Apple Fritters are luscious deep-fried donuts filled with apples and cinnamon and drizzled with an easy three-ingredient glaze. You can have these scrumptious warm apple fritters in your hands in less than thirty minutes. Make sure you stash a couple for yourself, or you might blink your eyes, and they will be gone. These are one of my darling daughter’s favorite goodies. She can not get enough of them!
We are just crazy about apple recipes. But honestly, who isn’t? After all, they keep coming out with more and more delicious apples. This recipe, Apple Dump Cake, Apple Strudel, and Apple Cookies are just a few of our favorites.
Wouldn’t these taste fabulous with a hot cup of coffee? These delectable Apple Fritters are so easy and quick. They can be all yours in about thirty minutes. Your family and friends are going to love them. They are best enjoyed shortly after you cook them, but they will stay up to two days, covered loosely with paper towels in a brown paper bag.
Why this recipe works!
- Homemade warm, sweet apple fritters that are better than your local bakery.
- Only wholesome natural ingredients with no artificial colors or preservatives.
- Easy and quick to mix and fry.
- The fritters can be fried up in a fryer, Dutch oven, or heavy stock pot.
How to make Apple Fritters
First, peel, core, and dice a couple of Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples. I like to dice them somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch. That way, you get a good taste of that sweet apple. Now grab a large bowl and add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk it around and get it all mixed together. Make a well in the middle and add the milk, egg, and applesauce. Now stir the mixture just until it is combined.
Fill a Dutch oven or large heavy stock pot with about 1 1/2 inches of canola oil. Use a candy thermometer and bring the oil to 375 degrees. Carefully drop about 1/4 cup of batter per fritter into the hot oil. I like to spread the batter a little while I am pouring it so that the fritter does not end up too fat and so it cooks all the way through. Cook each side until golden brown. It takes about 2 minutes per side. Remove to paper towels to drain.
Once they have cooled, whisk together the milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Finally, dunk the fritters in the glaze, turning over to make sure each side is coated. Place on wire racks to air dry and drip.
Can you bake these fritters?
This is a question that I am asked quite frequently. Yes, I am sure there are lots of great recipes out there for baked apple fritters; however, this particular recipe needs to be fried. Do your best to keep the oil at 375 degrees so the fritter absorbs less of the oil.
Recipe notes and helpful tips
- Don’t over-mix the batter, as it may make the fritters tough.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying so the donuts cook better, and the oil temperature is easier to maintain.
- Use a candy thermometer to track the temperature of the oil.
- A Dutch oven or heavy pot helps the oil hold its temperature.
- Try to maintain a constant temperature of 375 degrees. When you add the batter, the temperature will drop, so you must increase the heat a tad. Likewise, when you remove the fritters from the oil, the temperature will increase, so you need to turn the heat down a tad.
- Remove the fried fritters to paper towels to drain.
- Store the cooled cooked fritters wrapped loosely in paper towels in a brown paper bag.
More apple recipes you will love!
Apple Fritter Recipe
Ingredients
Apple Fritters
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons applesauce
- 2 large Granny Smith apples or Honey Crisp apples peeled cored and diced
- canola oil or vegetable oil for frying
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Make a well in the center and add 1/3 cup milk, eggs and applesauce. Stir just to combine. Fold in apples.
- Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in heavy skillet, dutch oven or deep fryer to 375 degrees. Drop about 1/4 cup of batter per fritter into hot oil; spreading it out as you drop. Cook each side until golden brown; approximately 2 minutes per side. Use a slotted spoon to remove to paper towels to drain.
- Whisk together 1/4 cup milk, powdered sugar and vanilla. Dunk each fritters in the glaze turning over to make sure both sides coated. Place on wire racks to air dry and drip.
Notes
- Don’t over-mix the batter as it may make the fritters tough.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when frying so the donuts cook better and the oil temperature is easier to maintain.
- Use a candy thermometer to track the temperature of the oil.
- A dutch oven or heavy pot helps the oil hold its temperature.
- Try to maintain a constant temperature of 375 degrees. When you add the batter the temperature will drop so you must increase the heat a tad. Likewise when you remove the fritters from the oil the temperature will increase so you need to turn the heat down a tad.
- Remove the fried fritters to paper towels to drain.
- Store the cooled cooked fritters wrapped loosely in paper towels in a brown paper bag.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Juniper
Thanks Beth! For those with a sweet tooth, I suggest melting 1/4 cup of butterscotch chips in the milk and letting it cool before use. Gave them a caramel apple flavor. I made 3x the recipe for a few friends and they were gone in two hours. Totally worth the diabetes!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Juniper! I love your tip and sense of humor!
