Apple Fritters

Little chunks of fried cinnamon dough stuffed with chunks of apples and covered with a sweet glaze - just divine!
Pioneer Woman posted about these a few weeks ago and I knew I had to try them. I don't know why exactly, I've never made any sort of doughnut or fritter before and had a bit of apprehension about frying without a deep-fryer, and besides, fried goodies aren't exactly on the plan for helping me lose weight, but even still I could not resist.
I used my turn to make food for our small group as an excuse to try these out.
I have to say, they were much easier than I expected. And oh, so good.

Couple of side notes:
Pioneer Woman says they're just as good the next day, heated for 8-10 minutes in a 350° oven. I didn't think so. They were definitely still tasty, but without a doubt they are best eaten within an hour of being made.
The glaze recipe didn't make enough for my fritters - so I ended up just covering the rest with some powdered sugar. Still good. Maybe next time I'll put the glazed fritters on a cooling rack and let the excess drip into a bowl so I can use it! I ended up with quite a bit wasted where it puddled up on the plate.

Recipe:

FRITTERS
2 cups All-purpose Flour (I used part whole wheat)
2/3 cup Sugar
2-¼ t. baking powder
1-¼ t. Salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
2 t. vanilla extract
2 T. melted butter
2 whole Granny Smith Apples, peeled and diced
Powdered Sugar (optional, For Dusting)
GLAZE (optional)
1-½ cup powdered sugar
¼ t. salt
¼ t. vanilla
¼ cup milk

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix.) Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter. You want the apples to shine though!

In a medium-large saucepan, heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.

Drop teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. Sometimes they’ll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter’s cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.

Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar, or dip fritters in a light doughnut glaze (mix all glaze ingredients together, then dunk warm fritters).
Serve warm!

**May be heated up the next day in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.