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There’s just the right amount of dessert in these sweet bites. Rather than a traditional pie filling, I opted to mix in a bit of honey-sweetened jam from the summer–that just happened to have a little white wine kick–together with frozen fruit. It holds form a bit better, which makes it perfect for stuffing into smaller pies that need to hold together within the still flaky crust.

Kettle corn is a party favorite here with its sweet and salty flavor (just like little girls!), and it’s easy to make a batch in just a few minutes. Try using a darker sugar, like maple sugar or a raw organic sugar, which will caramelize a bit more on the popped puffs and give you that kettle corn feel.

There’s no doubt about it. Fall is here. The wind has a certain crispness that was missing not too long ago. Leaves have changed, fallen and been raked into piles. My vegetable garden is cut down to the dirt. Still, the farmer’s markets are bustling with squash, apples, root vegetables and more and Thanksgiving is now right around the corner. While my favorite way to rejoice in a fall harvest is by battering and frying apples for apfelradln, apple crisp is Ole’s and it is one that never leaves us with regret. A warm dish of sweet apples topped in granola-like goodness can’t be beat on a cool fall day.

Start by peeling your apples. Again, I’m using a mix of my favorite baking varieties. Ole likes the variation in the different textures. He claims it’s all about mouth feel. I told him he sounded snooty and handed him a knife to cut the apples with.


When you have a lovely bowl of apples, squeeze a lemon over them first to prevent any possible browning. To the apples add a bit of sugar, a bit of flour, cinnamon and just a bit of cardamom to keep things interesting. Do you have to season and spice the apple layer? Not necessarily. I like the way it all bakes together when I do, though.


For the crisp start with (1) softened butter (that means leave it on the counter and do something else for a while) and add (2) dark brown sugar, (3) rolled oats, (4) flour, (5) spices: cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, a pinch of salt and (6) mix.


I like to grease my baking dish a bit before dumping in the apples just in case any of them have the audacity to think they’re going to stick to the side. My greasing method of choice? The wrapper from the stick of butter. Just rub it around in there before you throw it away.


Spread your topping mix evenly across the top of the apples and try to resist the temptation to eat it right there.


After about an hour in your friendly oven, with smells wafting around the room, remove the crisp. Stare at it for a few minutes to avoid burning your tongue.


Still warm, topped with ice cream and a good caramel sauce is the way I like it, but really, I’d take it any way it happened to come: with cream, on its own, a day later cold out of the fridge when no one is looking. Doesn’t matter. It has apples. And crumbly topping.

Some mornings my grandma would show up on her bike at my childhood home with a basket of these, still warm, covered in cinnamon and sugar. For breakfast. When she would watch us, my sister and I would ask if she could make them. “Grandma, can you make apple raddles? Please? We have apples!” And occasionally she would when everything fell into place just so, and then life was complete. There was nothing better than one of these, straight out of the pan and into our mouths. So, naturally, when I was deciding what to make with my load of farmer’s market and apple orchard apples – did I mention I bought apples at both places? – the first thing on my list were apfelradln, which we lovingly refer to as apple raddles.

Locate your apples. I just took one of every kind I had in my fridge. There’s a Cortland, a Honeycrisp, a Fireside and a Granny Smith.


I peeled my apples, realizing I had no way to core them. After kicking myself for not buying the apple peeler, slicer, corer thingy, I sliced them first into thin rounds.


I then located my favorite cookie cutter ring sets from Williams Sonoma and popped the centers out so that I ended up with a stack of apple rings.


In a bowl mix together sugar, cinnamon and brandy. Pour it over the apples and let them soak it all in for a good 30 minutes. Don’t forget to turn them halfway so that the other sides benefits from the sugar brandy as well.


About 30 minutes later: Sift your flour and a little bit of salt into a bowl. I measured my milk and then tossed two egg yolks right into the cup, beat it up and then stirred it into the flour. I like conserving dishes.


Fish a few spoonfuls of that lovely sweet stuff out from the apples and add it to two tablespoons of melted butter and then to the batter.


Finally, whip your egg whites until they’re nice and frothy and carefully stir them into the mix, and we’re ready to fry.


Heat your frying oil of choice in a frying pan. You don’t need much, maybe 1/4″ deep covering the bottom. You’re looking to get a temperature near 360° F, which mean on my gas burner a medium-high flame and about 5 minutes of waiting. Then dip the apples into the batter (you can toss a few in at a time and fish them out separately) and carefully drop them in the pan, frying for only 60 seconds per side, just until they start to brown. Really, by the time you get all three or so apples battered and in the pan, it’s time to flip the first one. Drain them on a rack for a minute.


Drag them through a good deal of cinnamon sugar until the entire surface is covered.


And that’s it. It’s time to enjoy, just as I did my entire childhood. Maybe with a scoop of ice cream or a drizzle of caramel.


But really? They don’t need anything else. They’re delicious on their own. Like an apple fritter for apple lovers.