Peach Fritters
Erin Jeanne McDowell
Photo by James Ransom
- Serves
- 12 large doughnuts
- Prep Time
- 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 Minutes
If you’re a doughnut - or fried dough - lover, you’ve likely tasted the epic fruit-studded favorite that is the apple fritter. A fairly popular doughnut at shops, county fairs, and fall festivals, it combines fluffy, soft doughnut dough with pieces of spiced, lightly sweetened apples. As much as I love these fritters, I always wondered - where was the summer version? These peach fritters deliver exactly that - and I believe them to be truly, totally perfect. They are fun to shape, because they are made in a super rustic way - by cutting squares of biscuit dough and pressing them together with diced peaches. This may seem haphazard at first, but as the doughnut dough rises prior to frying, the dough will puff up, helping to encase the peaches you’ve trapped inside. While the doughnuts are fresh from the fryer, they get a drizzle, dip, or dunk of a simple glaze sweetened with honey. The flavor perfectly complements the natural flavor of the peaches - and is one of my favorite parts of the recipe…so don’t be tempted to skip it! This recipe works best with the best summer fruit - the good stuff, the juiciest stuff! Make a trip to your favorite farmstand, pick your own orchard, or farmer’s market, and snag the best peaches you can. You can use other stone fruit as well - nectarines and apricots both work beautifully. Come fall, you can keep this recipe, but swap those peaches out for apples and keep the fruity doughnut goodness carrying on as the temperatures drop.
Ingredients
Fritters
- 1 recipe Yeast Doughnuts (https://food52.com/recipes/28778-basic-yeast-donuts-with-many-variations)
- 3 large peaches, diced (about 450 g)I don’t peel them, but you can)
- oil, as needed for frying
Honey-Cinnamon Icing
- 1 cup (113 g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoon (63 g) wildflower honey
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) cinnamon
- 3 tablespoon (45 g) heavy cream, plus more as needed
Featured Video
Peach Fritters
Directions
Instructions
- Step 1
Roll out the prepared, risen doughnut dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1/2 inch/1 cm thick. The exact size or shape of the dough isn’t really important, because you’ll be cutting it into pieces—just focus on an even thickness for the dough.
- Step 2
Use a knife, pastry scraper, or bench knife to cut the dough into long vertical strips about 1/2 inch/12 mm wide. No need to be precise here—you’ll ultimately be smashing these pieces together to form the fritter.
- Step 3
Next, cut the strips horizontally about 1/2 inch/12 mm wide—this should make a whole bunch of 1/2 inch/12 mm squares. Again, no need to be super precise!
- Step 4
Divide the dough squares into 12 even portions on your work surface. To shape each doughnut, take about 2/3 of one portion of dough squares and smoosh them gently together. Place about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of diced peaches on top of the dough.
- Step 5
Top with the remaining 1/3 of the portion of dough squares and smoosh the dough gently to adhere to the peaches and other dough. It’s best for each piece of peach to be touching dough in two places (on top and on bottom), otherwise some may fall out when you go to fry them.
- Step 6
Cover the doughnuts with greased plastic wrap and let them rise for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Step 7
Pour 2-3 inches/5-8 cm of oil into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Attach a deep-fry thermometer to the side of the pot, and heat the oil over medium heat to around 350°F/175°C (or use an instant-read thermometer to carefully check the temperature). I generally deep-fry these around 340°F/170°C, but it’s best to heat the oil hotter than you need to start, as the temperature will drop once you add food to it. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet for draining the fritters.
- Step 8
Working in batches, gently drop the doughnuts into the oil, frying until they’re golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Sometimes I use a spider or slotted spoon to support the fritter for the first 15-30 seconds, until the dough sets.
- Step 9
Drain the doughnuts on several layers of absorbent paper towels. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Step 10
In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, honey, cinnamon, and cream to combine. Add more cream as needed to make drizzly glaze.
- Step 11
Drizzle each doughnut into the glaze, and serve immediately.