Homemade Apple Fritters

Homemade Apple Fritters are fried doughnuts filled with apples and cinnamon, coated with an easy three-ingredient glaze. Serve warm for a delicious snack or dessert.

Originally posted in October 2021. Updated in October 2024.

These doughnuts have all the warmth of fall baking. Serve these for a snack, dessert, or a treat. Sometimes we like to eat these for breakfast with coffee or a glass of milk.

What is an Apple Fritter?

A quick search for the history of Apple Fritters will give you all kinds of results. Some say Apple Fritters date back to the Romans, others say Medieval England. But if you ask a Canadian, you may get, “Tim Horton’s” since many Canadians enjoy an apple fritter alongside a double-double.

An apple fritter is a fried doughnut filled with bits of apple and tons of flavour. The flavours come from the spices added to the apples and the dough. Fritters are also coated with a sweet glaze.

Ingredients For Homemade Apple Fritters

This recipe is broken down into three parts: the filling, the donut, and the glaze. Vegetable oil is also needed to fry these doughnuts.

Apple Filling:

• Apples. For the best results, we use Granny Smith apples because of their tartness and how they hold their shape as they cook.
• Lemon juice. Used to keep the apples from browning.
• Butter. Salted butter is our choice.
• Brown sugar. Golden/yellow/light brown sugar is our go-to.
• Cornstarch. This is used to thicken the filling.
• Cinnamon. A little goes a long way with cinnamon, and it complements the apples.
• Nutmeg. This spice adds a touch of nutty flavour to the filling.

Dough:

• Yeast. Make sure it is active and not expired.
• Warm water. Around 110 degrees Fahrenheit is great for dry active yeast.
• Warm milk. Heat milk to the same temperature as the water.
• White sugar. This type of sugar works best with yeast to help it rise.
• Eggs. Large-sized eggs are best for baking.
• All-purpose flour. Measuring the flour properly is crucial for this kind of dough. Use the scoop and level method to measure flour.
• Cinnamon.
• Nutmeg.
• Salt.

Glaze:

• Confectioner’s sugar. It is best to sift the sugar before measuring to remove any clumps.
• Milk.
• Vanilla extract.

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Tips for making Apple Fritters

The apples for this recipe are cooked into a sauce that resembles apple pie filling. You can use canned apple pie filling as a shortcut if you like and skip the filling preparation in the recipe. If the apple chunks in the filling are large, they may have to be mashed down a bit or chopped into smaller pieces.

For the apples, I like to use Granny Smith. The tartness of the apples mixed with the sweetness of the glaze works well together. The tart and sweet flavours complement each other in this recipe.

A thermometer to check the oil temperature is an easy way to help keep the oil at 375°F so the fritters cook evenly. The kind that stays in the pot works best.

Tips For Glazing Fritters

For the glaze, it is easier to coat the fritters while they are still warm. Also, the glaze is easier to use when it is warm. I like to keep it warm by making it in my rice cooker. Setting the rice cooker on the keep warm setting allows the glaze to stay warm without it cooking. A small slow cooker works as well.

Serving and Storing Apple Fritters

These Apple Fritters are best served warm. Leftover fritters can be warmed in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds.

Keep Apple Fritters in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Placing a sheet of waxed paper between layers will help keep the fritters from sticking together.

If you would like to make these doughnuts and keep them for longer, freeze the fritters before glazing them. Thaw them at room temperature before glazing.

For another type of apple donut, try our Apple Cider Doughnuts.

Have you made these fritters? Let us know below in the comments.

Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Apple Fritters

Sweet with tart pieces of apples, these apple fritters are a fall treat worth the effort.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Rising Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Keyword: Apples, Doughnuts

Equipment

• Deep Fry Thermometer
• Stand Mixer

Ingredients

• vegetable oil for frying

Apple Filling

• 6 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and cubed
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 6 Tbsp butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Dough

• 1 Tbsp yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1½ cups warm milk
• ½ cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6-7 cups flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt

Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Apple Filling

• Pour lemon juice over apple cubes, toss to coat, set aside
• Melt butter in a large skillet, over medium heat.
• Add apple cubes to melted butter
• Cook to soften apples, about 3-4 minutes, stirring.
• Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Continue cooking 1 minute.
• Stir cornstarch into mixture and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes until thickened and apples are soft but not mushy.

Dough

• In the bowl of stand mixer, stir yeast, warm water and 1 tsp of the white sugar together.
• Let yeast activate for 5 minutes or until foamy.
• On low speed, stir in warm milk and sugar.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium between additions.
• Add cinnamon and nutmeg to one cup of flour.
• Knead in flour, one cup at a time with mixer set to medium speed. (Use Dough hook for this step and remaining steps)
• Continue to add flour until dough starts pulling away from sides.
• When dough starts to form a ball, add apple filling.
• Knead 5 minutes, adding more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if dough is sticking to sides of bowl. (You want the dough to form a ball)
• Cover bowl with a tea towel and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

Frying Apple Fritters

• When dough is almost done rising, start heating oil to 375°F
• Mix together glaze ingredients and place either on top of double boiler or in a slow cooker on warm.
• Punch down dough
• Using pieces of dough a little larger than a golf ball, and flatten to about ½ inch thick
• Place one piece of dough at a time in hot oil, cooking about three to four pieces at a time.
• Cook 2-3 minutes per side or until golden on both sides.
• Remove from oil and let stand 1 minute before dipping in the glaze
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• Place glazed fritters on a wire rack and let cool slightly.
• Serve warm.