Low Fat, Grain-Free, Egg-Free, Sugar-Free Waffle Apple Fritter Rings

[Perfect for brunch or an elegant dessert, Waffle Apple Fritter Rings are vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, egg free, soy-free, nut-free, yeast-free, and low glycemic. Suitable for Stage 3 and beyond on an anti-candida diet.]

About twice a year when we were kids, my mother would treat us to homemade “chips” (that was the name we used for French fries).

It was a major undertaking, one she didn’t take lightly.

First, she’d lay out several sheets of old newspaper on the countertop with a large bowl of water beside it. She’d grab about 6 large russett potatoes and peel them, the ribbons of potato skin leaping from the peeler and accumulating in a little hillock on the edge of the paper. Next, she’d cut the potatoes in extra-thick wedges (way bigger than what we got at the Golden Arches, a favorite stop for me in my teenaged years).

Once the potatoes were prepped, she went to the cupboard and pulled out her “oil jar.” This was an old glass pickle jar in which she saved the oil every time she made chips. The thick, viscous liquid was deep brown, with little black flakes of charred potato bits settled at the bottom.

Then she’d pour the oil into a large soup pot; if there wasn’t enough, she grabbed the plastic jug of vegetable oil and added enough to fill the pot half full. Finally, she turned on the heat and started frying the chips.

I always knew ahead of time when it was a chip night, since the aroma of deep fried potato wafted through the hallway as soon as I opened the door after school. Once the chips were cooked, they’d be laid in a single layer on the newspaper, which quickly soaked up the grease, transforming stories of local bank robberies or the rising cost of buying a house into blurry, slick patterns of black and white now-saturated newsprint.

[Use a small metal spoon to cut out the core of each slice.]

And boy, did I ever love those fries. I’d pile up the golden wedges on my plate, douse them in ketchup and salt, and devour them in record time. Because the oil had been used and re-used, they were intensely flavored, crisp on the outside and powdery-soft inside. I always looked forward to eating them.

It wasn’t until I attended nutrition school that I learned about chemical bleaching and the refining processes used to create that translucent, tasteless and odorless oil. Turns out that all those years, my family was also consuming rancid, oxidized fats along with our yummy homemade taters.

It’s no wonder I can’t bring myself to eat deep-fried foods any more. Sure, I still eat fries, but these days, they’re sweet potato oven fries or chickpea fries.

Recently, one of the members in my Sweet Life club asked me to revamp a recipe she’d seen on the internet for apple fritter rings. All I could think about were the masses of Tim Horton’s apple fritters I used to consume in my twenties, and the same damaged fats in which they were fried.

But the apple-ring concept was just too cute to ignore. So, I set about creating a version of the treats that didn’t involve frying.

The first iteration, posted on my Facebook page, was pretty good, and the HH and I happily consumed them with brunch one weekend. But I knew I could do better.

So. . . I went back to the cutting board. I thought about what might work to produce an easier process and more elegant final product. And then it hit me: waffle apple fritter rings! I could do everything the same except for the frypan part.

These rings are not only pretty and stylish, they also provide the perfect ratio of batter to apple, with a crisp exterior and soft, juicy fruit interior. Dusted with cinnamon “sugar,” the total package is basically irresistible. The HH was thrilled with the result and more or less gobbled up the entire batch before I could even get past one slice.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, his lips powdered white with sugar-dust. “These are really delicious. You should make these for brunch sometime.”

For me, the greatest asset of the recipe is the simplicity of preparation. Quick and easy, these are a great way to serve up something impressive after a dinner party that would also please the grandkids–all in a secretly healthy package.

And the best part? You can eat this way more than just twice a year. . . no leftover oil to worry about.

Now really, who wouldn’t love that?

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