Sweet Apple Latkes

Sneaking this in just under the wire, since Hanukkah starts tonight! Sorry, so busy with house stuff, but not too busy that I couldn’t find time to throw together these easy and delicious, Sweet Apple Latkes. If you’re looking for a slightly different and fruity spin (dreidel pun intended) on the holiday, you can’t go wrong with these little beauties!!

I love the crispy, crunchy traditional potato latke (although I complain loud and long about the greasy smell in the house every single year when I fry up a batch) and I’ve got a great one here on the site, but honestly, I kinda like these apple-y ones better. Don’t hate me!

They’re so light and easy to make and will leave your house smelling more like apple pie is baking than greasy fried onions!

And they have a lovely lemony, apple-y flavor that’s not overly sugary tasting and a great crispy, yet still tender, texture

The trick to getting that crunch is to squeeze as much water as you can out of the grated apples (just like you would with potatoes). You can do this by squeezing handfuls of the apples out over the sink or wring them all out at once (over the sink, please too) in a big towel. This makes it really quick and easy.

It only takes a few minutes to fry them up—

And then a little dusting of confectioners’ sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness and prettiness too! YUM!!

Not sure how much posting I’ll be doing over the next few very heavy holiday, family (and yes, house staging) days) so whatever you’re celebrating have a happy, healthy and delicious one!!!xoxo

In case you’re looking for other latke recipes, I’ve got this healthier Baked Zucchini-Potato version, this Mashed Potato one, these Potato-Apple ones (totally different from the apple ones of today) and even this very fun waffle version too. Happy Hanukkah!!

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Sweet Apple Latkes

Yields about one dozen depending on large you make them

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 large Granny Smith apples (or other firm apples you like) peeled

• Zest of one small lemon

• ¼ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Unsalted butter for frying

• Confectioners’s sugar for dusting

The Recipe

1. Use the large holes of the grater to grate the apples onto a large clean kitchen towel. Gather up the ends and sort of gently twist the top together. Take it over to the sink or do this over a large bowl and wring as much liquid out of the apples as possible. Discard the liquid and transfer the apples to a medium-sized bowl.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and baking powder and add to the apples. Toss well to coat the apples. In a separate small bowl, beat the egg with the vanilla and add to the apple mixture. Mix well.

3. Heat some butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to drop small scoops of the mixture into the pan and press down a bit to flatten the scoops into little patties. Don’t crowd the pan too much. You’ll definitely have to do this in batches. Fry for a few minutes until golden brown and then flip, cooking the other side until golden and adding more butter in the process as needed. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain and repeat the process until all of the apple mixture is used up. Let the latkes cool a little bit and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately.

4. If you want to make these ahead and reheat, don’t dust with the sugar until after you’ve crisped them up in the oven.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Dini Klein. I tinkered a bit with proportions and added some vanilla and the confectioners’ sugar.