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These easy homemade Apple Fritters are laced with warm, cozy spices and coated in sweet vanilla glaze. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, they literally melt in your mouth!
This post is sponsored by Challenge Butter, but all opinions are my own.
Fail-Proof Apple Fritter Recipe
Once you taste one of these light and tender apple fritter donuts, you’ll swear off all store-bought fritters for the rest of your life. Those pre-made letdowns couldn’t begin to compare to these quick and easy clusters of heaven.
My whole family went absolutely nuts for them. The hubs even said they’re some of the best things he’s ever eaten – and he has tested a lot of treats! We nearly fought to the death over who got to claim the last fritter.
The combination of tasty apples, comforting spices and warm, pillowy donut is just delightful. When I tested and refined this recipe, I found that a slightly thicker batter gave me the results I was after. A thinner batter made the fritters feel more like funnel cake. While I love a good funnel cake, a fritter is a donut, so it needs to have a little more structure and texture to it.
These fritters definitely deliver. They’re not too dense or heavy, but just right. Plus, they’re jam-packed with tender and delicious apples!
What You’ll Need
You don’t need anything fancy to make these classic apple treats. Refer to the quantities in the recipe card when you’re ready to get started.
For the Apple Fritters
- All-Purpose Flour: Measure with a food scale or spoon this into your measuring cup bit by bit – never scoop up flour directly, or you’ll over-measure it.
- Sugar
- Baking Powder: This helps your fritters get fluffy while they cook.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Nutmeg
- Salt
- Milk: Use whatever kind you have on hand.
- Large Eggs: To bind everything together.
- Vanilla Extract
- Unsalted Butter: Always important for great flavor. I used my favorite Challenge Butter. Challenge Butter is a high quality butter that goes from farm to fridge in just two days, ensuring that it’s nice and fresh. It has no added hormones, artificial flavors or fillings, so you can feel good about feeding it to your family. If you haven’t tried it before, you definitely need to. The flavor is wonderful.
- Granny Smith Apples: Peeled, cored and chopped.
- Vegetable Oil: For frying.
For the Glaze
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Heavy Cream: Or milk.
How to Make Apple Fritters From Scratch
It’s best to start heating up the oil once your batter is already made. You don’t want to let it overheat while you’re busy chopping, whisking and mixing.
Make the Fritters
Prepare Apples: Peel and core the apples, then chop them into about half-inch pieces.
Combine Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Set the mixture aside.
Combine Wet Ingredients: Add the eggs, vanilla extract and milk to a medium-sized bowl or a small measuring beaker. Whisk the wet ingredients together until they’re well combined, then pour them into the dry ingredients.
Add to Dry Ingredients: Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is mostly combined.
Fold in Apples & Butter: Add in the apple chunks and gently fold them into the batter. Once the apples are incorporated throughout, gently fold in the melted butter.
Heat Oil: Fill a heavy skillet or dutch oven with 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 375°F, using a candy thermometer to keep close track of the temperature.
Fry Batter: Use a large spoon to place dollops of batter into the oil, spreading them out a bit as you add them to the pan. I recommend frying 2-3 at a time so that the oil can hold its temperature. The temperature will decrease as you add fritters and increase when you remove them, so keep an eye on it and try to keep it at 375°F. Cook the fritters until they turn golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
Repeat With Remaining Batches: Transfer the fritters to a cooling rack with paper towels underneath it and continue to fry them up until the batter is gone.
Make the Glaze
Combine Ingredients: Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of cream to a medium-sized bowl. Whisk everything together until the mixture is smooth, adding more cream to thin out the glaze if needed.
Coat Fritters: You can either drizzle the glaze over the fritters and spread it out evenly or dip the fritters into the glaze. Either way, let the fritters cool for about 5 minutes before you add the glaze so it doesn’t completely melt.
Enjoy! Serve your apple fritters warm with vanilla ice cream if desired.
Tips for Success
Check out these tips and tricks to make sure your fritters come out flawless.
- Don’t Overfill the Skillet: Don’t fill the pan too high with oil. This will make splattering impossible to avoid, and hot oil really hurts.
- Work in Small Batches: You don’t want to cook too many fritters at one time. It’s important that the oil stays as close to 375°F as possible, and the temperature will be easier to maintain if you work in small batches. A dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot will also make it easier to maintain the temperature.
- Stick With Granny Smith Apples: I strictly use Granny Smith apples for my fritters. They hold their shape very well and provide a lot of flavor. In a pinch, you could use Honeycrisp or another variety with nice flavor, but Granny Smith is definitely ideal.
