Dessert for Breakfast

It's hard to get a good picture of your food when you cannot wait to take a bite.

Aunt Kaity babysat Friday night so that Blake and I could go out with some dear friends who are moving back east. On our way home that night we picked up the other Katie from her friend's house, and she spent Saturday morning visiting with us before heading back to Chicago. It was a perfect reason to make dessert for breakfast, something we've been meaning to do for a while.

Blake made these homemade apple fritters from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook a while back, but they contain whole milk. To make a dairy-free version, he substituted vanilla flavored almond milk in equal quantities, and the fritters turned out just as decadent as before. Here's the slightly adapted recipe:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp vanilla flavored almond milk
2 large apples, we used Honeycrisp and Pink Lady (Ad Hoc calls for 3, but we only ended up doing 2 and used more batter with each fritter)
Canola oil for deep-frying
Powdered sugar for dusting

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Lightly beat the egg and milk in a small bowl. Whisk into the dry ingredients until combined. The batter can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 hours.

Peel the apples and slice the fruit from the core. Cut the apples into 2-inch-long, 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks. Fold into the batter.

Heat about 1 1/2 inches of oil to 325 degrees in a wide deep pot (we used our large Le Crueset). Set a cooling rack over a backing sheet and line with paper towles. Using two forks, lift up about 5-6 of the apple matchsticks from the batter, allowing the excess batter to drip back into the bowl - the fritter should be irregular in shape, with just a very light coating of batter - and add to the hot oil. Add a few more fritters to the pot, without crowding, and fry for about 5 minutes, turning the fritters from time to time, until crisp and golden brown. Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to transfer them to the paper towels, and fry the remaining fritters in batches.

Stack the fritters on serving platter, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar, and serve immediately.