Wingin’ It: Apple Overload Donut Sammy and more for Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Tailgating RecipesNFL Tailgating Wingin' It: Apple Overload Donut Sammy and more for Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars It has fruit so it's healthy, right? Probably not...

Wingin' It: Apple Overload Donut Sammy and more for Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Sure, football is a game, but it's not just a game. Football is an experience. The kind of experience that goes better with a little food. If you're a Buffalo Bills fan looking for something special to go with your game-day activities, Buffalo Rumblings has you covered!

This week, we're stretching the boundaries of sandwich technology with something I call the...

Apple Overload Donut Sammy This week I return to the idea of "some connection to one of the teams." We're embracing fall in Western New York with not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR Autumn standouts packed into a single dessert sandwich. If you plan on taking a crack at this at home, a trip to your local cider mill is in order to land the necessary cider donuts/frycakes, apples, cider, and honey.

Why are we embracing Buffalo and WNY with this recipe rather than something from Jacksonville? For the new readers, I've put a lot of research time into this series and being diplomatic let's just say Jacksonville does not offer much inspiration. Also, GIFs are back!

Apple Overload Donut Sammy Serves: Variable (cider mixture is enough for 4-6) Active Time: 10 min Total Time: 15 min

2 Tbsp apple cider 1 Tbsp honey 1⁄4 tsp cinnamon Cider donuts (one per sandwich) Large apples, Autumn crisp was perfect (one apple can make about four slices) Spreadable or softened butter Optional: Confectioners sugar, cinnamon and sugar mixture, caramel sauce You'll need:Small mixing bowl, nonstick pan, shot glass or medicine cup

cider, honey, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. fry pan to MED/HIGH; cut donuts in half (bagel style), butter the newly exposed insides surfaces and set aside. apples into slices about half-inch thick, and core using shot glass or medicine cup (see below). You should be left with apple rings. apple rings into preheated fry pan and let sit for about 30 seconds. about 1 tsp of the cider mixture into each apple ring and allow to bubble and absorb into the apple, roughly another 30 seconds. rings and repeat steps 4 and 5. Carefully assemble donut sandwiches with the rings as the filling and return to pan and fry like a grilled cheese; about one minute per side should do it. from heat and if desired add confectioners sugar, cinnamon/sugar, or caramel sauce to the top.

Wingin' It Tips and Prep Gallery There are a lot of pictures this time around to help show the steps, but also because this isn't just a recipe — it's a concept of a recipe. And as a concept of a recipe, it allows for some fun free-styling. As a general recommendation, day-old donuts will not only work but there's an argument to be made they're superior in a few ways. They're easier to cut, hold their shape better, and if you can specifically buy day-old they'll be cheaper. The butter/frying process will add back moisture and it'll be nearly the same result.

The first pic isn't just there to show cut donuts, but also the size of the apple to aim for in relation to them. I'd also add that if you look closely that's three types of donuts. Hold onto that thought for a minute. Picture two is just with butter added. I used an olive oil/butter hybrid with salt. Feel free to use softened butter, unsalted, or whatever your preference is. Picture three shows the apple slices for scale. I could have gotten one more off the top if I were making four of these and needed it. I used a medicine cup but picture four is what I mean by coring to make a ring. Now for the cider addition step. You can see I'm not adding much in the GIF with me pouring. The next GIF is the one above. I let them boil like this for a second then slide the slice around to pick up the rest. Using the steps above, you remove some water from the slice while it cooks, which helps it absorb the cider/honey/cinnamon mixture. There's no picture for this, but as a pro tip, once the apple rings are done, you can lift it with a spatula, place one side of the donut in the pan, add the ring, then the other side of the donut to do a very fast assemble right in the pan. As a fun note, the cider/honey mix will make the apples sticky and keep the sandwich from falling apart too easily. Next up are the three donut sammys to show the result without sugar obfuscating it. Note that those are the same three as before. The steam from the butter-frying process will melt the sugar topping into the donut, making it hard to tell which is which. The one that started with confectioners sugar was a good deal sweeter than the other two still. Next up is an open-faced version and the following pictures are where I offer you the concept of a recipe... Yes, that's a cinnamon roll. My local grocery store sells day-old variety packs and sometimes they'll toss these in. I have pictures of that while cooking and after with sugar topping. That's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it too was amazing. You're not imagining things. That's a peanut twist donut I managed to cut in half. As a filling we have something I experimented with that I call "Circus spread." Mash one overripe banana with 5 Tbsp of peanut butter, and 11 Tbsp of confectioners sugar and it's a tribute to those weird rubbery peanuts that only some of us like. This is a more adult version of that to be clear but sweet enough to bring out the inner child.