In less than 30 minutes you get to enjoy scrumptious and comforting apple fritters. These fritters are just like donut but better – a crunchy outer, beautifully soft inside, luscious sugar glaze and bonus fresh crisp apples filled inside it.

Why You’ll Love This Apple Fritters?
- These fritters are irresistible! One of the most addictive snack you’ll ever make.
- It’s easy to make. Enjoy a scrumptious dessert in less than 30 minutes.
- Not just dessert, it’s great for breakfast too! Start your day with luscious rich apple fritters – what an amazing way to start the day!
- All ingredients needed are most probably in your pantry already. Simple basic ingredients.
- This vintage recipe will bring back wonderful memories of your grandma’s apple fritters.
- With warming spices like cinnamon powder and nutmeg powder, this dessert is perfect for fall and winter. It will warm you up on cold winter days.
- These fritters are just like donut but better filled with fresh crisp apples filled inside it. It’s like apple pie and donut in one dish.
- Glaze it with sugar glaze or dust it with cinnamon sugar – both are delicious! If you have sweet tooth and feel like feasting, go for double glaze! Why not!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Everything needed for homemade apple fritters recipe is shown in below picture.
Apple – use any variety of crisp and firm apples that has sweet and tart flavors to it. Granny Smith, honey crisp or Fuji apples are best.
Lemon Juice – once apples are chopped drizzle lemon juice to prevent it from browning.
Kosher Salt (optional)
Batter – you’ll make batter similar to donut batter that will coat the apples before frying. To make batter you’ll need:
– eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar.
– flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder (optional).
Oil – for deep frying. Use any flavorless oil for frying. Vegetable oil, canola oil are best options.
For Glaze – apples fritters are complete without luscious glaze drizzled generously over the top. For glaze you’ll need – powdered sugar, milk (or water) and vanilla (optional).
You can dust these fritters with caster sugar + cinnamon powder mix as well. Not shown in the picture for ingredients.
How To Make Apple Fritters (with step-by-step pictorial)?
- First peel, core and dice a couple of apples. I used a peeler to peel apples.
- Use apple slicer to core and chop into thick slices.
- Cut each slices into ½ inch cubes.
- Immediately transfer cubed apples into a bowl. Drizzle freshly squeezed lemon juice on top.
- Toss to coat all pieces with lemon juice. This will prevent apples from browning.
- To make batter – in a bowl add eggs, milk and sugar.
- Beat it until it’s well combined.
- Then add dry ingredients – all purpose flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder (optional) to the egg mix.
- Whisk it around to get all combined together. Do not over beat it.
- Dump in all the chopped apples and mix until apples are all covered.
- Heat oil in a dutch oven or a heavy pot fitted with thermometer. Heat it up until oil reaches 375 degree Fahrenheit.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scoop out apple laden batter into hot oil. Space out each portion so there does not stick to one another.
- Do not over crowd the pan. Do it in smaller batches. This will help maintain the temperature of the oil. If you fry too many of them at a time, temperature of the oil in dutch oven will drop and fritters will not brown evenly and will not turn crispy as expected. Fritters may absorb a lot of oil as well if over crowded, so avoid frying too many at a time.
- Fry until one side begins to turn golden brown. Flip and fry on other side until golden brown.
- Note – keep an eye on the temperature of the oil and the fritters themselves. Try to maintain the temperature at 375 F.
- If you want fritters to have crispy outer, fry it for a few seconds longer or until they are dark brown. The darker fritters are fried, the crisper they’ll get.
- Transfer fried golden brown fritters onto a kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Let the fritters sit on kitchen paper towel for few seconds then transfer it to a wire rack to cool.
Before adding in the next batch make sure temperature is back at 375 degree Fahrenheit
Repeat the steps for rest of the apple batter left out.
To make glaze –
Whisk together powdered sugar, milk (or water) and a drop of vanilla extract. Whisk into lump free mix.
Spoon the glaze over apple fritters rested on wire rack.
If you have patience, wait until glaze sets. If you are like me, just pick those sticky glazed fritters and gobble them up. Who cares about messy fingers, when your dessert is so irresistible!
To make double glazed apple fritters – wait for the first glaze to set completely. Then pour around round of sugar glaze on apple fritters.
To make cinnamon sugar dusted fritters – sprinkle cinnamon on fried fritters while it’s still hot on both sides and enjoy.
