These apple fritters are light, crisp, and packed with juicy apple bits in every bite. The spiced batter fries up golden in just minutes, and a simple cider glaze ties it all together with a hint of sweetness. You don’t need any fancy tools, just a Dutch oven, a candy thermometer, and a bit of patience as you fry each batch. They’re a little indulgent, a lot delicious, and perfect for serving with a cup of your favorite hot beverage.
Ingredients Needed
Fritters
- Granny Smith apples
- all-purpose flour – remember to lightly spoon into a measuring cup and level with a knife. Flour easily compacts. Scooping flour straight from the bag can pack in too much, making baked goods dry or dense. Lightly spooning it into the cup and leveling with a knife gives you an accurate measurement for soft, tender results every time.
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- apple cider – the non-alcoholic, murky, dark apple juice that you can find in produce departments and roadside stands; if you can’t find the stuff in the gallon jugs, go for something like Simply Apple
- large eggs
- butter
- peanut oil – or other oil suitable for cooking at high temperatures
Glaze
- powdered sugar
- apple cider
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
How to Make Apple Fritters
- Peel, core, and chop apples into 1/4″ pieces, then spread the prepared apples in a single layer on paper towels, patting them dry.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
- Whisk cider, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl.
- Stir the apples into the flour mixture, and add in wet ingredients just until incorporated.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven until it reaches 350°F.
- Carefully drop 1/3 cup of batter into the oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry and adjust burner as necessary, keeping the oil between 325-350°F.
- Cook 2 – 3 minutes per side until golden brown. Carefully remove from the hot oil and allow to drain on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
- Whisk together glaze ingredients. When the fritters have cooled for 5 minutes, dip the top half of each fritter into the glaze and return to the cooling rack.
- Let set for 10 minutes.
Storage & Other Tips
- Storage
- Room‑temperature storage (best):
Store cooled fritters in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 2 days. - Refrigeration (okay for longer):
Keep fritters in the fridge for up to 4–5 days, but take them out to come to room temperature before serving to restore texture. - Freezing (works well):
Wrap individual fritters tightly after completely cooled, freeze for up to 2 months, and reheat straight from frozen.
- Room‑temperature storage (best):
- Reheating
- Oven: Reheat at 350°F for 5–10 minutes (oven) or ~300°F for 10 minutes (toaster/convection oven) to restore crispiness.
- Skillet method: Warm gently in a dry skillet over medium-high heat (~1 minute per side) to refresh the crunch.
- Air fryer: Reheat frozen fritters in the air fryer at 375°F for about 5 minutes or until heated through and crisp outside.
- Make-ahead: Fry your fritters and let them cool completely before freezing or storing—don’t glaze until just before serving to keep them crisp.
- Dropping the batter: if the batter is sticking to the inside of your measuring cup while frying, try greasing the inside of your cup with some spray oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crisp, tart apples like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp hold their shape and balance the sweetness perfectly. Softer apples can turn mushy when fried.
These are definitely best fried for that classic crispy outside and soft inside. Baking won’t give you the same texture, but if you’re determined, try a donut muffin recipe instead!
If it’s runny, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it thickens slightly. If it’s too thick, add a splash of milk to loosen it up. You want it thick enough to coat the apples but still scoopable.
Make sure your oil is hot enough—around 350°F. Too cool and the fritters soak up oil; too hot and they’ll burn on the outside before cooking through.
They’re best fresh, but you can fry them earlier in the day and warm them up in the oven right before serving. Hold off on the glaze until you’re ready to eat!
If the fritters are too hot when you glaze them, the icing will melt. Let them cool for a few minutes first so the glaze sticks beautifully.
Apple Fritters
Equipment
Ingredients
Fritters
- 12 ounces Granny Smith apples about 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼" pieces
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into a measuring cup and leveled with a knife or 260g
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup apple cider the dark, murky stuff sold in gallon jugs in the fall, not the alcoholic beverage or the light, clear apple juice that is sometimes called cider. If you can't find fresh cider, Simply Apple is a good substitute and available year-round.
