September 17, 2017



Enjoy the best of both pie and fried dough in one with this Apple Pie Fried dough. Brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and covered with apple pie filling, fried dough doesn't get any better! 

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Guys! I have a bit of a teaser for you—I just made the most brilliant discovery. It is so earth shattering that I have to share it with everyone!! You're going to want to know about it because it might change your world too! Keep reading, and I'll clue you in. Promise. It's worth the wait, but I need to cover some things first.

One of the best parts of any amusement park, town fair, food festival, or beach boardwalk is the fried dough booth. The delightful sugar coated bread is one of my favorite sweet treats. And what's not to love?...the crispy golden brown exterior, the light and tender interior, the generous dusting of powdered's a magical combination made in dessert bread heaven. 

With a string of fairs, food festivals, and food truck festivals around my area this time of year, I am seeing lots of fried dough eating opportunities. It has also inspired me, once again, to get in the kitchen to make my own. I have dabbled in fried dough before on this blog. If you haven't seen Steak and Cheese Fried Dough, or Banana Stuffed Fried Dough, or Almond Joy Fried Dough, or Birthday Party Fried Dough, you've got to check them out!

Apple Pie Fried Dough

As you can tell by the names, they are loaded and super tasty...definitely not the usual stuff you find elsewhere! Never had a savory one? The steak and cheese version is stuffed with shaved steak and melty American cheese. It's like having a fried steak and cheese sandwich. So, it's no surprise that it's the most requested type of fried dough at my house.

Today, however, I've gone back to the sweet variety. With apple season in full bloom, what would be more apropos than Apple Pie Fried Dough? Nothing, right? The buttery cinnamon sugar dusted fried dough, topped with sweet cinnamon infused apple pie filling, is a mouthful of bliss. Pure bliss! 

If you are hesitant about making yeast bread, please give it a try. This is worth it! By no means am I a master baker, but I don't find yeast bread difficult at all. What makes it easy is the stand mixer. It does almost all of the work for me. That's awesome, because the one thing I don't enjoy is kneading by hand. Besides, I am not interested in developing muscular forearms (haa haa).

Apple Pie Fried Dough

One of the most important elements to making yeast dough is to make sure you have fresh, viable yeast. Inactive yeast will result in dough that will not rise. The blooming process checks for its viability...yeast is added to warm water—if it forms a layer of foam, it's good to go. If it doesn't, I'm afraid you will need to buy new ones.

So here is how the whole thing comes together. The yeast is first bloomed in warm water in the stand mixer bowl that is fitted with a dough hook. Butter is added next, followed by the flour, salt, and sugar mixture. For the next 10 minutes, the stand mixer does most of the work, beating the dough. Once done, I knead the dough on a greased work surface for one minute for good measure. It then goes into a greased bowl to proof and double in size for about 1 hour. When the time is up, it gets deflated and shaped into rounds. 

To cook, the dough is fried for about one minute per side. Then it is topped with all the good stuff—melted butter, cinnamon sugar, and apple pie filling! Yum!!! 

Apple Pie Fried Dough

Alright! Alright! I can hear you all saying, Stop your rambling and tell us your earth shattering news, Thao. We are dying to hear about it (insert sarcasm)! 

Well, thank you so much for waiting! You are very patient! I'll tell you by asking you this: What tastes 10 times better reheated? Let me ask you another question: Have you ever had refried fried dough? Yeah, really..refried fried dough!

OMG!! It's the best thing ever!!! I never would have thought you could improve on fried dough, but it's possible! Here is how I discovered it: I had refrigerated day-old fried dough that had already been sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (it did not have the apple filling). Fried dough is a kind of food that is best eaten immediately. Leftover ones are never as good toasted. I find that they come out soft and chewy. I hate to throw out the extras, but I happened to have a pan of oil on the stovetop and decided to fry the dough a second time (it took literally 30 seconds). 

The result was nothing short of miraculous! The fried dough was crispier than fresh fried. It was buttery and had a light and flaky crunch—the kind of crunch that produces the same type of satisfaction that only a potato chip or a cheese curl can give you. On the inside, it remained soft and fluffy. I am pretty certain the coating of butter and cinnamon sugar had everything to do with the out of this world transformation. All of that goodness melded with the dough the longer it sat, making an awesome fried dough exponentially better refried!