Liz
I made these exactly how the recipe reads and they came out really great.
Easy and delicious
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Liz! So glad that you liked the fritters
Donnie
I made these again today! Trying to use up all my apples! This time I added crushed walnuts to the batter. Delicious!
I won’t try it right now, because I’ve got apples to use up, but this winter I’m going to try using blueberries and maybe another time cherries. The recipe should work perfect for other fruit, too, only you might want to adjust the cinnamon accordingly.
And for a nice twist on the icing… add a bit of maple syrup.
For those wanting to freeze these, I would suspect if you used other fruit you might have good success. The apples will just turn to mush once they thaw, but blueberries and others should be fine.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for all the tips Donnie! They are great!
Donnie
Excellent! Thank you!
For anyone having the problem of them not cooking all the way in the inside… try making them about the size of a hushpuppy. They might not end up looking like the picture but they’ll taste just as good!
For a slight twist, instead of using applesauce, try using strawberry applesauce or adding some nuts to the batter!
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tips Donnie!
Linda F
Turned out excellent, a great recipe. I don’t have luck frying, the tips offered were a big help. These apple fritters turned out wonderful. Great taste even without the glaze, enjoyed eating an apple fritter that actually had apples in it.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Linda! I am so glad that you liked them!
Doreen peachywakely@gmail.com
This recipe is the very best 👌 loved it so much ate three for lunch while they were still warm and scrumptious thank you so much for creating a perfect apple fritter.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Doreen! I am so glad that you enjoyed the fritters!
Marina
This was my first time making apple fritters and they turned out absolutely fantastic!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Marina! I am so glad that you liked them!
Tori
Would love to make these. Can the dough be stored in the fridge overnight?
Beth Pierce
No, unfortunately not. Sorry.
Dyn
Hello just a tip if you want to do some prep the day before I would recommend cooking the apples with some brown butter cinnamon nutmeg. Then store the apples overnight so the next day you just throw it together and fry them up
Beth Pierce
Wonderful tip! Thanks, Dyn!
Sagrario
I would like to make this recipe. Can I bake it instead of frying? Please advise
Thank you
Beth Pierce
No, sorry. They need to be fried.
George
This is my first time making Apple fritters. I would suggest flattening the batter once placing into the hot oil using a spoon so it doesn’t take as long for the center to cook. I had a couple fritters with raw batter in the center. Other than that, they were perfect
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tip George!
Grace
This was my first foray into apple fritters. Some notes:
• The batter wouldn’t cover the apple pieces, probably due to the moisture, but it went well anyways.
• The dough is the right sweetness if you account for the glaze — if you’re having them without glaze, you might want to up the sugar.
• I substituted melted butter for the applesauce – that’s on me – and I would definitely use applesauce next time; the fritters were lacking in apple flavor.
• To get them crispy I would definitely spread them out a lot (as the recipe does say), and do smaller “droplets” if possible. I dropped tablespoons into the oil, and most did not turn out crispy on the outside. My fritters are also cakey in texture on the inside, so by spreading it out you minimize that.
TL;DR: Spread them out a lot!! This recipe is a five-star if you remember to do that.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tips, Grace! I am so glad that you liked them!
CJ
Thank you for your recipe! First time making ( used margarine- had run out of butter ) they were great!,
Beth Pierce
Thanks CJ! Glad that you liked them!
Yrmengarde
I’m from a big city and every bakery/pastry/donut shop has apple fritters, and I always get them for my husband cause that’s his thing, but these…..these are hands down the best fritters I’ve ever had. The only change I did was my diced apples. I had a packet of pre-diced, spiced (rum & cardamon) apples on hand to use up and this recipe was perfect for them! I like how little oil I had to use compared to a lot of frying recipes, so thank you!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much! I am so happy to hear that you like them. They are tasty apple treats and my husband’s thing too!
Myyellowapron
I love apple fritters…what not to love about them. Your post is awesome!
Jupiter
I have never heard of apple fritters before, but I do know of apple donuts! These feel very similar and are quite neat – this sounds really fun to make.
Marysa
I don’t think I have ever had apple fritters before. This sounds delicious! I’d love to make these in the fall when we pick so many apples.
Yeah Lifestyle
This was super delicious and easy to make. Both of my children really enjoyed these fritters!