Homemade Apple Fritter Recipe
Published September 26, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These delicious homemade apple fritters are tossed in cinnamon and sugar and are the perfect easy-to-make dessert. While they’re still hot, I like to top them off with ice cream and warm honey.
I love a good sweet treat right after a meal or breakfast. If you’ve got a serious sweet tooth as well, then try out my Authentic Beignets or my Sopapilla recipe.
Apple Fritters
Apple fritters are small fried doughnuts where fresh apples are incorporated into the batter before frying. Fritters are small, sweet, or savory fried cakes made by adding chopped food with thick batter. If you still aren’t sure what they are, just imagine the munchkin doughnuts from Dunkin’ Donuts, but with fresh apple chunks.
I’m not sure there’s an easier-to-make, tastier sweet treat out there that comes together in minutes than these apple fritters. Here are the best apples to use for this recipe:
- Golden Delicious
- Granny Smith
- Red Delicious
- Fuji
- Gala
- Honey Crisp
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour – All-purpose flour works great for this recipe.
- Sugar – I use basic granulated sugar.
- Leavening Agent – You will need some baking powder in this recipe to help the fritters puff up.
- Salt – I always use sea salt in my cooking and baking recipes.
- Lemon – The juice coats the apples to add a little citrus and keep the apples from turning brown.
- Spices – I like to use a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg in these fritters.
- Milk – Whole milk is best for flavor; However, you can substitute with skim, 2%, or soy or almond milk.
- Apples – I like to combine sweet and sour apples, including gala and granny smith. If you like sweet, I recommend buying Fuji and honey crisp apples.
How to Make Apple Fritters
Preheat some frying oil in a medium size pot to 375°.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set it aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
In another large bowl, mix the diced granny smith apples and gala apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Fold the apples into the batter until combined.
Using 2 large serving spoons, spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter into the oil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes while constantly moving it around using a slotted spoon. Be sure it is golden brown and cooked throughout. Note: I could cook about 6-8 at a time in the oil.
Drain the oil off the fried apple fritters on a rack or paper towels and toss them in cinnamon and sugar.
How to Serve Them
Once all the oil is drained off, I like to toss the apple fritters in a bit of cinnamon and sugar and let them sit for a minute before putting them into your serving bowl. I like to top them off with vanilla bean ice cream and warm honey.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: These fritters are meant to be eaten within 15 minutes of making them as they are best served warm.
How to Store: Cover them and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze these covered for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator until soft before reheating.
How to Reheat: Place the desired number of apple fritters onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven at 350° for 4 to 5 minutes or until warm.
Chef Notes + Tips
- If you want to check out a savory fritter, then make my corn fritters recipe.
- You can bake these by placing a few tablespoons of batter into a prepared muffin tin in each slot and bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through.
More Dessert Recipes
Video
Homemade Apple Fritter Recipe with Cinnamon and Sugar
Ingredients
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 4 teaspoons of baking powder
- pinch of Kosher salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups of whole milk
- 4 each small to medium sized gala and granny smith apples, peeled, cored and small diced
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- ½ cup of sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- toppings: vanilla bean ice cream and honey
Instructions
- Preheat some frying oil in a medium size pot to 375°.
- In a large bow,l whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk and then pour it into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- In another separate large bowl, mix the diced apples with the lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and fold the apples into the batter until combined.
- Using 2 large serving spoons, spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter into the oil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes while constantly moving it around. Be sure it is golden brown and cooked throughout. Note: I could cook about 6-8 at a time in the oil.
- Drain the oil off of the fried apple fritters and toss in a bowl with the combined sugar and cinnamon mixture and serve with ice cream and honey.
I followed the recipe exactly. I made sure to keep the oil at the correct temperature and drained them, however they came out rather soggy. I’m hesitant to prepare them again.
Simply fry them for longer. Perhaps yours were a bit bigger than mine.
Making these for Thanksgiving dessert!
Perfect!