Apple Beignets!!

Yummy Dutch Apple Beignets!

Today's yummy recipe is one that you want to treat yourself to only once in a while, or once a year like the Dutch do. In Holland, we like to eat them the night of Dec 31 to celebrate New Years!
The reason why you might only eat them once a year is that they are fried.
I don't know about you, but I tend to stay away from deep fried foods and keep them as a treat.
So when I do fry-I like to do it right!

This recipe is a recipe that is made with apple slices covered in cinnamon & sugar then dunked into the batter and fried, flipped over, fried & then enjoyed either warm or cold with powdered sugar (if desired).
Many recipes I have found include yeast but my mother never used yeast so there had to be a way to make these without yeast. Without yeast means it is faster to make & less finicky.


Recommended apples-I used a large Granny Smith, but any large baking apple should do, especially the sour ones with a hint of sweetness. It is also recommended to use an apple that hold together when sliced, so the beignet  doesn't fall apart.

Let's see how its done!

Measure the flour, add baking powder & cinnamon then stir in one egg along with the beer

 Dip each apple into sugar & cinnamon to coat lightly

Heat about a gallon of oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Drop piece of bread into oil to test if its hot, it should sizzle. Also have a slotted spoon ready

Drop each slice into the batter and cover with lots of batter & carefully drop into hot oil

Flip when the one side is lightly browned then remove and put in a bowl with paper towel to soak up extra grease

Apple Beignets

• 2 1/2-3 Cups all purpose flour or about 350 grams
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• 1 can of beer, you might need a little more depending on how thick your dough is **
• sugar & cinnamon to dip apple slices in
• 2-3 large apples *see note at start of post*
• approx 1 gallon oil (I used vegetable oil its neutral in flavour)

Mix flour, baking powder, & cinnamon. Add one egg and stir in beer.
Stir until all flour is mixed in and its a smooth batter, it shouldn't be too thick, but not runny either. It's about the same as pancake batter. The batter should be able to stick to the apple slices.
Heat a pan with oil.
Peel and core the apples & slice. The slices should be about 1 cm thick.
Coat each slice with a little bit of cinnamon & sugar.
Dip into batter and cover completely with batter then carefully drop into oil (I used a spoon so the batter stays on the slice while I move it to the oil)
Turn when bottom is browned, remove when both sides are browned.
I used a slotted spoon so the oil can drip off.
Place them in a bowl with paper towels.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar & Enjoy!!
**the beer I used was a de-alcoholized beer that is light in taste.
The beer activated the baking powder & makes the batter light & airy.
The amount of alcohol should not matter & it evaporates anyways.

The cool thing about the recipe is that it contains no milk or water, which is usually used to make fritters, donuts or other fried goods.

****Variation****
In Holland we also use pineapple slices instead of apple.
It would also work with banana or pears.

I used the recipe from this site that I mom had printed years ago. I altered it a little.
http://www.pm3.nl/indexoliebol.html