- 2 eggs, large lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 3 cups peanut oil or other oil suitable for cooking at high temperatures
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar 8 ounces
- ¼ cup apple cider
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Fritters
- To make the fritters, spread the prepared apples in a single layer on paper towels and pat dry.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
- Whisk the cider, eggs, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Stir the apples into the flour mixture and stir in the wet ingredients until incorporated.
- Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees (use a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer to check.)
- Use a ⅓ cup measuring cup to carefully drop batter into the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan (I can't make more than 3 at a time). Fry, adjusting the burner as necessary, to keep the oil between 325-350 degrees.
- Cook about 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Carefully remove from the hot oil and allow to drain on the wire rack.
Glaze
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, apple cider, cinnamon, and nutmeg. When the fritters have cooled for 5 minutes, dip the top half of each fritter into the glaze and return to the cooling rack. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes.
Questions & Reviews
Just made these bad boys after succeeding on Dietbet!!! My father in laws favorite treat our Fritter’s! I just made these for his 88th birthday! My husband is impressed, let’s hope Grandpa is! I have never made a bad recipe from you girls!!! Keep the recipes coming I love them and you two
CONGRATULATIONS on winning DietBet!!! Thanks so much for your sweet words!!
I am a fan of your recipes, and tried making these yesterday (which may have been a bad life decision). They were a huge hit! Thanks for the great recipe! They were so much better than others I had tried.
Oh, yay!! I’m so glad!! I’m here for you in all your bad life decisions, haha.
Canola oil okay to fry these in or should I buy the peanut oil? Going to try making these for conference this weekend!
My hesitation with canola (aside from the mention of the word bringing some very interesting comments out of the woodwork, hahaha) is that it doesn’t always withstand those high temps very well. Sometimes it does and it’s fine, but sometimes it starts smelling fishy and then whatever you’re cooking tastes like fish. Which is fine. If you’re frying fish. 🙂 So if you do decide to use canola, keep an eye on the temperature and don’t let it get too high and if your house starts smelling like Skippers, proceed with caution. 🙂
Thank you! I forgot to even look for peanut oil at the store last night, so canola it was. Thankfully there was no fishy smells going on!
I used to love pumpkin, and then after my second pregnancy my tastes completely changed! I still like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but other than that I’m not a huge fan anymore. These apple fritters look divine!!
I used to love everything pumpkin. Now after being queasy with first trimester during the holidays, it isn’t my favorite. The only thing I look forward to is my great grandmother’s pumpkin pie. :0)
Question: Could I use coconut oil to fry these bad boys?
Yes and no…if you want to deep fry with coconut oil, it needs to be the refined coconut oil, not the virgin coconut oil that’s so good for you. That’s because the smoke point for the virgin coconut oil is much lower, so once you get the oil hot enough to fry, it’s going to start smoking.
Good to know! Thanks! And the peanut oil doesn’t taste peanut-y right?
Nope, not at all–in fact, one of the reasons peanut oil is so widely used is because it’s pretty flavorless. 🙂
I mean, seriously, can I just pay you to make those and ship them to me? This should be in your online store 😉
Apple fritters are my FAVORITE donut!! I only discovered them 4 years ago, but now it’s hard to order anything else when I go to a donut shop. There’s a little place near my house that makes the BEST fritters ever, if we ever move away from hear I’ll have to try your recipe. For now I’m just glad I don’t live in Louisiana and can drive 10 minutes down the road and order a little piece of heaven!
Quick question – if we are overseas and the only thing remotely resembling cider that we can get is plain clear apple juice, can we use it or will it not work? Do I need to make any adjustments?
I would maybe boil it down a little to intensify the flavor. 🙂
Love all the talent! Thanks for sharing so many wonderful recipes. Can’t wait to try the apple fritters.
Made these today to rave reviews. Especially liked the glaze! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m so glad!!! Thank you!