Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, whisk together milk, active dry yeast, sugar, and maple syrup. Let proof for 10 minutes.

Lightly beat eggs and add to the stand mixer bowl along with all the flour. Turn stand mixer on to the lowest setting to begin stirring ingredients.

Add 12 tablespoon butter (1 ½ sticks of butter) to the bowl, still stirring. Slowly beat the dough for a minute or two to incorporate the butter, then increase the speed to medium high and mix for 6 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a silicone spatula at 3 minutes in.

Once the kneading is done, the dough will be sticky. Scrape down the dough hook and sides and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm area for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Apple Filling

While the dough is rising, make your apple fillings. Peel all the apples and then dice into bite sized cubes.
In a large skillet, melt ½ stick of unsalted butter over medium heat to lightly brown it. Once you see the milk fats start to change colors and smell toasty and nutty, add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir, it will foam up. Add in the apples and stir to coat in the spices, then add the brown sugar and stir again.

Let cook until the apples are softened, about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch into the apples to thicken up the juices. Stir and cook for an additional minute and then set on a plate in a thin layer to cool completely before adding to the dough.

Making the apple fritters

Generously flour your work surface. Scrape the risen dough out of the bowl and onto your floured counter.
Roll the dough into a rectangle using a well-floured rolling pin. Stretch and pat where necessary. Spoon the cooled apples onto the rectangle and spread it over the entirety of the dough.

Fold the dough on top of itself into thirds. Once side onto the middle.

Then the other side onto the folded part.

Scoop the dough back into a ball, put it back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise again in a warm spot for at least an hour or until doubled in size.

Re-flour your work surface and dump the dough back out. Liberally flour the top of the dough and your rolling pin, and then roll it out to a 1-inch thickness.

Using a biscuit cutter, cut rounds out of the dough. Place the cutout fritters onto a well floured baking sheet. Pull out the scraps and re-roll to make more donuts. Press the donuts a little to stretch them out if they get puffy.

Heat vegetable oil to 360°F (187 degrees C).

Fry apple fritters for 1.5-2 minutes, then flip each fritter with chopsticks. Cook for 90 seconds more, until golden brown. Remove and let dry on a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Do this in batches until all of your fritters are fried.

Glaze

Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, milk and whisk until smooth. Pour through a mesh sieve to ensure smoothness.

Dunk each fritter into the glaze (I dunk both sides, but it's not necessary!) and let rest on the wire rack.

Serve immediately or freeze. Is best the day of, but stays fresh for 3 days.