Chanukah foods are traditionally fried to commemorate the “miracle of the oil” lasting eight days. Here’s the key to frying light…YOU control the amount of oil (and the type of oil) by putting just as much oil in the nonstick frying pan as you want absorbed by the food in question. Whatever fat or oil is there – the food will absorb. So generally I’ve found if you submerge your food in hot oil, it will absorb about twice as much oil or grease compared to when you put a sensible amount of oil in the pan.
The food looks and tastes very similar to the deep fried rendition of the food but it has a lot less calories and grams of fat. Case in point – my Light Apple Fritters.
In the recipe below, I am using half whole wheat flour to make the batter and then I’m controlling the amount of oil in the pan and I’m using an oil that has more of the smart fats (omega-3s and monounsaturated fat) than other cooking oils.
A serving of regular apple fritters contain about 260 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 3 grams of fiber compared to a serving of Light Apple Fritters with 208 calories, 5.5 grams of fat, and 4.5 grams of fiber.
THE SAVINGS: we have cut 52 calories, and 5.5 grams of fat from each serving and added about 1.5 grams of fiber.
Happy Chanukah – Chag Sameach!
Ingredients
2 large granny smith apples (Fuji or other apples types can be substituted), sliced into 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick rings and then cut the inside core area out of each slice
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice (1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice can be substituted)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unfiltered apple juice or apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Directions
- In mixing bowl, combine the flours, apple pie spice, baking soda, and salt with electric mixer on low speed. Pour in the apple juice and vanilla extract and beat on low until a smooth batter forms.
- Place an extra large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the canola oil; tilt the pan to coat the bottom evenly with the oil. If you are using a medium size pan, fry the fritters in two batches and coat the pan with half the amount of oil for each batch. When the oil is hot, quickly dip the apple rings one at a time into the batter and immediately transfer to the pan. Let the fritters brown on the bottom (about 2 minutes) and coat the tops with canola cooking spray. Flip the apple slices to lightly brown the other side (1-2 minutes more).
- With fork, remove fritters to serving plate and dust the tops with powdered sugar and serve!
Yield: Makes about 12 fritters or 4 servings (3 per serving)
Nutrition per serving: 208 calories, 3 g protein, 38 g carbohydrate, 5.5 g fat, .5 g saturated fat, 3.3 g monounsaturated fat, 1.7 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4.5 g fiber, 230 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 24 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .5 gram, Omega-6 fatty acid = 1.2 gram.
Related Topics:
- Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
- Healthy Cooking Newsletter – recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox
Original post:
Light Apple Fritters Just in Time For Chanukah!
