My little apple tree is the little tree that could, it grows SO MANY apples! While I was picking, I started craving a fresh apple fritter. The small, light, airy and crisp in the middle, soft inside kind, dusted in confectioners sugar and eaten warm. I was craving French Apple Beignets!
Apple Beignets are the French version of apple fritters. Worthy of serving company or a lazy Saturday morning with coffee. You NEED to try these, they are SOOO good! A perfect crescendo to apple season. (Got cherries? Find Easy Homemade Cherry Fritters here)
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For more apple desserts, try my Apple Oatmeal Cake or my Cardamom and Brown Sugar Apple Cake. Want some savory apple recipes? I've got you covered there too with Brie and Apple Grilled Cheese and the crisp, refreshing Apple Fennel Salad.
How To Store Apples For Winter
Storage: If you are going to store your apples, pick them early while they are at their firmest and still slightly tart, a week or 2 before full ripeness. (Apples with thick skins and the firmest flesh are the best types for storage) First you need to sort them and brush any dirt or bugs off.
Any that have a hole or a bruise cannot be stored. The old saying "one bad apple spoils the bunch" is true, once an apple is rotting it will give off excess ethylene gas which will cause the apples around to spoil. Use these blemished apples right away for baking, applesauce or trim them and eat fresh.
Apples need a cool spot to be stored. Ideally with a bit of humidity, though not damp, and they cannot freeze or they will spoil. The fruit crisper in the fridge is great but if you have a whole tree (or trees) of apples, you'll need a larger area like a garage or cool basement pantry.
To aid in protecting your apples, you can wrap or layer them between newspaper or brown paper bags. Each time you go to get more, give a quick check for any that might be spoiling and remove them. (These storage guidelines are good for pears too)
How To Preserve Apples
There are so many ways to preserve your apples and if you have an apple tree you probably have some favourite ways.
- Canning: Applesauce, apple pie filling or apple butter. (These should be pressure canned as it won't have enough sugar or acidity to safely water bath can.)
- Dehydrating: Apple chips are a great project to do with kids and a kid friendly snack that my daughter loves.
- Freezing: Make juice by washing apples to remove any dirt and germs. Then run them through the juicer and freeze in 1 or 2 liter containers for fresh juice through the winter. Apple pies can be made and then frozen before baking. You can also prep and freeze sliced apples for use in baking later in the year.
I'd love to know any other ways any of you like to keep your apples, let me know below if you have any favourite or creative ways of using a whole trees worth of apples!
What Kind Of Apple Is This
If you have an apple tree and aren't sure of the type, there are a few good websites that will help you ID your apples like Apple Name.
How To Serve Beignets
These beignets are easy, light, delicious, quick, and addictive. Beautiful French beignets are light as a cloud inside with a delicately crispy outside. Dress them up with powdered sugar or granulated sugar or dip them in maple syrup like we do in Canada!
Want to go a step further? Dip half in melted chocolate and let cool on a drying rack.
These go wonderfully served with coffee or milk. For a more adult drink, try an ice wine or some tawny port for a divine pairing.
Step By Step Instructions
Check out the step by step pictures below to see how the batter is made all in one pot and to see just how easy they really are (I promise!). I kept these small using about 2 teaspoons of batter per fritter which almost tripled in size while cooking but you could certainly make them bigger if you wanted, just cook them a little longer.
Related Recipes
If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. I try to answer any recipe related questions quickly as I know you might be in the middle of making it.
Also check out my FREE PRINTABLE meal planner to make menu planning and grocery shopping a breeze and my shopping guide. And if you like this recipe, I would love it if you give it a star rating in the recipe card.
