340–350°F.
- Slotted spoon or spider - to remove donuts from oil.
- Chopsticks (optional) - helpful for flipping donuts.
- Cooling rack + paper towels - for drying donuts after frying.
- Tongs - for removing parchment from oil while frying.
- Digital Thermometer (optional) - helps with assessing when tangzhong is done.
- Wire rack - for draining excess glaze from donuts after glazing.
Ingredients
Sweet Levain:
- 2 tbsp (25g) sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 1/3 cup (100g) water
- 3/4 cup (100g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (25g) white sugar
Tangzhong:
- 2 tbsp (20g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (100g) whole milk
Dough:
- 225 scant 1 cup (225g) whole milk
- 1 cup (200g) sweet levain
- 1 (50g) large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/3 cup (75g) white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- All of the tangzhong
- 4¼ to 4 1/2 cups (500g-530g) all-purpose flour or bread flour
- 1 tsp (10g) fine sea salt
- 6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, softened
Apple Filling:
- 4 Granny Smith apples peeled & diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup (100g) white sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (30g) cream
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp (16g) flour
Binder:
- ⅔ cup (85g) flour
- 1 ½ tbsp (12g) cinnamon
Vanilla Glaze:
- 4 cups (480g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (57g) butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (120g) heavy cream
- up to 1/4 cup Milk to thin glaze as needed
For Frying Donuts:
- 3-4 cups organic coconut oil or neutral oil
Instructions
Step 1: Make the Sweet Levain (Night Before)
- In a clean jar, mix your mother starter with the flour, water, and sugar. Give it a good stir, and allow it to rest at room temperature (optimally 73-75 degrees F). I like to mark the volume in my jar with a rubber band so it's easy to asses the rise the next morning. When the sweet levain has doubled in size, it's time to mix your donut dough.2 tbsp (25g) sourdough starter (100% hydration), 1/3 cup (100g) water, 3/4 cup (100g) all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp (25g) white sugar
Step 2: Make the Tangzhong
- Whisk milk and flour together in a small saucepan.2 tbsp (20g) all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup (100g) whole milk
- Cook the tangzhong over medium/low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a paste that is similar to pudding (about 2–3 minutes). For precision, use your digital thermometer and heat to 148-155 F. Do not overheat, or your mixture will be too thick.
- Prepare your dough while tangzhong cools.
Step 3: Mix the Dough
- In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or large mixing bowl, add the whole milk, sweet levain, egg and egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, and all of the tangzhong. Whisk ingredients together quickly, it's okay if it's lumpy.225 scant 1 cup (225g) whole milk, 1 cup (200g) sweet levain, 1 (50g) large egg, 1 egg yolk, 1/3 cup (75g) white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, All of the tangzhong
- Add your flour and salt into your wet ingredients.4¼ to 4 1/2 cups (500g-530g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp (10g) fine sea salt
- Mix on low until a shaggy dough forms, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down bowl if needed. If using your hands, knead until you work dough together. This is a higher hydration dough, so be aware it will be sticky.
- Once the dough has come together add softened butter, a tablespoon at a time mixing each tablespoon in until adding the next. Use a dough scraper to scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure everything is getting mixed in.6 tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, softened
- Spray a clean bowl with oil. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.
- If you used a stand mixer, perform one set of stretch and folds after 30 minutes to strengthen your dough. If you mixed dough by hand, perform 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30 minute intervals at the beginning of bulk fermentation. After stretch and folds are completed, cover dough and allow to continue proofing.
- Let dough rise at 75–80°F until doubled in size, this takes about 5–6 hours. If your house is very cold, you can put dough in the oven with the light on for a warmer atmosphere.
- Overnight Fermentation: Once dough has finished rising, you can cover and transfer to the refrigerator overnight for a longer ferment or you can skip this step and go straight to making your fritters.
Step 4: Make the Apple Filling
- Gather your apples, and wash and peel them. Chop your apples into roughly 1/2 inch cubes.4 Granny Smith apples
- Toss your apples into a bowl, and add your lemon juice, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, flour, vanilla, and cream. Toss your apples in this to thoroughly coat them.1 ½ tbsp lemon juice, ½ cup (100g) white sugar, ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp (30g) cream, ½ tsp sea salt, 2 tbsp (16g) flour
- Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the apple filling to the pan. Cook the apple filling over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid the bottom burning.¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
- Cook the apple filling about 10 minutes, you want the apples to be tender when you stick a fork in the center but still have some firmness.