Tips For BEST Homemade Apple Fritters
- The batter for coating apples will be bit runny. That’s how it’s supposed to be. If batter is too thick, it’ll not coat apples evenly and will result in thick batter coated apples.
- Stuff in LOADS of apples into the batter. Don’t get tempted to add in more batter ingredients to make more batter. You want a thin coating of batter over apples. Too much dough will leave you with muffin like dish not fritters.
- Choose apple that is crisp, firm and has wonderful sweet and tart flavors for the recipe. Granny Smith, honey crisp, Fuji red apples are best choices.
- Fry apple fritters in oil that is heated to temperature 375 F. Fritters will absorb less oil. Try to keep the temperature of the oil at 375 degree for all the batches you fry.
- Do NOT OVER MIX the batter. Whisk until just combined. Over mixing will result in fritters that are tough. It isn’t very pleasant to eat tough fritters.
- Do NOT OVERCROWD the pan while frying. Space fritters from one other so they don’t stick. Fry them in smaller batches.
- Keep the thermometer fixed to Dutch oven all the time to keep an eye on temperature and try to maintain it at 375 F.
- Using heavy pot like Dutch oven helps maintain oil temperature.
- If you want to make crispy fritters, fry for few extra seconds until they are dark brown.
- Feel free to add double glaze to apple fritters if you like it sweeeet.
- Instead of glaze you are free to dust fritters with cinnamon sugar as well. Up to you which one you want to choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Bake Apple Fritters?
Yes and No.
NO because – This donut shop favorite fall treat is meant to be fried and if you follow my recipe you HAVE TO STICK TO FRYING the fritters. The batter or dough to coat apples in this recipe is bit runny and you can’t use that you make baked apple fritters.
YES – having said you have to fry the fritters, doesn’t mean you can’t bake it at all. Only that you can’t follow this recipe and use the same to make baked apple fritters.
You will have to follow a recipe that is meant for baking.
Can I Air Fry Them?
Same explanation as above.
Don’t use this recipe to make fritters in air fryer. The batter or dough is too thin (runny) to be using in air fryer. The batter will run and spread across the air fryer basket.
You can follow any other recipe that calls it for air fryer apple fritters.
How To Make Gluten-free Apple Fritters?
Use any gluten free flour blend to make the dough/batter.
Like this – equal mix of red rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch mixed together will give you gluten free flour mix for making the batter.
How To Make Vegan Apple Fritters?
If you are on a vegan diet, you can follow this recipe with a few substitutions to make your own vegan apple fritters.
Replace these :-
Eggs -> ground flax seeds (for 1 egg use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds)
Milk -> plant based milk (preferably oats milk)
That’s it! You are set to make the most delicious and addictive vegan apple fritters.
How To Make Apple Fritters Crispy?
If you want to make crispy fritters, fry for few extra seconds until they are dark brown.
OTHER APPLE RECIPES:
Apple Nachos With Peanut Butter And Chocolate
MORE FALL RECIPES:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
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Easy Homemade Apple Fritters
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup sugar
- â…” cup milk plus extra if needed
- 3 Granny Smith apples or use other apples like Honey crisp, Gala, Fuji, you can also use a mix of Granny Smith and Honey crispy together, peel, cored and diced into ½ inch cubes
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- Oil for deep frying
- For The Glaze:
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ to ¼ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- First peel, core and dice a couple of apples.
- I used a peeler to peel apples.
- Use apple slicer to core and chop into thick slices.
- Cut each slices into ½ inch cubes.
- Immediately transfer cubed apples into a bowl. Drizzle freshly squeezed lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt on top. Toss to coat all pieces with lemon juice and salt. This will prevent apples from browning.
- Heat oil in a dutch oven or a heavy pot fitted with thermometer. Heat it up until oil reaches 375 degree Fahrenheit.
- To make batter – in a bowl add eggs, milk and sugar. Beat it until it’s well combined.
- Then add dry ingredients – all purpose flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder (optional) to the egg mix.
- Whisk it around to get all combined together. Do not over beat it.
- Dump in all the chopped apples and mix until apples are all covered.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to scoop out apple laden batter into hot oil. Space out each portion so there does not stick to one another.
- Do not over crowd the pan. Do it in smaller batches. This will help maintain the temperature of the oil. If you fry too many of them at a time, temperature of the oil in dutch oven will drop and fritters will not brown evenly and will not turn crispy as expected. Fritters may absorb a lot of oil as well if over crowded, so avoid frying too many at a time.