Variation Ideas
If you’d like to do something a little different with your fritters, don’t let anyone stop you. It’s always fun to experiment!
- Make Caramel Apple Fritters: Ditch the vanilla glaze in favor of some gooey Brown Sugar Caramel Sauce. Salted Caramel Sauce is a great option too.
- Swap Out the Fruit: If apples aren’t your cup of tea, use whatever fruit you’re craving in their place. You can’t go wrong with bananas, peaches or strawberries.
- Make Cinnamon Apple Fritters: Instead of coating your fritters in glaze, try dipping them in cinnamon sugar. You’ll fall in love!
- Omit the Glaze & Add Hot Fudge: Drizzle your freshly baked fritters with Homemade Hot Fudge for a chocolatey apple delight. Regular chocolate syrup works as well.
Storage and Reheating
I highly recommend enjoying your fritters while they’re fresh. It’s hard to rip yourself away from them anyway! If you really must store some and warm them up later, follow the instructions below.
Place the cooled fritters into an airtight container and refrigerate them for up to 4 days. Reheat them the microwave for 5-10 seconds or in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or until they’re warmed through. You may notice that the glaze has melted off in the oven – feel free to make some more if you’d like.
Do Fritters Freeze Well?
Although they won’t be as yummy as they are when they’re fresh, you can freeze these fritters without the glaze if desired. Place the cooled fritters into a freezer-safe container and freeze them for up to 2 months. Thaw them out in the fridge before you reheat and glaze them.
Watch How To Make It
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Apple Fritters
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy homemade Apple Fritters are laced with warm, cozy spices and coated in sweet vanilla glaze. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, they literally melt in your mouth!
Ingredients
For the Apple Fritters
- 1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp (39g) sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (80mL) milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted Challenge Butter
- 4 1/2 cups chopped Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored (about 3–4 large apples)
- Vegetable oil, for frying
For the Glaze
- 2 cups (230g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3–6 tbsp heavy cream or milk
Instructions
Make the Fritters
- Peel and core the apples, then chop into about 1/2 inch pieces. You’ll need about 4 1/2 cups (or 420g) of chopped apple.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a large bowl, then whisk together and set aside.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and milk to a medium sized bowl or small measuring cup. Whisk together until well combined, then pour into the dry ingredients. Gently fold everything together until mostly combined.
- Add the chopped apple and gently fold together until the apples are incorporated throughout.
- Add the melted butter and gently fold it into the batter.
- Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a heavy skillet or dutch oven to 375°F using a candy thermometer to keep close track of the temperature.
- Use a large spoon to add the batter to the oil, spreading it out a bit as you add it to the pan. I recommend frying 2-3 fritters at a time, so that the oil can hold temperature better. The temperature will go down as you add fritters, and go up when you remove them, so keep an eye on it and try to keep it at 375°F.
- Cook each side of the fritter until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
- Transfer fritters to a cooling rack with paper towels underneath and repeat making fritters until the batter is used up.
Make the Glaze
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of cream to a medium sized bowl. Whisk together until smooth and add more cream, as needed.
- You can either drizzle the glaze over the fritters and spread it evenly, or dip the fritters into the glaze. I recommend letting the fritters cool for about 5 minutes before adding the glaze, so it doesn’t completely melt.
Notes
- Makes 14-16 servings.
- I highly recommend enjoying these while they’re fresh.
- To Store & Reheat: Place cooled fritters into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or until warmed through.
- To Freeze: Place cooled, unglazed fritters into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating and glazing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 181
- Sugar: 20.4 g
- Sodium: 159.8 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.8 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 32.6 mg
My son and I are baking up a storm. Well, he’s finally learning to bake. He learned to cook as a child and is incredibly skilled now as an adult. However, I have many health issues now, so we look for ways to help in our cooking. He asked me to come live with him so he can help take care of me now. Sweet, n’est-ce pas? Can these fritters be baked instead of fried?
I didn’t try baking them. I’m guessing that probably would not turn out quite right.
Would a deep fryer be on to use?
I’m guessing that would be fine.
Love the fritters! They came out well. Thanks!!
So glad to hear that!
Would like to try these but what is Challenge Butter?
It’s a brand of butter that I use. It’s a great butter that I recommend, but you can use any butter you have on hand as well.
Can you make this in an air fryer?
I haven’t tried it, but it’d be worth trying.
They’re also good tossed in a mix of confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon or a maple glaze 🙂
I’d like to try these but we sure don’t need 16 fritters around here!
Will this work out okay if I cut the recipe in half?
Absolutely!