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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Andrea Stewart
Love this recipe!
Shared pics of my kiddos eating them on Facebook and had to share the link to this recipe/blog page!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Andrea! So glad that your kiddos liked them!!
Jen S
Made these tonight and they turned out great! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Beth Pierce
Thanks Jen! So glad that you liked them!! The pleasure is all mine!!
Melody
Never tried to make fritters before. To be honest I’m not much of a cook at all however I used canned apple pie filling that I made last summer from apples we picked turned out awesome. Batter was super thick still cooked fine. I don’t know if I’d worry about 375 so much because I could not keep mine at a steady temperature just kept checking inside and about 2 minutes on each side was pretty close they’re really good I didn’t even bother frosting them they are sweet enough
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Melody! So glad that you liked them! They are delicious!
Kechi
I am drooling; these look dreamy! I will be making these with the kiddies come the weekend. Hand down the best way to eat apples!
Tara
Oh wow! These apple fritters look incredible, especially with that vanilla glaze. Definitely the perfect fall treat.
Tammy
It’s been too long since I’ve made apple fritters…I used to get them at the fall festival so they always bring back fun memories for me. Yours look perfect and now I’m inspired to make my own!
Suzy
The best! Loved how much better these taste than any donut shop!
Shadi
I always get these at my local bakery and now I can’t wait to make them at home!
Patty
Apple fritters are one of my favorite indulgences! These have the perfect amount of apples and cinnamon, and oh that yummy drizzle!
Robin
I made mine bite size, I didn’t get the crispy outside that I wanted. But I thought they tasted good.
Denise
What did I do wrong? I doubled the recipe, but I had way too much apple for the thick batter. So, I mixed up more batter, and thinned it a little, and my fritters came out chewy. I know it was something I did because so many others said theirs were fluffy. I did see where when using the 2x recipe, at one place the recipe calls for 2/3 cup milk in the ingredients list but the instructions say to add 1/3 cup. I used the 2/3 cup of milk but my dough was still too thick.
Beth Pierce
I am not sure. Did you spoon your flour into the measuring cups and level off with a knife? Is it possible you added too much flour. There are so many distractions these days.
Jimmy
Great! I must say that.. just follow your recipe and my family love it much, I come back here to say i am so happy! Thank for sharing this post.
Karen
Holy greatness in my mouth!!!!
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Karen! So glad that you liked it!
Shelley
Total decadence! Apple fritters are so delicious, but it never even occurred to me to try to make them at home – I was shocked that they really only take about half an hour! What a treat! (And yes … I totally agree that these would taste fabulous with a hot cup of coffee … I can tell ya my afternoon joe is looking a little lonely right about now lol)!
Bintu
Stash myself a couple? I’d probably be the one eating them all! These are so delicious and oh so tempting. Definitely making another batch of these soon!
Anna
Just made these on a perfect fall morning and they are dangerously delicious… Love the idea of adding applesauce in the batter! I had to make them pretty small though or else the inside would still be raw. I will definitely make these again ☺️
Beth Pierce
Thanks so much Anna! So glad that you liked them!!