Apple Fritters made with a cakey batter incorporated with juicy apples are the ultimate homemade treat! The sweet glaze sends these fritters over the top and may even remind you of a stuffed funnel cake. But better of course! My favorite part? You can have this fabulous Apple Fritter in front of you in 30 minutes!
If you love donuts you might also like my Baked Mini Chocolate Donuts or my Donut Ball Coffee Cake.
Apple Fritters
These Apple Fritters use a few basic ingredients and come together really fast! They also happen to use fresh apples, so that’s always a bonus when I am trying to justify donuts for breakfast. 😉
Tips for the Best Apple Fritters
In the instructions, I suggest starting to heat your oil after the batter has come together. The first few times I made these I would start the oil right away (trying to save time) and I would always forget and the oil would get too hot and burn the batter. Boo, hiss! Be sure to give yourself a few minutes to allow the oil to get to 375°F after the batter has come together. Try to also use a pan that is bigger than you would need, as there can be hot oil splattering and that is never a good thing.
The batter itself appears to be thin and you may wonder, how is this ever going to puff up into a beautiful fritter? But trust me, it will.
I prefer to use Granny Smith apples in this recipe as they hold up beautifully when baked or fried. We did try Honeycrisp apples and liked it, but when we tried Red Delicious apples, it wasn’t our favorite. The texture of the apples was almost the same as the donut and there wasn’t as strong of an apple flavor. When possible, opt for a Granny Smith!
Can You Bake These Apple Fritters?
I don’t recommend using this specific recipe for making Baked Apple Fritters. I tried adding the batter to a muffin tin, but they do not rise up as beautifully when baked.
Homemade Donut Glaze
You may have noticed that I opted for water instead of cream or milk in the glaze recipe. When coating donuts you want the glaze a little thinner than you would use for cakes or cookies.
Another option instead of glaze? Sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar when cooled. It’s just 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. You could also dust them with confectioner’s sugar. Or simply enjoy plain!
Each batch only yields about 5 fritters, so double it if you have a large family. They are best eaten within 24 hours so if you can eat them all, maybe drop some off for a neighbor or teacher. I tried freezing once and didn’t like how they turned out when thawed, so it might be easier to just whip up a new batch when you get a craving. 🙂
- 1 cup (128g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 -3 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced into bite-size pieces (about 2-3 apples)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup (61g) whole milk
- Vegetable or canola oil, (for frying)
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) confectioners sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 3-6 teaspoons water
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the lemon juice and apples. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and eggs on medium speed until fully combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in two additions. Mix until just combined.
- Pour in the milk and continue to stir until incorporated.
- Fold in the apples.
- Fill a frying pan halfway with oil. Heat over medium heat until the oil reaches 375°F with a candy thermometer.
- Drop ¼ cup of batter into the oil and let fry until golden brown. Flip and fry until the opposite side is golden brown. To test for doneness, insert a small knife into the center. If there's still uncooked batter in the center, fry for a bit longer. Transfer to a paper towel-lined cooling rack and let cool. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Make the glaze by combining the sugar, vanilla, and 3 teaspoons of water. Add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until a pourable consistency is reached.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled fritters and let dry.
How do these hold up if I were to make them the night before?
You Have so many Yummy Looking Sweets& Snacks so far that I’ve seen?
Hi so I’ve been cooking Asian food do many years. But lately have turned to sweets! Omfg (excuse my language) but these were so easy to make ! And we’re perfect for my 12 year old twin boys! I did no tweeting made the recipe was intended! I so wish I could post my result here? But Thankyou for this easy yet delicious treat!
This was a total bust for me. They were doughy in the middle and overcooked on outside. The sugar for the glaze never dissolved and was grainy…very disappointed!
I’m not sure how confectioners sugar + water could be grainy? Did you use granulated sugar? If your donut is burnt on the outside and raw on the inside that means the oil was too hot.
Loved these! Not too sweet
Very fluffy. I made mine a little larger so I did have to finish them in the oven but otherwise, no complaints at all! Thanks so much for the great recipe
How long can these be stored in an air tight container? Thinking these would be great for Farmers Market!
Unfortunately, donuts don’t last very long… I’d say maybe 24 hours with proper storage.
I made them tonight. Wonderful recipe! My family was in heaven! I was raised in the kitchen with some wonderful old school southern cooks. I typically don’t follow recipes when I’m cooking or baking southern food. BUT, I came across your recipe and it screamed southern heaven so, I gave it a shot. You knocked this one out of the park my lady. I don’t get on Pinterest as often lately. All the adds and pop ups have gotten so annoying. But, I’m glad I fought my way through all of the ads. Thank you for sharing. Next time I make them. I’m going to make some apple butter to dip them in
Very good recipe love the fritters..easy to make but too much sugar need a diabetic reccipe…the way you learn is to keep trying i cant remember how many recipes i messed up over the years. So keep baking.
Would these work in an air fryer?
Can you substitute Splenda instead of sugar?. I am a diabetic but I love fritters. Especially blueberry ones. Yum
Decent recipe, but these are more soft and spongy like texture, unlike the stores which have that wonderful crust that apple fritters are suppose to have. While this recipe calls for frying, the apples are actually steaming in the cooking process, allowing alot of moisture into the batter.
Made per recipe, turned out great. I did the knife trick and had to cook longer. Glaze turned out great. A lot of glaze ran off, my daughter said to lightly coat fritter and when glaze sets up coat it with a second coat. Everyone loved them and next time I may throw in vanilla ice cream. Thanks
Oh so good
jUST MADE THE APPLE FRITTERS i DOUBLE THE RECIPE tHEY WERE WONDERFUL VERY EASY .tHANK YOU
Our local bakery makes blueberry and raspberry fritters instead of apple. My family loves them! Is it ok to omit the apples in this recipe and what would I need to do to tweak recipe?
I haven’t made this recipe without apples, but you can certainly use blueberries. 🙂
I have made quite a few of your recipes…can’t remember 1 i didn’t like. Can these be made gluten free? Any suggestions?
Thank you! I think you could use a gluten free 1:1 flour. 🙂
Made this morning for Christmas! I over mixed the dough, so they were more dense than expected. They were still good.