Apple Doughnut Holes

Have you ever had so many apples that you don't know what to do with them?!

All of my baking years, I have been spoiled with my mother's stocked kitchen and devices. One of the most fabulous tools she has is an apple corer/slinkier. It is amazing! It peels, cores, and evenly cuts through apples in no time at all. I currently do not have this wonder of a machine. So coming home from work to a boatload of apples, I needed a recipe that did not require peeled apples because I didn't feel like peeling them! I put the apples into my food processor and was left with 5 cups of apple slop. I wasn't sure what I was going to make with it. I was thinking of something completely different, but then thought it would be worthwhile to make some type of apple fritter. My creation was more of an apple doughnut hole, than a fritter. Here's the recipe. Luke made me write it down before I went to bed; he says it is the best thing I have ever made.

Ingredients:
-5 cups of food processed apples
-1 cup of butter
-5 eggs
-3/4 cup whole wheat flour
-1 cup oat meal
-5 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 cups brown sugar
-2 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon cinnamon
-1 teaspoon ground clove
-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Glaze:
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1/2 cup skim milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla

For cooking: 1-2 quarts of oil (I used vegetable, I know so little about frying food).

Directions:
Combine softened butter and sugar, mix until smooth. Then add the processed apples and eggs. Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Prepare the glaze by adding the milk and powdered sugar. After stirring with a whisk, add in the vanilla and stir again. In a pot heat oil on medium heat. After a few minutes test a small piece of dough. The oil is ready when the dough immediately begins to sizzle once it hits the oil. Once your oil is ready, you can begin to drop a few dough balls into the oil. Let the fun begin! I used a cookie scoop for this. It helped to streamline the process. Let the doughnut holes cook until they are a deep golden brown and crispy. You want to make sure they are cooked all the way through. This took at least 3 minutes, but the time would vary depending on how hot your oil is. Take the fried doughnuts out of the oil with a slotted spoon and let them cool. Then toss them in the glaze. I sprinkled them with powdered sugar too. This made at least 70 doughnut holes.

Here's the finished product!

This is what the plate looked like when I picked it up from the teacher's lounge.
Somebody must have really loved them to turn my label into a heart.

These were good, but I also made the BIGGEST mess I have ever made in the process. On my very last batch of doughnuts, the oil boiled over and went everywhere! Last night I learned how to disassemble, clean and reassemble an electric stove top. It was fascinating!