Cheers and happy cooking, Friends! Sabrina
ox Sabrina
📖 Recipe
Apple Beignets (Apple Fritters)
Ingredients
- 1 c Water
- ½ c Salted Butter
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 c Flour
- 4 Eggs
- 1 c Apples, Peeled and Diced ⅛"
- Vegetable Oil For deep frying
- Confectioners Sugar, Granulated Sugar or Maple Syrup For serving
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot, heat water, sugar and butter until it comes to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Stir in vanilla and cinnamon and then add flour and stir well. It will be lumpy at first but keep stirring until it comes together in a ball and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Add in eggs one at a time, stirring after each one until fully incorporated. The batter will become nice and glossy by the time all 4 eggs are incorporated.
- Stir in the chopped apples.
- Pre heat 2-3 inches of oil in deep fryer set to 350' F or a pot on the stove set to medium.
- Once oil is hot (test by dropping a small drop of batter in, if it starts to bubble right away, the oil is ready) carefully drop batter in by heaping teaspoons. You can make these larger but they will expand a lot. Mine more than doubled while cooking. Only add as many as can fit in one layer with a little space between each one.
- Cook until brown on one side, then flip and brown on the other side. These take approximately 5 minutes per batch. If they are browning too fast or too slow, adjust your heat accordingly.
- Once browned, remove with slotted spoon to a wire rack or paper towel lined plate to drain and then sprinkle with confectioners sugar, dip in granulated sugar or serve with maple syrup to dip as desired.
Colleen
It's awesome to meet a fellow BC food blogger! I love your photos, and apple fritters are the best! Great recipe.
SabCurrie
Thank you Colleen, so nice to meet you! Your blog looks so tasty too! I definitely want to try your red curry soup 😋
Terri
First of all - so jealous you have an apple tree!That would be glorious.... And these apple fritters look glorious! Now I know what to do with my extra apples 🙂
SabCurrie
Thanks Terri! You won’t be disappointed, these are truly so yummy 😋
Joss
I love these with maple syrup, apples and pumpkin definitely give me the fall feels as well!
SabCurrie
Yes! The maple syrup is such a great idea, thanks for following along Joss!
Colleen
We don't have a tree, but we live in orchard country, and I'm impatiently waiting for fresh apples this fall. I can't wait to try these delightful apple fritters!
SabCurrie
Thanks Colleen, the fresh apples should be showing up anytime as mine are ready now! Cheers!
Isabelle @ Crumb
I am totally with you on apples being a fall food. I wish I had an apple tree in my backyard, but sadly I must settle for what I can get at the market.
It's still much too hot for that right now, but I'm pinning this recipe to try out as soon as the first cool, crisp fall day rolls around... I bet a big batch of these lovelies and a mug of strong black tea would be the perfect way to celebrate the season! 🙂
SabCurrie
Markets are a great place to pick up a variety of apples. We are lucky, they are an easy to grow crop in Canada 🙂
Thanks for reading along Isabelle!
Kelly Neil
I agree with the pumpkin, wild mushroom, and apple trilogy of fall! Any anything with fried dough am I right? Your beignets look amazing and I want one so badly right now. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
SabCurrie
Thanks so much Kelly!
Amy Roskelley
Just got some apples for this today!! Thanks for the recipe!
Katie Youngs
Definitely making these in the Fall! They sound amazing!
Teresa
Hi there, how do you store the leftovers? So they get hard like beignets?
Sabrina Currie
Hi Teresa,
If you want the outside to stay crisp, best to store them on the counter, not covered. They will get a bit stale after a day, so just reheat them in a 350'F oven for 5-8 minutes before enjoying. If storing longer than one day, keep covered and crisp in the oven before serving. You can also do a glaze of 2 cups plain icing sugar and 4 tbsp liquid (water, milk or lemon juice), drizzle over and let dry until stiff. I have intended this recipe to be soft in the middle with a light crisp exterior. Hope that helps, cheers.
Tim
I personally would double the sugar in the dough next time I make these. They cooked up great and were tasty with powdered sugar.
Sabrina Currie
Awesome Tim! Just be cautious when frying. Extra sugar will make them brown much faster. If you do try it, let me know how it goes.