- Remove from heat when done and transfer to a bowl for cooling.
Step 5: Shape the Apple Fritters
- If you refrigerated the dough overnight, remove from the fridge and allow to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes to take the chill off.
- When dough is ready, flour a surface well and dump the dough onto the work area.
- Roll your dough out to a 14 inch by 14 inch square. This doesn't have to be perfectly accurate, but if you'd like you can use a tape measure or ruler to make sure you're on the right track.
- Spread your apple filling over the surface of your dough evenly.
- This next step is very important- we are going to add a binder of flour on top of the apples to make sure that the fritters can hold together. On top of the apple filling sprinkle your layer of flour and cinnamon.⅔ cup (85g) flour, 1 ½ tbsp (12g) cinnamon
- Starting at the side of the dough square, roll up the dough like you would a cinnamon roll.
- Once you've rolled up your dough, you're going to use a sharp knife or bench knife to cut diagonally up and down the roll opposite directions to create a crisscross of dough cubes. You can cut up any large chunks with your knife as well to make sure the apple filling is really well marbled. This doesn't need to be pretty!
- The next step may seem counterintuitive to the work we just did, but bear with me! Flour the top and sides of the dough chunks WELL, and start to work the dough back together to from a log or loaf.
- I can't stress the importance here of flouring everything with every step. This flour is essential to making the fritters work, so don't be shy. This flour will absorb the moisture from the apple filling and help the dough chunks stick back together so the fritters don't fall apart when you fry them.
- You can gently knead, pat, shape this loaf back together using flour as you go to help.
- Now it's time to shape your fritters! Use a bench knife to cut sections off of the dough log. I measured my fritters out, and each weighed roughly 120-130 g and this made 15 fritters. Be aware that if you make these too large, you may struggle to flip them during frying, and they may be raw in the center. The sweet spot for me was 120g fritters.
- To form your fritter, flour a surface well and flour a 4x4 square of parchment. Press your fritter together (think hamburger patty), gently flipping and pressing the other side as well to form a circle. Transfer the shaped fritter to the floured square of parchment, and place on a baking sheet for proofing.
- Repeat this shaping step with the remaining dough until all of your fritters are shaped and lined on baking sheets to proof.
- Cover your pans with plastic wrap and allow fritters to proof at room temperature 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Step 6: Fry the Apple Fritters
- Line a cooling rack with paper towels. Fit your candy thermometer into your deep pot. Transfer 3–4 cups of organic coconut oil to a deep pot or Dutch oven, and heat to 350-360°F on medium heat. If oil gets hotter than this, reduce heat accordingly. Watch your temperatures very closely and adjust your heat as needed to avoid burning apple fritters.3-4 cups organic coconut oil
- When oil is ready, transfer 2 donuts with parchment paper into oil (you can remove paper with tongs when it separates).
- Fry 30 seconds at a time per side, flipping fritters gently using chopsticks or a slotted spoon. I repeat this step a few times rotating fritters to avoid burning. Remove after 2-3 minutes with a slotted spoon or spider spoon and donuts are a golden brown. Transfer fritters to a rack lined with paper towels to cool.
- Repeat until all your fritters have been fried. Allow to cool while you prepare the glaze.
Step 7: Make the vanilla Glaze
- Melt the butter for your glaze in a medium sized pot over low heat.¼ cup (57g) butter
- When the butter has melted, add the powdered sugar and cream. Whisk until the powdered sugar has completely dissolved, making sure to keep this on LOW heat.4 cups (480g) powdered sugar, ½ cup (120g) heavy cream
- Remove from heat immediately after sugar has dissolved, and whisk in the vanilla and salt.1 tsp vanilla, ½ tsp salt
- If the glaze is too thick, thin with a couple tablespoons of milk at a time until it reaches the desired thickness.up to 1/4 cup Milk
Step 8: Glaze the Donuts
- Dip cooled donuts face-down into glaze. Flip to the other side and coat. Remove from glaze and let excess drip off, then transfer back to an unlined wire rack. After donuts have cooled for roughly ten minutes, dip both sides again to coat with more glaze if desired.
- Let glaze set for 30 minutes before serving.
- And the last thing to do is brew a fresh cup of coffee to enjoy with your warm glazed Sourdough Apple Fritter Donuts!