Apple Pie Fried Dough

So, you heard it here first, guys! Make Banana Fried Dough. Don't toast day-old ones. Do refry. They are the best thing EVAAAAH!! It has changed my fried dough eating world! My gang is addicted to them. I will go out on a limb and guarantee that this dough, refried, is going to be the best you have ever had! I am sure of it! One hundred percent!!

That's it for now, friends. Time for me to move onto the next thing on my to-do list: how to convince my play-it-safe-and-doesn't-like-to-take-chances husband that opening up my own custom fried dough food truck is a great idea! Wish me luck because I'm going to need it! 

Have a wonderful the week!

P.S. The recipe might seem, lengthy, but I'm trying to be thorough with the instructions to guarantee your success with this recipe. I've also include instructions for cinnamon sugar and apple pie filling, but if you decided to use store bought, then you can ignore those sections! :)

You might like these other desserts on this site:


Apple Pie Fried Dough


For the Dough: 
1 1//8 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup minus 2 tbsp. water (between 105 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
2 to 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
vegetable oil for frying

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted for brushing on fried dough

Apple Pie Filling:
4 apples, peeled 
1/4 cup water
1/3 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt


Add water and yeast to a stand mixer bowl equipped with a dough hook. Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes. Yeast would "bloom" or form a foamy layer on the surface. 

In a small bowl, add 2 scant cups of flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Whisk to blend. 

Add melted butter to the yeast/water mixture. Add the flour mixture. Mix on low to blend and gradually increase to medium (number 6 on Kitchen Aide). Stop the mixer, if needed, to scrape flour away from the side of the bowl. When all of the flour has incorporated, the dough should start to wrap around the dough hook. The dough is too wet if it puddles and sticks the side of the bowl (see Image A).

Image A: Dough is too wet.

To correct a wet dough, add more flour, one rounded tablespoon at a time, allowing it to mix on medium for 20 seconds after each addition. (The humidity affects how much flour you might need). Pause the mixer to scrape the dough away from the sides, if needed. Stop adding flour when all the dough pulls away from the bowl on its own and wraps around the dough hook. It should look smooth (see Image B). When you tap it with your finger, your finger should be clump free. Continue to mix on medium for 8-10 minutes after your last addition of flour. 

Image B: Dough at perfect consistency

While the dough is mixing, prep for the next step. Lightly grease the inside of a bowl that is   at least twice the size of the dough. Lightly grease a flat work surface.

After the dough is mixed, scrape onto the greased work surface. With slightly greased hands, knead the dough by pressing your palms into the dough using a downward and pushing forward motion. Fold the dough in half, rotate 180 degrees, and knead. Repeat steps for 1 minute.  

Form dough into a ball. Place into the greased bowl (see Image C). Cover with a plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm draft free area for 1 hour or until it has risen and doubled in size.

Image C: Dough ready to proof for 1 hour

Before shaping dough for frying, preheat 1-inch of oil in a skillet or saucepan to about 360 degrees F (medium on my stovetop). 

After the dough has risen, gently deflate it using your first. Scrape onto a greased work surface. Roughly shape into a log for easy portioning. Pinch of a small piece. Using slightly greased hands or small rolling pinch, shape into 5" to 6" round that is about 1/8-inch thick. Gently lift off round and place in hot oil. Fry until the bottom is golden brown (about 1 minute). Turn over and brown the second side for about 1 minute. Adjust heat level as needed if dough seems to take too long or cooks too quickly. Remove fried dough from oil. Place on a paper towel lined surface to drain. Repeat shaping rounds and frying of the remaining dough.

To serve, brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Top with a layer of apple pie filling.

To make the cinnamon sugar:
Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

To make the apple pie filling:
Peel and core apples. Cut into 1/8-inch slices. Chop slices roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Add apple, water, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt to a small sauce pan on medium heat. Stir to blend. Cover. Cook until juices bubble and simmers (about 4 minutes). Stir. Continue to simmer, partially covered, until apple is tender but retains its shape. Stir occasionally. This should take about 5 - 8 minutes, depending on the type of apple used. Remove from heat.

Makes about 8-10 fried doughs.

Recipe Notes:

1) When shaping the dough, I like to keep the outer 1/3-inch border of the rounds slightly thicker than the center, like a pizza crust, to help contain the apple filling. This is optional.

