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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Lydia
Really easy to make and amazing results, not too sweet and really soft!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Lydia! I wish I had one for my coffee right now!! 😉
Lily
These were so fluffy and delicious I served them after a BBQ with ice cream and we finished every single bite, this is an amazing summer dessert, reminds me of the fair.
Julie Blanner
Amazing! My girls loved helping me make these! So delicious and easy to make.
Rachel
Ok guys – I just made these and they are so good! I only had about an inch of oil and no candy thermometer but they still turned out delicious – the only issue with short oil is moving them constntly so they don’t burn from touching the bottom… I measured the temp by placing a grain of rice in the oil and when it sizzled, I knew it was ready…and I had about a fourth of the batter left over after doing two batches of five critters each. My family went bonkers over them, I served them warm right away.thank you so very much!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Rachel! So glad that you liked them and everything worked perfectly. Thanks for the tips and have a great weekend!
Maggie T.
Can these be frozen?
Beth Pierce
I am sure they can but I have never tried.
Carolann
Yup. Good stuff. Made the apple a couple weeks ago but blueberries are on sale this week so I am substituting them for apples. Yum!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Carolann! Blueberry fritters are delicious!!
Aimee Shugarman
I’ve already made these twice in one week. We can’t stay away from them!! So good.
Trang
I’m totally making this for my husband for Father’s Day! He’s such a fritter fan and I didn’t realize how easy it is to make at home.
Natasha
I served this at home and my husband and I enjoyed it with our hot chocolate. It’s so quick and very easy to make! The end result was crispy and so delicious.
Omaha Debbie
The taste was incredible! I did use 2 large apples – the dough was so thick I was unable to pour the batter into the hot oil. It kind of all plopped into one 1/4 cup ball. The problem with that is the middle did not get cooked. Next time I will try a little less apple. I stored the remaining fritters in a air tight container. The next day they were almost mushy. They were crispy (and good!) the day of but this was disappointing. After baking in the oven they did get a better. Has anyone else encountered this? Regardless, I will definitely try recipe again. Thank you for sharing!.
DianaL
The directions say to store the cooled cooked fritters wrapped loosely in paper towels in a brown paper bag, not in an air-tight container. That may help.
Linda
Who doesn’t like apple fritters!!! They are one of my husband’s favorites so I had to try it out before Father’s Day so I could make him this treat. They came out so delicious that I was tempted to eat the whole batch myself! Heating the oil wasn’t as tricky as I thought it would be and the fritters came out crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.
Jenn
Holy cow these are MAGICAL! Thanks so much for the recipe and for feeding my fritter craving!
Suzanne
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine Suzanne!!
Mayuree
Has anyone tried to make these in an air fryer?
Beth Pierce
Those will not work in an air fryer.
Anita
I always buy self rising flour. Can I use that and eliminate the baking powder and salt?
Beth Pierce
I am sorry Anita but I always work with all purpose flour. I have read it is a little more complicated than that.
Teresa
I never comment on recipes I try, BUT THIS….Wow!!! My kids and I Love Them!! Recipe was easy to follow, I had ALL the ingredients. Going to try with peaches too!! Thank you!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Teresa! So glad that you liked them. Peach Fritters sound deeeeeeeeeeeeelish! I love peaches!!
Deb
Cherry! Oooweeee lol
Bonnie Branch
Did you ever try peaches? That is the best idea I have heard all year so far! ???