When I was in grade school I struggled with reading and by third grade I dreaded it. So, my mom, knowing I was falling behind and embarrassed to not be at the level of my peers, hired a reading tutor and things totally changed for me…I began to love reading and would get lost in a book for hours. The first book series I ever fell in love with were the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved the pioneer spirit and, surprise, all the food imagery. One of the best books in the series for food imagery was Farmer Boy, a book about her husband’s childhood growing up on a farm…it is full of hearty farm meals and his favorite dish was made up of apples and onions. Since reading the book for the first time I have been enamored by the sweet and savory pairing.
These beer-battered, maple-seasoned, apple and onion rings are so savory with an addictive, shattering crispness. There’s just a hint of sweetness from the apple rings themselves and from a few liberal dashes of Tonewood Maple’s* savory Maple Seasoning. Tonewood is a maple company that collaborates with maple producers to provide pure and delicious maple products with a focus on family-owned farming and sustainable stewardship. I really loved this seasoning both in the batter and sprinkled on top, it made for a very autumnal batch of onion rings with the twist of apple and maple. In addition to the seasoning, there’s beer in this batter for extra lightness and a little bit of brown rice flour that gives these rings an utlra-crisp edge. I totally suggest sandwiching both and apple ring and onion ring together for the ultimate in savory-sweet goodness. A drizzle of maple-laced sriracha is the perfect sweet-spicy condiment for these rings. [recipe]
Savory Maple Beer-Battered Apple and Onion Rings
You can purchase Tonewood products here and use the discount code HGPVOCT for a Buy-One-Get-One offer on the maple seasoning I used here. From Tonewood:
Through collaboration with expert sugarmakers, Tonewood produces pure maple syrups and other specialties that are single-sourced, unblended, and free of additives.
…By funding climate change research, local farming efforts, and sustainable forest stewardship, Tonewood seeks to preserve family-owned maple production.
If you don’t have brown rice or regular rice flour, all-purpose may be substituted. For the beer I used a lighter wheat beer to keep the beer-flavor mild. To cut the apple rings, just use graduated sizes of biscuit or round cookie cutters. If you do not want to buy any maple seasoning a mixture of garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a teaspoon or so of maple syrup is a good substitute.
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour, plus 1/4 cup more
2 teaspoons of Tonewood Maple Seasoning (check name), plus more for sprinkling
1 egg white
1 cup beer
1 large, sweet onion sliced into rings and separated
1 large apple (I used a Honeycrisp), sliced into rounds
Canola oil for frying
Maple Sriracha Drizzle
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 -2 tablespoons sriracha hot sauce
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup of the rice flour with the maple seasoning to combine. Then whisk in the egg white and beer until a smooth batter forms. Set aside while you cut out the apple rings. Using a few sizes of round cutters, cut out apple rings and place on a plate with the separated onion rings. Place the remaining rice flour in a shallow dish. Prepare a plate with several layers of paper towels and set to the side.
In a deep skillet fill with a generous 1-inch of canola oil and heat to about 375˚F. In batches, dredge the onion and apple rings in the rice flour to coat lightly, then dip into the beer batter before gently lowering the rings into the hot oil. Cook the rings on both sides until golden and crisp. Remove from the oil and place on the paper-towel lined plate and sprinkle with additional maple seasoning while still hot. Serve immediately (with extra beer!). [/recipe]
*Tonewood kindly supplied me with the Maple Seasoning and a few other ingredients that will show up in a later post. As always, all opinions are my own.
I love Tonewood products! I bought my boyfriend a maple cube for his birthday and he puts it all over the fancy food he makes. Love these apple rings. Also, I had a tutor for calculus in the eleventh grade and she scared me because she was such a soft speaker and she had a wondering eye so I was always confused. But I did get better at calculus!
I REALLY want that maple cube! It looks awesome! I’m glad to know you and your fancy-food-making bf love their stuff!
Also, I totally had a geology professor in college with a wandering eye and he totally used it to his advantage to purposely freak us out and put us on the spot. Ha!
Oooo I LOVE this..The maple, beer batter situation sounds killer. I had a tutor for writing and Lang.Arts. She eventually quit though because I can be somewhat difficult to work with. 😉
hahaha, I can see that 😉
I really love the combination of apple and onion here. I’ve never thought for a second to fry them together. Lovely!!
yes! it’s a great combo, for sure! Thanks, Nicole!
Oh wow these just made me super hungry. I would love to try these with some a lime Corona. Yum yum, thanks for sharing.
ooh, zesty lime would be great!
These look amazing. I loved the Little House series as well and remember nearly drooling over the food descriptions! I am going to try these soon. Thanks! Pinned.
Yes! So many good food descriptions. Thanks Marye!
You always know the way to my savory/sweet loving self! They look so crispy and delicious!
yes! thanks, Nicole!
I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books too, but I never read Farmer Boy; now I wish I had! The idea of apples and onions sandwiched together and fried up sounds like a perfect side to winter burgers. And the sriracha in the drizzle! Love that part the best, I think 🙂
It definitely has the most and best food imagery! Thanks, Ruthy!
I am all over these! Such a fab onion ring recipe!
I stumbled onto your website via Food52. I love your potstickers and onion rings, two of my favorite foods. You have a beautiful website.
I have always struggled as a reader and still am not too into it, but I did get through the entire Harry Potter series. Anyway, I know my mom LOVE the little House books!
Ok, but these apple + onion rings that are coated in bear batter? Oh my gosh, just plain genius and delicious! I LOVE this combo!
You had me at maple beer battered, but the maple laced sriracha!?! YES.
Lady, I just want to eat these.
PS, back pats for your mom helping you out when you were little. Reading is the best.
So intrigued by this combo! And onion rings always have my heart, so… gotta make these soonest!
yes! I hope you try them!
Ohhhh, I like this. I can hear myself crunching away on these.
thanks, Norma!
If I show my husband these he’s going to start foaming from the mouth and begging me to make them. They look amazing!
HA! that’s always a good reaction, though 😉
Do you have the nutritional values for these yummy ring’s?
I do not…but my guess is that they aren’t super healthy and something best eaten in moderation 😉 Sorry to be of no help!
These look delicious – better than anything you could get at a restaurant. So impressive!
thank you, Cate!
Love this blog xx heres mine … a different take on restaurant reviewing …http://notsofoodiefoodie.blogspot.co.uk/