2) Fried dough is best eaten immediately. Keep left over fried dough refrigerated. They get soggy at room temp.

3) To reheat day old fried dough, fry for a few seconds in hot oil. Toasting is not recommended.

4) Keep leftover fried dough refrigerated, especially if you plan to refry.

5) The dough can be made ahead. I have made them three days ahead and they fried up perfectly. After the dough doubles in size and has been deflated, shape into a log. Place in a lightly greased plastic wrap (don't wrap too tightly as the dough will expand slightly) and refrigerate until ready to use. Allow to come to room temperature 1 hour prior to frying.

6) Apples may differ degrees of sweetness. Adjust the amount sugar to suit your taste.

7) If all the liquid evaporates and apple sticks to the pan while cooking, add water, 1 teaspoon at time, being careful not to add too much. The finished sauce should be thick and syrupy so that it does not make the fried dough soggy. It should thicken slightly when cooled.



Banana Stuffed Fried Dough

Almond Joy Fried Dough

Steak and Cheese Fried Dough

Birthday Party Fried Dough




  1. I loooove this recipe, its like eating an apple pie and doughnut in one. Looks absolutely divine, I cannot wait to try it.

    1. Thank you, Ashika. This fried dough is like having two desserts in one!

  2. Why does fried dough have to be SO GOOD? I'm swooning a little reading this post :). I want to make this just so I can try re-frying the dough the next day. LOVE IT!

    1. Thanks, Kelsie!! I forgot to mention in my post that the fried dough should be stored refrigerated, not at room temp. I think refried is how I'm going to eat my fried dough from now on :)

  3. Fried dough is so dang good at fairs! Refried fried dough sounds even better thou :) I'm def trying this recipe and will try the refried fried method too...and I'm gonna put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. heeheeheehee

  4. Double fried dough filled with apples??? It truly sounds heavenly!!!

  5. To be honest Thao, the only apple recipe that I love is actually just tarte tatin with caramelised apple slices. But yours with fried dough just looks so good! I'm tempted to make them now. Yumm...

    1. Yay! I'm happy that you are temped to try them, Junventia!

  6. Oh fried dough...I love it so much. I'm not a bread baker. I know being a cook I should be more versed in it, but for some reason the thought overwhelms me. But with the end result of fried dough, I may just have to suck it up and give it a shot!

    1. I was intimidated that first time tried yeast bread, but after a couple of times, I built up confidence and wanted to try more. I hope you'll give it a try Danielle!!

  7. You are speaking my language here! Not only are you making awesome fried dough (and I have to think that homemade is going to even better than bought), but you are topping it with apple pie. Yum! And isn't it great when you discover something that make a good thing even better? I love that. :)

    1. Annmarie, it was like an epiphany! The first time I took a bit of the refried fried dough, I just melted. It was just that good!

  8. Fried dough is always one of my favourite treats at the fair!! We call them elephant ears here, haha. I looooove the sounds of re-frying it!! What an awesome treat!!

    1. Thanks Katerine! I can see why they are called elephant ears. Even though the name might not sound appetizing, but they are one of the tastiest things around! :)

  9. maybe i haven't been to enough fairs and theme parks, but i haven't seen fried dough booths before! but if they all had apple and steak/cheese and etc varieties, then i would be the person getting back in line multiple times a visit (; this sounds tastier than the already tasty usual apple pie!

    1. Oh my gosh! I'm surprised you haven't seen them! Maybe they are more popular in different regions...I guess we like our fried doughs in NE! 😀

  10. Apple Pie Fried Dough!! Now this is what autumn dreams are made of. That dough looks so perfect and pillowy and those spiced apples on top, Im drooling!! Take care.

    1. Thanks Stacey! I quickly realized that this is another thing where I'll say, "Just one bite," then the whole thing disappears! Haa haa!

  11. HOLY COW does this recipe look amazing. It's like apple pie and apple donuts got freaky with it and birthed this amazing recipe. Hahahah, sorry, that was kinda gross. But still, this recipe sounds and looks amazing!

    1. LOL! Thanks for the laugh, Christina! I am grateful that apple pie and apple donut met and shared their love (haa haa). And thanks so much for stopping by!!