Perfect German Apple Doughnuts (Apfelkrapfen)
Apfelkrapfen also known as Faschingskrapfen or Krapfen in Franconian region, Bavaria, though the name varies depending on where you are in Germany are fluffy, moist and instanely delicious German doughnuts. Made with sweet yeast dough that's filled with with a cinnamon-sugar and apple filling and coated with cinnamon-sugar. So good!
Servings: 16 apple doughnuts
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g (17.6 oz/ 4 cups) plain flour/ all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- 4 teaspoons dry yeast (11 g/ about 0.39 oz)
- 1 medium egg room temperature
- 80 g 2.8 oz/ (½ - 2tbs cup ) sugar
- 80 g (2.8 oz/ ⅓ cup ) butter
- 250 ml (8.5 fl.oz/ 1 cup) whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- sunflower oil/ clarified butter for frying
For the filling and topping
- 4 medium apples
- 1 medium egg
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat milk in a pot at medium heat. Pour half of the milk in a jar. Put the butter in the remaining milk in the pot. Stir occasionally until butter has melted. In the meantime add 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and yeast to the jar with lukewarm milk. Stir well and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the milk - butter mixture cool.
- Put the flour, the remaining sugar, egg and salt in a bowl. Then pour in the yeast - sugar mixture. Start mixing, while adding the lukewarm milk - butter mixture slowly. It’s very important that milk and butter mixture is lukewarm and not hot before using it. Otherwise hot milk will kill the yeast
- Knead the yeast dough very well. I normally knead my dough like this: If I’m kneading it with the hand mixer, I knead the dough for about 8 minutes at low speed and then for 5 minutes on medium high speed.With the kitchen machine I knead the dough for 7 minutes at low speed (speed 1, on Bosch kitchen machine) and for 3 more minutes at medium high speed (speed 3).With the hands, I knead the dough for about 10 to 12 minutes. If the dough is sticky when kneading with the hands, just oil them with few drops of vegetable oil.If you’re using a heavy duty kitchen machine, please knead your dough for maximum 7 minutes in total. Otherwise you will be overworking the dough.
- Using one hand, remove the dough from bowl and dust it with 1 tablespoon flour. Put the dough back, turn in well so that it is completely covered with flour. Cover with cling film and then with kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for about 1 hour at room temperature.
- In the meantime prepare the topping and filling. In a bowl/ plate combine sugar with cinnamon and mix well. Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into small pieces. Put the apple dices in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon sugar - cinnamon mixture and mix well.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured silicone pastry mat or cutting board. Slightly flour the dough and roll it with a lightly floured rolling pin into a rectangle form (40 x 60 cm (15.7 x 23.6 inches)). Crack the egg in a bowl, mix it well and brush the dough top with it. Sprinkle the dough with the apples dices. Using your hands gently press the apples on the top of the dough, so that the filling will not be coming out when rolling.
- Carefully roll up the dough lengthwise so that in the end you have one long roll. Using a sharp knife cut the dough roll into 16 equal slices. Put the rolls on a lightly floured old cloth, cutting board or a parchment paper. Don't forget to leave enough space between the rolls for them to expand. Gently press each roll on top, so that it will become a bit flat. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- In the meanwhile put the oil in the pot and heat at medium - low heat. After 30 minutes insert the wooden spoon handle in oil to see if the oil is ready. If bubbles start forming around the spoon, then the oil is ready.
- Using a spotted spoon or something similar pick up one roll at a time and put it in a pot, the exactly same way it was on the spoon without turning it. Once the bottom is nicely brown, turn it, until the other side is also golden brown.If some apple dices come out while in the pot, just remove them from the oil and continue baking.
- Remove the doughnuts from the fat, put them on the cooling rack or on paper towels to remove the excess fat. Once you're able to touch the doughnuts with your hands, coat with cinnamon sugar that you've previously prepared. Repeat the process until you have used up all the rolls.
Notes
- These German apple doughnut stay fluffy, moist, and light even after 3 days. Just keep baking sheet with the cake covered with a kitchen towel or a plastic wrap.
- Feel free to freeze some apple doughnuts after they have cooled completely for up to 3 months. Just leave out the cinnamon-sugar coating part after baking.