Apple Fritters

These Apple Fritters are made with a simple batter that's fully loaded with granny smith apples. Easy to prep and fry, this recipe might be dangerous to have in your repertoire! 

Guys, I’ve been craving apple fritters since last year. LAST YEAR. An entire year spent imagining myself biting into a sugary, slightly crispy, fall-flavor filled pastry. Like, multiple times a week. I almost caught myself drooling at my desk a few times.

I think about apple fritters way more than is probably normal and it was starting to scare me a little bit. To the point where I finally sucked it up and just made my own. 100% worth it and way easier than I thought they’d be. Maybe even too easy? As in, whenever the craving hits, I might find myself back in the kitchen making more.

When I started chopping the apples for these bad boys, Chris walked by me in the kitchen and said, “wow, you’re like obsessed with apples or something right now, huh?” And the answer is yes. I cannot get enough of apple-based desserts, salads, and more. Plus, an apple sliced with peanut butter has been my snack of the moment. September is my favorite month in life and this Boston September has been one of the best yet. Seriously amazing. I was walking to my friends’ house after work last night and couldn’t get over how perfect the temperature was. I want to bottle this month up and carry it with me forever!

It is the PERFECT apple fritter weather and I suggest whipping these up with the windows open in your kitchen, so you can feel a cool breeze blowing in. If you don’t have windows in your kitchen, just step outside a couple times. When you come back in, you’ll be hit with an apple spice fragrance so lovely that you will want to bottle that up, too.

APPLE FRITTERS RECIPE

The apple fritters recipe I used is from Cook’s Country magazine… I wasn’t about to attempt my own version before I mastered the basic recipe and I figured that if anyone could teach me, it would be America’s Test Kitchen.

Any time a recipe involves frying, I feel like it sounds a whole lot more intimidating than it might be. When I’m telling you this recipe was pretty easy, I mean it! Peeling and chopping the apples was maybe the most difficult part.

Here’s an important step that Cook’s Country called out, which most other recipes don’t. Place your chopped apples on a paper towel lined baking sheet and pat dry with paper towels. This will remove excess moisture from the apples, which could cause fritters to get soggy.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir apples into the flour mixture until they’re well-coated.

In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together cider, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

Then stir the cider mixture into the flour/apple mixture until just incorporated.

Now you’re ready to get your frying on! In a dutch oven or large pot, heat oil (I used canola oil) over medium-high heat until the oil temperature reaches 350 degrees F.

Using a ⅓-cup, scoop batter and transfer into the oil. The recipe recommends doing 5 at a time, but I did 3 since I was nervous about them all touching each other and sticking together. Once the batter is in the oil, press down on it lightly with the back of a spoon to flatten. I probably should have done this more.

Fry the fritters, trying your best to keep the oil at 350 degrees, and no lower than 325 degrees. You should flip the fritters after 2-3 minutes and let them fry an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side.

Once golden, transfer the fritters to a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Make sure you bring the oil temperature back up to 350 degrees before adding the remaining batter to it. Let the fritters cool a bit before icing.

I should mention that Chris walked into the kitchen at this point and said “ooh, fried fish?” UM. I wanted to yell, “DO YOU NOT SMELL THE DELICIOUS APPLE SPICE FRAGRANCE THROUGHOUT THIS HOUSE?!”

OK, so admittedly, these did look a little like fried fish at first… they totally need some icing. But don't worry because the apple fritter icing is easy to make!

Just whisk all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl until smooth.

Drizzle each fritter with about a tablespoon of glaze. Let glaze set for at least 10 minutes. I prefer to chill the fritters because for some reason, I love my apple fritters nice and cold!

These were EXACTLY what I wanted and completely satisfied my year-long craving! Obviously this was my first time making apple fritters, but I’m really glad I chose the Cook’s Country recipe since these were so fantastic.

Of course, my favorite thing about them is that they are FULLY loaded with apples. There's nothing worse than an apple fritter that tastes like apple spice, but doesn't actually seem to have many apples in it.

When it comes to apples, I’m very much a mac girl. But for baking, I do think granny smiths often work best. They have a knack at being sweet and tart at the same time.

I also love the fact that the icing sinks into all the crevices of the fritters before it hardens. Nooks and crannies, if you will.

It is SO dangerous that I now have this recipe in my repertoire. SO SO dangerous. Next time I make them, I’m thinking about some sort of caramel drizzle? But then I think I might miss the icing too much. Ahhh, such a struggle.

These apple fritters be my new favorite thing about fall. But honestly, there’s not much about fall food I don’t love. Apple cider doughnuts?? I need to get my hands on some of those STAT. Even candy apples make me insanely happy (my teeth? not so much).

Also, I’d like to start a petition making September last for two months. Please?

What’s your favorite fall treat?

For  more ways to enjoy fall apples, try my Pumpkin Pie Applesauce or my Apple, Fennel, and Bacon Chicken Salad. I also really want to make this Honeycrisp Apple Cardamom Cake from The View from Great Island!

📖 Recipe

Apple Fritters

These Apple Fritters are made with a simple batter that's fully loaded with granny smith apples. Easy to prep and fry, this recipe might be dangerous to have in your repertoire! 

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Apple Desserts, Apple Recipes, Fall Desserts, Pastry Recipes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Makes: 12 apple fritters

Ingredients

• 2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into ¼" pieces
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¾ cup apple cider
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups vegetable or peanut oil
• 1 batch apple fritter glaze (recipe below)

Apple Cider Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• ¼ cup apple cider
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions

• Place chopped apples on a paper towel lined baking sheet and pat dry with paper towels. This will remove excess moisture from the apples and keep apple fritters from getting soggy.
  
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir apples into the flour mixture until they’re well-coated.
• In a separate medium size bowl, whisk together cider, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
• Stir the cider mixture into the flour/apple mixture until just incorporated.
• In a dutch oven or a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat until the oil temperature reaches 350 degrees F.
• Using a ⅓-cup, scoop batter and transfer into the oil. Only fry a few fritters at a time to ensure they're not touching each other in the oil. Once the batter is in the oil, press down on it lightly with the back of a spoon to flatten.
• Fry the fritters, trying your best to keep the oil at 350 degrees and no lower than 325 degrees. Flip the fritters after 2-3 minutes and let them fry an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side.
• Once golden, transfer the fritters to a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Make sure you bring the oil temperature back up to 350 degrees before adding the remaining batter to it. Let the fritters cool a bit before drizzling each of them with about 1 Tbsp icing. Let glaze set for about 10 minutes.

Apple Cider Glaze

• Whisk all of the ingredients together in a medium size bowl until smooth.

Notes

• Recipe from Cook's Country.

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