Fall has a way of nudging us back toward the kitchen. The air cools, apples ripen, and suddenly the thought of something warm, crisp, and a little indulgent feels less like a splurge and more like a seasonal requirement. Enter Mason Hereford’s apple fritters — a recipe pulled straight from his grandmother Anne’s table and reborn through his New Orleans eatery, Turkey and the Wolf, which now has a fun new outpost in East Nashville.
Mason Hereford, a James Beard Award-nominated chef and cookbook author, has built a reputation on bold, playful food that marries nostalgia with a wink. But when it came to apple fritters, his mission was personal. “I have no more vivid memory of my grandmother Anne than sitting around her huge dining room table — or if the cousins were in town, at the kids’ table with a lazy Susan — eating fried chicken, corn pudding, and apple fritters,” he recalls. “And that’s right: Those apple fritters ain’t dessert. They’re dinner.”
That detail is important.
Forget the notion of a sugary fairground fritter or carnival snack. These are savory-sweet hybrids, apple slices coated in a rustic, sugary batter and fried until they achieve what Mason describes as an “incredible brown, craggy, chewy crust.” The “chew” was the thing he had forgotten until he set out to recreate Anne’s fritters for his cookbook, Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin’ in New Orleans.
After countless tests, he cracked the code: flour for structure, Jiffy corn muffin mix for sweetness and grit, and a liberal dusting of cinnamon, sugar, and salt to finish.
The result? A dish that feels like fall itself. Imagine biting through a golden crust into a warm, juicy slice of Honeycrisp apple, the sweetness balanced with a whisper of pepper and enough salt to keep things grounded. It’s the kind of bite that satisfies both your craving for comfort and your need for something just a little bit playful.
And much like everything on the menu at Turkey and the Wolf, these fritters carry the joy of food that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s the same spirit that’s won the New Orleans eatery accolades from Bon Appétit to The New York Times, and it’s precisely what makes the new East Nashville location feel like such a gift. Whether you’re a longtime fan making the pilgrimage or a local looking for your next go-to spot, something about Mason’s food invites you to pull up a chair, laugh a little, and eat a lot.
So, while Anne Hereford may not have imagined her fritters ending up immortalized in a cookbook, she’d probably recognize the delight they bring to the table. They’re not fancy, but they’re memorable. They’re not dessert, but they sure taste like a treat. And as autumn sets in, there may be no better way to celebrate than with a plate piled high with apple fritters — shared with family, passed around a table, and eaten while they’re still warm enough to fog up the windows.
“My Best Attempt at Anne Hereford’s Apple Fritters”
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups buttermilk well-shaken
- 1 cup Jiffy corn muffin mix
- 6 tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apple
- 1 tbsp kosher salt Diamond Crystal or about half as much Morton
- 2 quarts vegetable oil for deep-frying this is an approximation
Instructions
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Grab three medium mixing bowls and set them in a row. In the first, put 2 cups of the flour. In the second, put the buttermilk. In the third, combine the Jiffy mix, the remaining 1 cup flour, 5 tablespoons of the sugar, the cinnamon, and pepper, and stir really well.
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Cut the top and bottom off the apple, then cut it through the core into thin, round slices (about ⅛-inch thick), flicking out any seeds. You’ll have 20 or so slices. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar with the salt and set it aside.
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Bring 2 inches of oil to 350°F in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Line a sheet pan with a wire rack or paper towels. Meanwhile, get the apples ready for frying.
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Working in four or five batches, toss the apple slices in the flour to coat well, shaking off the excess. Submerge the floured apple slices in buttermilk until completely coated, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Then toss them with the Jiffy mixture to coat in a thin layer. Move them to a plate as they’re done. Now, they’re ready to swim.
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Fry in four batches to avoid crowding the oil: Cook the apple slices in the oil, flipping them over once, until they’re dark golden brown, about 5 minutes. When they’re done, use a slotted spoon or mesh strainer to move them to the sheet pan in a single layer and right away liberally sprinkle on the sugar mixture on both sides.
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When they’re cool enough to eat, you’re cool enough to eat them.
Nutrition
Calories: 650kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 2gFat: 65gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 36gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 296mgPotassium: 58mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 49IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 33mgIron: 1mg
Happy fall, y’all!
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