A few weeks ago I came across a delicious and easy looking recipe for apple fritters with fresh glazing. I dashed into the kitchen and started mixing. Dreams of mini apple fritter donuts were swirling through my head and then, just like that the tears started flowing.
Ok, so I didn't really cry, but I was really sad. The anticipation of a fresh apple fritter is bad enough but it's worse when you don't get any. PSYCH. Do we still say psych? I am. I'm old school like that. The recipe I had set out to make was this one from Seemingly Greek. Unlike many fritter recipes out there, this one produced fritters that looked like the mini version of my favorite donuts from the local shop. It had rave reviews and had been all over the internet. For whatever reason, mine just didn't work out.
The middles weren't cooking, so I turned up the heat. Then the outsides burned. I made the balls of batter smaller, flatter and in every shape I could think of to get them to cook. No dice. The only thing I can determine is that the recipe I used called for baking soda instead of powder so the reaction times or combining with the vinegar might have been off. So I'll be hitting the fritter pavement again soon, but here's 3 recipes I'm taking a look at. The idea of frying up fresh fritters for guests gathered in your kitchen is an appealing one. Do you have one I should see? let me know in the comments below!
• Apple Fritters from The Pioneer Woman
• Apple Fritters with Bourbon Ice Cream from Epicurious
• Apple Fritters from Cooking With My Kid
Related: Recipe: il Buco's Ricotta Fritters with Saba
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
How to Make Buckwheat Soba Noodles from Scratch
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Martha Concrete Lam...
Dirty Little Secrets of Tidy Families
Hillary & Michael's Refined Roost
I have had several disasters like this and it is so depressing to have such anticipation, followed by such a let down. In fact something I made with calamari looked like your fritters. I'd like to say we learn from mistakes, but sometimes you just don't know what you did/didn't do. Maybe it's just the starts aren't aligned correctly.
Here's my grandmas recipe from my blog. Simple and works great. Using a good thermometer and making a "test fritter" are good things to do...
grandma reynolds' apple fritters
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk
2 cups diced Granny Smith apples (about 2 apples)
vegetable oil for deep frying
powdered sugar for dusting
Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and stir in the egg yolks, milk and apples until the batter is combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently, fold the egg whites into the batter.
In a heavy frying pan or dutch oven, pour a layer of vegetable oil 1-2 inches deep. Heat the oil on medium-high heat until it reaches 365° F.
Drop the batter by the heaping tablespoon into the oil and fry for 4-6 minutes until they are deep golden brown and cooked through. Only fry 4-5 at a time. (It's advisable to do a "test fritter" to make sure the oil temperature and timing are right for your situation.) Let the temperature of the oil recover before doing another batch.
Drain them on a paper-towel lined tray and dust them with powdered sugar.
Makes about 24 fritters
high altitude (5200ft): No change.
I had the same problem with that exact recipe! I tried different oil temperatures, different size drops of batter, and length of time leaving the fritters in the oil. Every one of them were overdone on the outside and gooey in the middle. I'm glad I'm not the only one that had this problem. I'll have to try out one of the other recipes you linked.
My sympathies. Though I have no fritter recipes to share, I went through a fried calamari fail this summer....it was epic.
A couple of years ago I made some christmas candy from a recipe posted here - the mailing toffee, I think it was - it came out perfectly - looked absolutly beautiful. Then I tasted it...and it tasted like onions. I'd cooked it in the seasoned cast iron high-sided pan that I do a lot of savory cooking in, and it flavored the whole thing with onions. Had to throw the whole batch out - so disappointing!
anyone who posts their failures is a winner!!
I've made the Pioneer Woman Fritter recipe many times with great success. I happen to be gluten free so I use a gf flour mix but they are great and really easy. Good luck! It's sad to have the promise of fritters and then to have them die on you. Hope the next batch turn out well.
My Skillet Toffee failed, too! I think I didn't cook it long enough because I was worried about burning it, so it never set up hard. It tasted great, but had the texture of toffee-flavored gum and the chocolate flaked right off. Bummer! It didn't go to waste, though; my honey brought it to work and they scarfed it right up.
Oh man, I tried a crockpot version of mac and cheese. I came home to a house that smelled like burnt cheese and ended up having to soak my crockpot for 2 days to get all the noodles off. After that I have stuck to the stove top/baked versions.