Apple Sauce Filled Doughnuts

APPLE SAUCE

• 1 kg (7) Granny Smith Apples (green 🍏)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar/ or to taste
• 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter
• 1-2 cinnamon stick
  

DOUGHNUTS

• 2 1/2 cup (325) all purpose flour
• 1 egg (48 g) medium-sized at room temp.
• 3 tbsp (38 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp (43 g) unsalted butter, Softened
• 2/3 cup (154 ml) warm milk (temp of milk=46C/115F)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp, 1 sachet (7g) instant dry yeast or rapid-rise yeast
• Vegetable oil for kneading, greasing and frying

COATING

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

APPLE SAUCE

1. First wash the apples. Peel and core them and cut them into chunks. Place them in a large pot and add salt, lemon juice, water and cinnamon stick. Bring to boil on medium heat then lower the heat. Cover the pot and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the apples are completely soft and cooked through.
2. Remove from the heat. Remove cinnamon stick and set aside to cool down to room temperature. Transfer them to a blender, if it’s too thick, add 2-3 tbsp water to blend easily and puree them until soft and smooth sauce is formed (I added 2 tbsp of water). Unsweetened applesauce is ready (option 1).
3. Again place the pureed apple sauce in a pot. Add vanilla extract and sugar of your choice. Continue to cook on medium heat (uncovered), just for 5 minutes or until the apple sauce thickens. You can add more sugar according to your taste. You can also use honey instead of sugar. (option 2)
4. To make applesauce silky and smooth, add unsalted butter and stir to mix until it is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat. You can serve it hot or let it cool at room temperature. (option 3)

DOUGHNUTS

1. I used here instant dry yeast, so no need to activate it first. Either simply mix it in the warm milk + sugar mixture or add straight in the flour. Both ways work good. In a cup take warm milk and 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, stir to mix then add 1 sachet (7 g) of instant dry yeast, mix to combine.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all purpose flour and salt then add one egg and vanilla extract. Add the yeast mixture and combine all the ingredients with the help of a spatula. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add softened unsalted butter in 2-3 additions to the dough and keep mixing the butter. Grease your hands with oil before kneading. Transfer the dough on the work surface. Once all the butter is in, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until you have smooth, soft, slightly sticky, glossy and very elastic dough. Dough should not be excessively wet, if necessary add a little more flour but don’t add too much flour (if only your dough is too much sticky to your hands). I added only 1 tbsp flour while kneading.
3. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled large bowl with enough room for the dough to rise. Grease the dough top with little oil to prevent it from drying and let it rise in a warm place for 1hr-1 1/2 hrs or until double in size (depending on how warm the environment is). You can turn on your oven just for one minute at 50C before keeping the dough in the oven.
4. Cut out the small squares of parchment paper. Grease the baking sheets with oil and place these squares on the baking sheets. Again lightly grease each square with oil. Set aside.
5. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough gently. Turn out the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and roll out the dough into a 1/3-inch or 1/2-inch thick rectangle. You can sprinkle little flour on the dough and rolling pin, only if it is difficult to roll out the dough. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter, first dip in the flour then cut out the circles and place on to a square pieces of parchment paper. Dip your cookie cutter in the flour before every cut.
6. Cover the baking trays with plastic wrap and put them back into a warm area for second proofing around 45 minutes-1 hr or until doubled in size. After cutting out circles from the dough, you will end up with scraps. You can re-roll and then cut again but after 15-20 minutes resting time at room temperature just to relax and soften again the gluten structure.
7. In the second proofing, if the weather is cold then turn on your oven just for one minute at 50C/122F before keeping the dough in the oven to provide warm environment. Yeast dough requires warm and humid environment for a good rise. Place a glass or ceramic bowl filled with warm water on the bottom rack of the oven for 10 minutes. Place your bowl of dough on the middle or top rack and shut the door. Remove the glass bowl after 10 minutes from the oven and shut the door. This will create a warm and steamy environment for the dough.
8. Now after proper proofing, frying is the next step. Once risen, fill a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan with vegetable oil  until 2/3  full and heat the oil to 160C/ 320F or medium-low heat. Use parchment squares to carefully pick up donuts and place into the oil. Remove parchment paper from oil using tong. Fry doughnuts 2-3 at a time to maintain steady oil temperature. Fry them for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown in colour. Keep flipping them after every 30 seconds. Repeat the same with remaining doughnuts. Temperature between 160-170C is the ideal temperature for frying the doughnuts as, If oil is too hot it results in browning doughnuts too quickly but with raw centre. If oil is too low (lower than 160C) it results in very oily doughnuts.
9. Carefully take them out of the hot oil by using slotted spoon and place them on to kitchen paper to drain any excess oil. Mix together the sugar and ground cinnamon in a large bowl for sugar topping. While they are still warm, coat them well with cinnamon sugar. Allow them to cool before filling.
10. Make the applesauce one day in advance and keep it in the fridge in an airtight container, so it should be chilled before filling your doughnuts. Transfer the filling into a piping bag with a round tip nozzle.
11. Once the doughnuts are completely cool, poke a hole in the side of each donut with the back of a disposable spoon or a knife. Fill the doughnuts through the hole with cold applesauce (around 1 tbsp) until they feel heavy and the filling starts to come out of the hole.

NOTES

1. ‍‍After making your apple sauce, let it cool at room temperature. Transfer it in an airtight container, it will stay fresh and good in the fridge up to 14-15 days.
2. Freeze in zip lock plastic bags and it will last in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. It is better to store one cup of applesauce per bag as it is easy to remember. Squeeze out the air in the bags and make them flat. Flat bags are easy to freeze and take small space. When you want to eat your apple sauce, remove from the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. If you want hot sauce, heat in the microwave for few seconds or serve it cold.
3. Homemade doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are fried and filled. But you can store any leftover doughnuts in the fridge in an airtight container for up to few days. However doughnuts will harden little bit in the fridge so warm them in the microwave just for 5-10 seconds to soften them without melting the applesauce.