Apple Fritters Recipe (with Video!) (2024)

October 4, 2022 By Sam 96 Comments

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I’m sharing my easy recipe for Apple Fritters made without yeast! These are tender, fluffy, and sweet, and they’re coated in a simple apple cider glaze. Recipe includes a how-to video!

The Easiest Apple Fritters

Apple fritters are a fun, easy, and irresistible fall treat. Among apple desserts, they are often overshadowed by apple pie or apple crisp, while apple turnovers or apple muffins typically take the apple breakfast crown. But fritters can be either (depending on your sweet tooth!) and deserve to enjoy all of their soft, spiced apple glory.

This recipe is made yeast-free with a batter that’s essentially a thicker version of my buttermilk pancake batter. This means there is no long, impatient bouts waiting for dough to rise before you can fry them–just mix up the batter, heat up the oil, and go! Yay for yeast-free!

That being said, “go” with caution, because hot oil is no joke! I’m including some tips for those of you who are new to frying or just need a refresher. Don’t be intimidated by this though–I promise, these are easy peasy.

What You Need

You’ll notice we’re using just a few basic pantry staples in this apple fritter recipe. Here are the important ones:

Apples. The best apples for making apple fritters are the ones you enjoy eating (so most likely not Granny Smith, save that for apple cake)! I like to use Gala, Fuji, or the ever-popular HoneyCrisp. They’re also great with Golden Delicious!
Cinnamon. Tossing the apples with a bit of ground cinnamon before stirring them into the batter gives them a nice extra flavor!
Eggs. Make sure you whisk your eggs really well until they’re pale and foamy.
Melted butter. Use unsalted butter and let it cool a bit before adding it.
Oil. I recommend using vegetable, canola, or peanut oil.

SAM’S TIP: I like to use an ice cream scoop with a lever to drop my batter into the oil; it makes the process so much easier and less messy.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Apple Fritters

Whisk together your sugar and dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy, then add milk and vanilla. Whisk the butter into this mixture.
Carefully fold together the wet and dry ingredients, then gently fold in your apple pieces.
Heat the oil, then fry your apple fritters in small batches.
Coat the fritters in glaze after frying, if desired. And by “if desired” I mean this step is absolutely mandatory, you’ll love this apple cider glaze!

SAM’S TIP: If you really don’t want to make a glaze for your apple fritters, just toss them in cinnamon sugar (or use powdered sugar) shortly after frying. They can also be enjoyed plain!

Tips For Frying Apple Fritters:

The most difficult part of today’s process is the frying itself. Truthfully this process isn’t really difficult; it just requires careful monitoring (if you’ve made my fried donut holes, you’re already familiar with this).

If frying is new to you, here are a few key tips to make the process as smooth as possible (you may want to watch the video in the recipe card too!).

Use a thermometer to make sure your oil is at the correct temperature. Make sure that the tip of the thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan — it should be resting about mid-way through the oil.
Fry in batches of just 2-3 fritters. Adding the batter will cause the oil temperature to drop, and adding too many fritters can make it drop so low that your fritters may be under-baked on the inside.
Do a test batch first to get a good idea of when your apple fritters are finished frying. At the correct temperature, they will be golden brown after about 60-75 seconds on each side. However, if your oil is too hot, they will fry much faster and could be golden brown on the outside and still raw and gooey on the inside. After frying your test batch, let the fritters sit for about 2-3 minutes (to completely finish cooking) and then cut one in half and take a peek to make sure that the center is fully cooked.
Make sure that your oil temperature comes back to the right temperature before adding your next batch!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are my apple fritters soggy?

Apple Fritters Recipe

My apple fritters (no yeast!) are sweet, tender, and fluffy, and are absolutely packed with flavor. Dip them in a 3 ingredient apple cider glaze or roll them in cinnamon/sugar and enjoy!

4.96 from 25 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Ingredients

▢ Vegetable or canola oil for frying
▢ 1 ½ cups (215 g) apples* peeled, cored, and cut into ¼" pieces
▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon divided
▢ 2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour
▢ ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
▢ 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
▢ 1 Tablespoons baking powder
▢ 1 teaspoon salt
▢ 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
▢ 1 cup (235 ml) milk
▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled several minutes
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

▢ 1 ½ cups (250 g) powdered sugar
▢ 2 Tablespoons apple cider plus additional as needed (may substitute water or milk)
▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Recommended Equipment

▢
Candy thermometer
▢
Mixing bowls

Instructions

Combine your apples and ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl and toss until apples are coated with cinnamon. Set aside.
1 ½ cups (215 g) apples*, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
In a separate, large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, remaining ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and whisk until well-combined.
2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour, ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 Tablespoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
Crack your eggs in a separate bowl and use a whisk to beat until pale yellow and frothy (about 15 seconds). Add milk and vanilla extract and whisk together.
2 large eggs, 1 cup (235 ml) milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Slowly, while whisking, pour melted butter into wet ingredients and whisk until well-combined (mixture may look slightly curdled).
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Pour wet ingredients into dry and use a spatula to fold ingredients together until about halfway combined. Add cinnamon coated apple pieces and continue to fold into batter until all ingredients are just combined.
Set the batter aside and fill a Dutch oven or large saucepan 2-3″ deep with oil for frying. Fix a candy thermometer to the edge (make sure it is in the oil but not touching the bottom of the pan) and set your heat to medium-low. Oil will need to reach 360-365F (175-185C) before you can continue.
Vegetable or canola oil
While oil is heating, prepare your glaze by whisking together sugar, apple cider (or substitute) and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
1 ½ cups (250 g) powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons apple cider, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Once oil has reached temperature, use a large spoon or an ice cream scoop (this is my preferred method) to scoop about 3 Tablespoons of batter and *carefully* drop into the oil. Repeat with 2 more scoops of batter and fry each for 60-75 seconds on each side, or until golden brown.
Use tongs to remove apple fritters to a paper-towel lined plate and allow to cool several minutes before dipping in glaze and transferring to a cooling rack to allow glaze to set. Be sure to allow the oil to return to the correct temperature before frying more fritters.
Apple fritters are best enjoyed warm the same day they are made for best quality.

Notes

*For me this was about 2 apples. I recommend using an apple you enjoy eating; I used Gala apples that are neither too sweet nor too tart (I didn’t enjoy Granny Smith apples in this recipe)

**I like to use apple cider because it imparts a subtle, apple-y flavor into the glaze, but if you don’t already have any on hand water or milk will work well. If your glaze is still too thick after combining your ingredients, add additional liquid 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. If it is too thin, add additional powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time until correct consistency is reached. If you don’t feel like making a glaze, these could instead be dusted with powdered sugar or rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar after frying.

Nutrition

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

This recipe was originally published September 24th, 2018. Updated to include more helpful tips, recipe remains the same!

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