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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Sonia
Hi. Can raisins be added to this recipe ?
Beth Pierce
I am not sure. I have not tried that.
Gretchen Baker
These are amazing!!!! Thank you for the recipe! Wouldn’t change a thing!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Gretchen! So glad that you like them!
j
taste is good, 2 min per side is not enough. they are almost raw. I even tried them in a deepfryer. about 3 min per side is better.
Carmen
Do I add the flour and dry ingredients to the chopped apples – in the same bowl? Or, do I add the chopped apples later? Didn’t see that in the directions.
Beth Pierce
Folding in the apples is in Step 1
Joy
Delicious recipe. I did find that temp to be too hot for me though. The outside burned quickly and the inside was still raw. I lowered to 275 and they turned out perfect. Thank you!
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the tip!
Karen
Can you use vegetable oil instead of canola oil?
Beth Pierce
Yes you can
Lori
Loved this. A small suggestion. If you find you have a hard time spreading the batter when placing into the oil, cut pieces of parchment paper, spread the batter on. When you set the paper/batter into the oil, it will release from the paper as it cooks. You can then pull it out with tongs and use it again for the next fritter.
Beth Pierce
So glad that you like them! Thanks for the tip Lori!
M Thompson
How big is each one? Roughly the size of a flat tennis ball?
Beth Pierce
I guess you could say that if you flattened the tennis ball.
Chester
Hi! Would love to make these but I don’t have a candy thermometer. Do you think I could do without one or do you need precise oil temperature? Thanks!
Beth Pierce
Do you have a deep fryer that maintains temperature. It is hard to keep the oil at temperature without a thermometer.
Crystal
I made these for my family this morning and they were amazing. I never fry anything but this was such an easy recipe. Thank you for sharing
Beth Pierce
My pleasure Crystal! Enjoy!!
Suzy Orth
Just made a batch this morning to bring in to work…. didn’t even test drive a batch at home before diving in. INSANELY easy to do! I did not ‘spread out’ the dough when dropped in to the fryer; however, they still turned out amazing. I just monitored very closely and turned frequently to evenly cook. We have a new ‘breed’ of apple in Washington State called the “Cosmic Crisp’ apple. It was developed/engineered at Washington State University (Go Cougs) and it is the PERFECT apple for cooking. It maintains a crisp texture during cooking and is sweet and tart at the same time. Plus, they are much larger than a Granny Smith/Honecrisp, so it only took 2 apples for a double batch. Anyway, I digress…. this recipe is fabulous; and my dough balls turned out perfect. The guys at work devoured them! I added a little bit of lemon juice to the glaze for a little tartness, and also tossed some fritters in an cinnamon/sugar mix. Both methods were a home run! If you haven’t tried the Cosmic Crisp apple…. please do so! They are a late season apple, and come out around November-January. SO GOOD! Thanks for the recipe!
Beth Pierce
So glad that you liked the recipe. I have tried the Cosmic Crisp apples and they are wonderful.
Richard Engel
I made these per instructions and they turned out delicious. But they did not get a crisp outer, should I have fried longer ? Also the next day all the glaze had soaked in? Thanks
Beth Pierce
Maybe they did need to fry a little longer.
Nicole
These were super quick to make and perfect in every way!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Nicole! So glad that you enjoyed them!
Tina.carr
My husband loves apple fritter and I wanted to make it for him. He said it was best one he ever had! Thanks!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Tina! So glad that he liked them!
Lydia Armstrong
I made these with a gluten free flour blend and they turned out terrific! I have always loved apple fritters and I have tried many recipes. This adapted one is truly the best one yet. I think next time I make these I will make a caramel icing. 🙂
Beth Pierce
So glad that they worked out with the gluten free flour. I love the caramel icing idea!
Scharelle
Super easy Super delicious
Beth Pierce
Thank you!!