Recipe

Virginia Fried Apples

Name: Virginia Fried Apples
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 4-6 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 3–4 tbsp. clarified butter or bacon (streaky) fat; 2 lb. apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into eighths (about 6 medium count); ⅓ cup superfine (caster) or brown sugar; Pinch of kitchen pepper (recipe follows) or ground cinnamon (optional); 2 tbsp. freshly ground coarse black pepper; 1 tbsp. ground allspice; 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon; 1 tbsp. ground ginger; 1 tbsp. ground mace; 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg; 1 tbsp. ground white pepper; 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

An old-fashioned spice mixture kicks up this skillet-cooked breakfast side

Recipe by Michael W. Twitty

October 29, 2025

Photo: Nico Schinco

In his new cookbook, Recipes from the American South, Michael W. Twitty credits the inspiration for this “essential Virginia breakfast dish” to the late Edna Lewis, aka “the grande dame of Southern cooking.”

To amp up the complexity, use a mixture of apple varieties, and try dusting them with kitchen pepper, a Colonial and antebellum-era spice mixture that “adds an extra layer of flavor and fragrance” and “speaks to the transfer of the tastes of Medieval Europe and West Africa into Southern cooking,” Twitty writes. He includes the recipe for the spice blend below, though cinnamon is an acceptable substitute.

Read our Q&A with Twitty here.

Virginia Fried Apples

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

- 3–4 tbsp. clarified butter or bacon (streaky) fat
- 2 lb. apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into eighths (about 6 medium count)
- ⅓ cup superfine (caster) or brown sugar
- Pinch of kitchen pepper (recipe follows) or ground cinnamon (optional)

For the kitchen pepper

- 2 tbsp. freshly ground coarse black pepper
- 1 tbsp. ground allspice
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp. ground ginger
- 1 tbsp. ground mace
- 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. ground white pepper
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preparation

Make the kitchen pepper, if using: Combine all the ingredients and store airtight. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months.
Cook the apples: In a medium cast-iron skillet, melt the butter or bacon fat over medium heat. Once it’s hot and sizzling, add the apples in one layer. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook until the apples begin to soften, 5–8 minutes.
Uncover, sprinkle the sugar and kitchen pepper or cinnamon (if using) over the apples, then cook, stirring occasionally, until they give up their juices, 10–15 minutes. (Add water if the pan seems to be getting too dry.) The apples are done when they are soft and fragrant, slightly jammy, and somewhere between a light and medium amber color.
Serve warm.