HARVEST TO HOME: APPLE SAUCE AND FRITTER MAKING
For all ages. Together we’ll set up our campfire kitchen and transform crisp, local apples into warm, delicious applesauce and fritters! We’ll explore different apple varieties, practice safe kitchen skills, and learn the “secret ingredients” that make homemade special.
The best classrooms have no walls and end with food. One of my favorite campfire activities in autumn is to cook with apples over the campfire. Apple fritters, apple sauce, apples and cinnamon – lots of easy possibilities to make with a group of kids or while camping with friends and family.
APPLE FRITTERS
Ingredients
- Sunflower oil (best for frying)
- 2 apples, finely chopped (Grannysmith peeled is a favorite)
- 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsps brown sugar
- 6-10 tbsp water (approx.)
- Cinnamon sugar to dust
Directions
- Finely chop the apple and place in a bowl. Add the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Gradually add water a little at a time, mixing gently, until you have a firm but not sticky dough.
Do not overmix — the dough should just come together.
- Heat sunflower oil in a deep pot or pan over a steady heat. The oil is ready when a small piece of dough sizzles and rises to the surface.
- Carefully drop small spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil, cooking in batches. Fry for 3–5 minutes, turning gently, until golden all over and cooked through.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.
- Leftover fritters can be reheated the next day at 350F in an oven for 8 minutes.
Another fun activitiy is to simply slice and dust apples with cinnamon and then wrap in tinfoil and let them bake on the campfire coals. Always a delciious popular treat.
David Alexander is a professional outdoor guide and conservation biologist. He enjoys making nature more accessible to people and wildlife. You can follow him at www.natureintoaction.com
