Apple fritter donut holes with maple glaze
I can’t live without decent stinking Maple Glazed Apple Fritter Donut Holes if there’s one thing, that’s for sure. However, if there’s one thing I can do without, what is it? (Or a doughnut. Whatever.) It’s the fried portion. These cooked doughnut holes. fried, not.
Additionally, they are secure at just 2 Weight Watchers ProPoints or PointsPlus per donut hole. When eating them, did anyone notice that they were low-calorie? No.
To make these into an identical reproduction of a traditionally fried doughnut fritter with half the fat and all the flavor, it took three…well, more like five futile efforts.
These don’t include any yeast, require no rising time for the dough, or involve any deep-frying bullshit. They are fluffy yet dense like a donut should be.
Everyone was groaning and reaching for four donut holes at once in addition to the donut. To get to the soft apple slices on the inside with the ideal hit of cinnamon, it had to bite through the sweet and flawless maple glaze.
I then utilized apple cider that my mother had recently produced to give this even more of the promise of apple flavor.
Of course, you can use undiluted apple juice in place of the cider (the cloudy type with floating bits through it). Both of them are effective and provide just the right amount of moisture to them, improving the flavor of pure apples.
Since I promised to publish “regular” recipes, I’ll be entirely honest and say that I was going to go all low-carb on you guys again with these.
Furthermore, some of my Weight Watchers readers have been requesting point-friendly dessert suggestions for Thanksgiving. I naturally went on that bandwagon as a result.
The best part is that either a little muffin pan or this Cake Pop pan I discovered on Amazon can be used to make these.
I did this with two different tins once the recipe had been perfected and determined to be safe for human food, and the outcome was the same.
The greatest donut holes I’ve ever had, by a long shot. I have lived. Besides the Nutella Churro Donut Holes, that is. But that is a different tale.
Considering how popular pumpkin desserts are becoming, I have to wonder: what about apples? Of course not in that manner.
More along the lines of, “What about the Apples! It’s safe to predict that these will be gone before you have a chance to grab a hold of one.
If you have a sweet tooth as I do, I do suggest freezing them as soon as the glaze has dried. The carnage of donuts that will undoubtedly occur in your home is not my fault.
INGREDIENTS of Maple Glazed Apple Fritter Donut Holes
Donuts
- 1 cup plain or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup natural sweetener – I use Swerve or Natvia (or 1/3 cup granulated white sugar)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup apple cider (or unfiltered apple juice)
- 1 cup finely diced apples (or 2 medium-sized apples)
Maple Glaze
- 1/2 cup icing / powdered sugar *see notes
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (I used sugar-free, but pure is fine)
- 1 tablespoon milk (more if needed)
INSTRUCTIONS for Maple Glazed Apple Fritter Donut Holes
- Set the oven to 176 C/350 F. Cooking oil coat your tiny muffin pan OR baking dish for cake pops; set aside.
- Mix the flour, sweetener (or sugar), baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a big bowl. In the middle of the dry ingredients, together with the oil, egg, sour cream, vanilla, and cider, create a well (or juice). After whisking the wet ingredients, add them to the dry ingredients and stir carefully until just incorporated. Stir the apples into the batter gradually.
- A toothpick inserted into each donut hole should come out clean if the donut has been baked through. Bake the donuts for 20 to 25 minutes, or until brown and firm.
- In the interim, gradually stir maple syrup into the icing sugar in a bowl. The milk should be well smoothed out. Only if necessary, add a tablespoon more milk (if the glaze is too thick).
- To uniformly coat, dip each doughnut hole into the glaze and turn with a spoon. While waiting for the glaze to set, let any excess glaze drop off and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
NOTES
**Nutrition information is computed using sugar rather than sweeteners. * I used a sweeter brand of icing/powdered sugar to minimize calories. Remember to lower your points/calories and macronutrient measurements if you use sweeteners!