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Pistachio Pear Fritters

Perfect for Saint Patrick's Day, these fritters are filled with sweet pistachio, sharp bourbon, comforting spices, and juicy pears. Topped with a simple maple brown butter glaze, these fritters are delicious served warm, and come together shockingly quickly.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings: 12 fritters
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • ⅔ cup raw pistachios
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 Tablespoons salted butter melted
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons bourbon
  • ¼ teaspoon pistachio extract (or almond)
  • 2-3 large brown pears peeled and chopped into small cubes
  • 3 cups vegetabe oil
Brown Butter Maple Glaze
  • ¾ cup salted butter
  • 6 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
 

Make the batter
  1. In a small food processor, pulse the pistachios until they form a fine meal, similar to almond flour. You should have about ½ cup.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together ½ of the pistachio meal, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and salt. Add in the eggs, butter, milk, maple syrup, bourbon, and pistachio extract and whisk until smooth. Fold in the chopped pears until all he pears are evenly coated in the batter. Let the batter sit at room temperature while we heat up the oil.
Fry
  1. In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat 3 cups vegetable oil over medium high heat. The oil should be around 350℉ on an instant read thermometer. Scoop/drop 2 Tablespoon sized balls of the batter into the hot oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the finished fritters from the oil using a slotted metal spoon and place on a wire cooling rack set over a layer of paper towels to drain the oil. Once all of the batter has been fried, make the glaze.
Glaze
  1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, the butter will begin to sizzle and foam before it starts to brown. Once the butter has reached and amber color and has a nutty aroma, remove from the heat and let the butter cool in the saucepan for 5 minutes.
  2. To the slightly cooled brown butter, whisk in the maple syrup, followed by the confectioners sugar, and vanilla extract. Dunk the warm fritters in the glaze and place back on the cooling rack to drain the extra glaze.
  3. Enjoy the fritters while they're warm! These get soggy as they sit and cool, so they must be served while they're fresh and warm.