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
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!
Looking for more donut shop favorites? I have lots of donut recipes to choose from! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook This recipe was originally published September 24th, 2018. Updated to include more helpful tips, recipe remains the same!
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