Apple pie + doughnuts…..THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD COMBO. I don’t know why I’ve never made it before, but I am glad I finally did.
So you could argue that this is just an apple filled doughnut. BUT NO we’re going with apple pie doughnuts.
Apple filled doughnuts just doesn’t sound as exciting.
Video Tutorial
The Tangzhong:
For all my doughnuts, I like to use a Japanese milk bread dough for them.
This involves making a ‘tangzhong’ which is just a mixture of flour and water, that has been heated together.
The main reason this is added is because it gives you a much fluffier and softer bread.
It doesn’t take long to make, so don’t be leaving it out. It makes these doughnuts so much better!
Leaving the dough to rise
Just like most doughnut recipes, there are 2 points where you’re going to be leaving the dough to rise.
The first point is after the dough has been kneaded, the second time is after you have cut your shapes.
The reason why I’m mentioning this is because, you don’t have to do this all in one day if you don’t want too. You could do this over a 2 day process.
You could either knead the dough, then instead of leaving it in a warm place, just put it in your fridge overnight.
Or you could get to the part where you cut you doughnut shapes, then leave these in the fridge.
Sometimes when recipes have waiting times, I like to make part of it the night before so that it doesn’t feel like I’m waiting, because….you know….I’m sleeping instead.
Making the apple filling:
So making the apple filling is pretty easy. You’re essentially just adding all the ingredients into a pot and letting them cook.
The only thing I wanted to mention is that you NEED TO MAKE SURE to cut your apples into pretty small pieces.
We’re going to be piping this filling into the centre of the doughnuts, so if the apple pieces are too big, they just won’t go through the piping bag.
Trust me, it will cause too much stress so cut them into small pieces!!
Frying the doughnuts
The best way to fry doughnuts is in some flavourless oil (I use vegetable) that is at 180c.
If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s fine, I don’t use one either.
I like to save a piece of the dough, so that when I think my oil is ready, I can add this piece of dough into it to test if it actually is ready.
If the piece of dough starts bubbling straight away, it is ready. If it doesn’t, the oil needs to be heated for longer.
Ok….now that everything has been said, let’s get into the recipe!
Apple Pie
Doughnuts
Ingredients
Makes: 6
- For the tangzhong:
20g plain flour
100ml water
- For the dough:
330g plain flour
30g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8g instant yeast
1 egg
The tangzhong
120ml warm milk
30g softened butter
- For the apple filling:
6 medium sized apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons brown sugar (you can adjust this amount)
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon corn flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- For the cinnamon sugar:
200g caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- Making the tangzhong:
- Add the flour and water into a pot and mix these together, it's ok if the mixture is lumpy at this point.
- Place this pot over medium heat and heat the mixture, whiles stirring constantly, until it turns into a thick paste. This happens pretty quickly, so don't walk away from it.
- Place this in the fridge to cool down for 5 minutes.
- Making the dough:
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients for the dough, except the butter. Make sure to remember to add in the tangzhong you just made.
- Mix all this together just until a dough forms, then add in the softened butter and knead for 8 minutes.
- This dough is a little sticky, this is ok. After it has been kneaded, add it into a greased bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take around 1-2 hours.
- Making the apple filling:
- In a pot, add your peeled and chopped apples, along with the cinnamon, sugar and water.
- Place this over medium heat and let the apples cook until they have softened. The softness of your apples is totally up to you, just keep cooking them until they're as soft as you want them.
- Add in the corn flour/water mixture and heat, whiles stirring, until the mixture thickens. Leave this aside too cool.
- Cutting the dough:
- Once the dough has risen, you can start cutting out your doughnuts shapes.
- One a very floured surface, roll out the dough until it is around 1-1.5 cm thick.
- I used a 9 cm round cookie cutter to create my shapes, but you can cut whatever size doughnuts you want.
- Keep cutting and re-rolling the dough until you have used of all of it.
- Place your doughnuts on a baking paper line tray, cover and leave them to rest in a warm place for around 30-40 minutes. This time you don't need the dough to double in volume, they should just look slightly puffier and feel softer than before.
- Frying the doughnuts:
- Once they have rested, fry them in some oil that is at 180c. Fry them for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Leave these on a wire rack once fried.
- The final steps:
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Then whiles the doughnuts are still warm, dip them into this.
- To fill them, I added the apple filling into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
- Using a knife, create a hole in the top of the doughnuts then shove your piping bag into this and pipe the filling inside.
- Then enjoy, I recommend eating them warm with some ice cream but they're also good the way they are!
Just made these and they turned out amazing!!! Added some lemon juice, nutmeg, and cloves to the filling though 🙂