Kinda’ Healthy Vegan Apple Fritters

Kinda' Healthy Vegan Apple Fritters

Confession: I don’t eat kale and carrots for every meal. Especially with a hyper eight month old on my hip, sometimes the best meal I have all day is a can of black beans wrapped in a tortilla. Well, I don’t generally wrap and eat the whole can itself. I do try and at least open the can first. I’m no savage.

Sometimes I crave down right bad things for me…like donuts. My favorite donut for as long as I can remember is an apple fritter. That two-handed sweet cinnamon pastry with bits of real apple, deep fried and drizzled with sugary icing. What’s not to love?

Well, the 500 or so calories and 20 or so grams of fat might be a little unlovable, and the milk, egg, and butter are less than kind.

I set out to make a healthier version of my old favorite. These are definitely still a treat, but subbing half of the flour for whole wheat flour, apple sauce for eggs, and nondairy milk and margarine for their dairy counterparts helps. Then instead of making huge fritters, I made mini fritters that were pan fried instead of deep fried. They still aren’t health food, but they are certainly better than the average donut shop fritter.

I prefer a donut for dessert, but if you’re a sweets-for-breakfast kind of gal or guy, then feel free to make these ahead and then re-crisp them in the morning under the broiler. I might cut the sugar a little if I were having these for breakfast though as I’m not a sweets-for-breakfast kind of gal.

Rachel’s
Kinda’ Healthy Vegan Apple Fritters

Makes 15 small fritters

Ingredients

Fritters
1 Apple, peeled and chopped into small pea size pieces
1/2 c. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or your flour of choice)
1/2 c. All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
2-3 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Fresh Grated Nutmeg (fresh really is best)
1/4 c. Vegan Sugar
Dash of Salt
1/2 t. Vanilla Extract
1 T. Earth Balance Margarine, melted
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce (ripe banana also works well)
1/3 c. non-dairy milk
Canola and/or Coconut Oil

Icing
3 T. Powdered Sugar
1/4 t. Fresh Grated Nutmeg
Nondairy milk

Directions

Fritters
Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet until everything is just combined, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the apples.

Put approximately 3 tbs of oil into your pan (you may need more or less depending on how large your pan is) and turn the burner onto med low heat. (I found on my electrical stove, 3, on a 9 setting nob, was the perfect setting.) Carefully drop batter by the tablespoon into the oil. Cook for 60-90 seconds on each side. You might want to test one first before doing a whole batch to see if your oil is the right temperature. You want them to be crispy on the outside and cooked thoroughly on the inside. Put fritters on a paper towel lined plate. Repeat, adding more oil as needed until all the fritters are pan fried.

Icing
Mix the powdered sugar and nutmeg with a tiny drizzle of milk. Keep add milk a little at a time until the icing is thin enough to easily drizzle over the fritters. If it gets too thin, just add a little more powdered sugar.

Drizzle the icing over the fritters and try your best not to eat the whole batch before your husband gets home from work. If, by “accident,” you do, just call that a trial batch and make another official batch for sharing. I think my next recipe trial better be one of the kale and carrots variety. 🙂