Glazed Apple Cider Donuts ( French Crullers Recipe) - the best easy fall treat you will ever make! Fried, airy and light apple cider donuts with a delicious apple cider and maple syrup icing that will make you want to lick your fingers!
Mix the first eight ingredients in a medium-sized heavy pot and place over medium heat. Let heat up and stir constantly until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot.
Take a wooden spoon. Add all the flour to the pot in one addition and mix in the flour with your wooden spoon. Keep mixing. The batter should form into a large mass - it will form a ball eventually. Keep it on the heat for another 3 to 5 minutes and keep stirring. The dough ball should start to leave a white residue on the bottom of the pot.
Remove the pot from the heat and keep mixing until it’s no longer hot to the touch. This should take another 3 to 4 minutes. Maybe even a bit longer.
Mix in the eggs one at a time. At first, it will look like the dough does not want to combine but just keep working at it. You might not need all the eggs.
Once your pastry is ready, set it aside and prepare your baking trays. Line them with parchment paper and draw circles of 6 to 7 cm. This will be your template for piping the crullers. This recipe makes about 12-14 crullers so make sure you have enough squares to accommodate them.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with your cruller/choux dough. Pipe large circles on each parchment square. Freeze them on the tray until your oil heats up.
In a large and heavy-bottomed pot, heat your oil to 350F. Keep your thermometer closeby so you can adjust the temperature as needed.
To fry, place each cruller in your hot oil. I recommend using a spider strainer to add and remove them from your pot. Don’t fry more than 3 crullers at a time.
Fry the crullers for about 3 minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re done when they have a deep golden and small bubbles form on the edges. They should also feel lighter than the frozen ones.
Transfer them on a cooling rack. Place your cooling rack over a big sheet pan lined with paper towels so the oil drips onto that and not your counter.
For the apple cider maple glaze, simply whisk all of the ingredients together. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of apple cider or rum. If too thin, add more icing sugar.
While the crullers are still warm, dunk them into the glaze and return to the cooling rack.
Continue frying and glazing the rest of your crullers. Serve them right after they’ve had time to cool down a bit.