These old fashioned Apple Fritters are skillet fried and covered in an irresistible vanilla glaze. You'll love nibbling on these homemade donuts while sipping coffee or cider with friends!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time4 minutesmins
Total Time19 minutesmins
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple fritter recipe, easy apple fritters, fritter, homemade apple fritters
3cupsfinely diced appleabout 3-4 apples peeled and cored
Vegetable oil for frying*
For the Glaze:
1cuppowdered sugar
½teaspoonvanilla extract
2Tablespoonsmilk
Instructions
Add 1 ½ to 2 inches of vegetable oil to a large skillet or saucepan and heat on medium high heat to 350℉.
While the oil is heating, make the fritter batter. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the milk, eggs and vanilla.
Fold in the apples and stir until just combined.
When the oil has reached 350℉, it’s ready. Using 2 spoons, add about 1/4 cup of fritter batter to the oil. The two spoons will help make a fritter that is a little flatter, making it easier to evenly cook the fritter. Fry each side about 2 minutes before turning them over to brown the other side. Continue to check the oil temperature throughout the cooking time with the thermometer.
Check the doneness of the fritter by inserting a sharp knife into the middle. If the knife comes out clean, they are done. Use a slotted spoon to remove the fritters and transfer them to a paper towel to drain.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over warm fritters.
Notes
STORAGE: These are best eaten right after they are made and glazed. They don’t reheat well.
Special tools - a digital food thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. Keeping your oil at temp will result in a perfectly done fritter that’s not uncooked in the middle or overdone on the outside.
Use 2 spoons to spread out the batter into a flatter fritter. The more compact the fritter is, the harder it will be to make sure it’s cooked evenly and not raw in the middle.
Finely chop the apples in ¼” inch pieces. I used 1 granny smith and 3 gala apples. I would stick to the sweeter varieties of apples.
If they are getting too done on the outside and not done on the inside, turn the heat down.
OIL AMOUNT- I used a large 12” skillet when making the batches - I could get about 5 per batch and still have room for the fritters to float around. Make sure there is enough oil so that the fritter is floating, not touching the bottom and not touching the other fritters. This is why the amount of oil will vary.
Donuts holes- could also make small donut hole sized fritters, but dropping less batter into the oil.
Other options instead of glaze - toss them in cinnamon sugar or dust with powdered sugar.