- Fry until one side begins to turn golden brown. Flip and fry on other side until golden brown.
- Note – keep an eye on the temperature of the oil and the fritters themselves. Try to maintain the temperature at 375 F.
- If you want fritters to have crispy outer, fry it for a few seconds longer or until they are dark brown. The darker fritters are fried, the crisper they’ll get.
- Transfer fried golden brown fritters onto a kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Let the fritters sit on kitchen paper towel for few seconds then transfer it to a wire rack to cool.
- Before adding in the next batch make sure temperature is back at 375 degree Fahrenheit
- Repeat the steps for rest of the apple batter left out.
- To make glaze –
- Whisk together powdered sugar, milk (or water) and a drop of vanilla extract. Whisk into lump free mix.
- Spoon the glaze over apple fritters rested on wire rack.
- If you have patience, wait until glaze sets. If you are like me, just pick those sticky glazed fritters and gobble them up. Who cares about messy fingers, when your dessert is so irresistible!
- To make double glazed apple fritters – wait for the first glaze to set completely. Then pour around round of sugar glaze on apple fritters.
- To make cinnamon sugar dusted fritters – sprinkle cinnamon on fried fritters while it’s still hot on both sides and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- The batter for coating apples will be bit runny. That’s how it’s supposed to be. If batter is too thick, it’ll not coat apples evenly and will result in thick batter coated apples.
- Stuff in LOADS of apples into the batter. Don’t get tempted to add in more batter ingredients to make more batter. You want a thin coating of batter over apples. Too much dough will leave you with muffin like dish not fritters.
- Choose apple that is crisp, firm and has wonderful sweet and tart flavors for the recipe. Granny Smith, honey crisp, Fuji red apples are best choices.
- Fry apple fritters in oil that is heated to temperature 375 F. Fritters will absorb less oil. Try to keep the temperature of the oil at 375 degree for all the batches you fry.
- Do NOT OVER MIX the batter. Whisk until just combined. Over mixing will result in fritters that are tough. It isn’t very pleasant to eat tough fritters.
- Do NOT OVERCROWD the pan while frying. Space fritters from one other so they don’t stick. Fry them in smaller batches.
- Keep the thermometer fixed to Dutch oven all the time to keep an eye on temperature and try to maintain it at 375 F.
- Using heavy pot like Dutch oven helps maintain oil temperature.
- If you want to make crispy fritters, fry for few extra seconds until they are dark brown.
- Feel free to add double glaze to apple fritters if you like it sweeeet.
- Instead of glaze you are free to dust fritters with cinnamon sugar as well. Up to you which one you want to choose.
Comments & Reviews
KERRI says
i made these for my hubby’s birthday this weekend – fritters are his fave and he gobbled these up and has asked that i keep the recipe for future use 🙂
Jyothi Rajesh says
Oh so glad to know your husband loved it. Thank you for sharing!
Debra says
Oh these were so good. Nothing like a crisp and fresh fritter. I loved how easy the recipe was too…with such simple ingredients that I already had at home.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Glad you liked it Debra
Erin says
You’re right – these bring back great memories! I loved the ones we used to get from Albertson’s. 😂 The crunchy bits were the best! Yours look really great, too. Probably way better than the ones from Albertson’s. 😉
Denise says
This recipe is dangerous to have. Apple fritters are AMAZING and now I know how to make them so I can can enjoy them any time I want! Thank you!
Paula Montenegro says
I haven’t made fritters in a while and am super tempted by this recipe! The step by step photos are wonderful and they look scrumptious! Thanks for sharing.
Chef Dennis says
I’ve bookmarked your recipe and can’t wait to give it a try! Those apple fritters are calling out to me!
Jyothi Rajesh says
Glad you liked it
Jenny says
Delicious and pretty easy to make. SO much better than the ones we get at the store, Thanks so much!
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you
Sharon says
Apple fritters are my favorite donut to grab from the case, so when I found this recipe I knew I had to try them at home. So much better than store-bought.
Eva says
I looove apple fritters, but I never put glaze on them. Instead, I like mine sprinkled with granulated sugar. Can’t beat the crunch of sugar! I recommend you to try it. I will definitely try glaze next time.
Gloria says
Bring on ALL the apple recipes. This is great for the brunch menu. Awesome as a dessert. Pefect paired with tea and coffee, especailly for breakfast.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you