Apple Fritters
Whenever The Picky Apple gets doughnuts (or donuts, however you spell it), I always request an apple fritter. Plain glazed donuts are great (and obviously the favorite choice of The Picky Apple, because they’re the plainest donut of all), chocolate glazed donuts are even better, but my favorite donut is the apple fritter. Crunchy, sweet, and melt-in-your mouth on the outside, cinnamon-y dough with apple chunks on the inside. At least, that’s the way they are made at Shipley’s, our favorite donut shop.
When I saw that Peabody and Tartelette were hosting Time to Make the Doughnuts, I knew I wanted to participate. I briefly considered making beignets, having just had Mardi Gras and New Orleans on the brain. As I mentioned in my King Cake post, I used to live in Louisiana, and whenever we went to New Orleans, we always had beignets at Cafe Du Monde at least once or twice during our stay. Ah, the smell of fried dough and coffee in the air, the tables and chairs slightly sticky from all the powdered sugar. I’ve made beignets once or twice before. Beignets are delicious and fairly simple to make, but I’ve been craving apple fritters. Besides, I’ve never made apple fritters, and there’s something really satisfying about trying/creating a new recipe that turns out well, don’t you think?  Notice how I said it’s satisfying when it turns out well.
My foray into the world of apple fritters seemed doomed from the get-go. I had lots of trouble finding a recipe. Many apple fritter recipes I ran across were for fried apple slices, which I’m sure are great, but not what I had in mind. After finding a few recipes that were close to what I was looking for, I decided to do my own thing.
The key to any good donut is lots of hot oil because after all, donuts are fried dough. I was low on oil, so decided to substitute Crisco. Substitutions already? That should be your first clue that things are about to go horribly wrong. But how bad could it be? Besides, the Crisco was butter flavored, so that should taste good, right? Right? WRONG. Very very very wrong. The first batch of apple fritters were overwhelmed by the yucky taste of artificial butter. And they were too salty. And the texture wasn’t quite right. And the powdered sugar coating didn’t stick because I waited too long. Need I go on? All in all, disastrous. The Picky Apple took one bite of his, and promptly spit it out and threw the rest in the trash. I tried so hard to like them, thought maybe they would grow on me, but they did not. I decided maybe it wasn’t meant to be….
But all weekend, I kept thinking about apple fritters, reading other entries in the doughnut event, and decided to give it one more try this afternoon with the event deadline looming. I couldn’t stand being defeated by the apple fritters. For my second attempt, I used oil and changed up my recipe a little. This batch turned out much better (because really, they couldn’t get much worse than that first batch!).  They still weren’t as good as the apple fritters from Shipley’s….not even close. But they were decent, and I’m glad I attempted donuts for this event.
Apple Fritters
Fritter:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 cup chopped apple
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Directions:  Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon. Stir in milk and egg until just combined. Fold in apple. Pour oil into skillet so that it is approximately 1 1/2 deep. Heat oil on high. Oil is ready when dough floats to top. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side. Best served warm.
Hi! I was looking online for my Cafe DuMonde recipe for Beignets and then decided that I would just put in some small apple pieces and cinnamon and came up with this particular recipe:
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 7 1/2 cups flour
3 T. cinnamon
2 apples cut into minced pieces
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
DIRECTIONS
1. Pour 1/2 cup room temperature water into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand for about 5 minutes to dissolve.
2. Combine the shortening, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over the shortening mixture and then stir in the evaporated milk. Wait for the mixture to cool down until it is lukewarm. Then, add the yeast and water mixture and beaten eggs.
3. Slowly mix in the apples, cinnamon and flour until the dough forms a ball. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Working with a small portion (a little larger than a baseball) at a time, roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut the rolled out dough into strips 2 to 3-inches wide, then cut again in the opposite direction and at an angle, making diamond shapes.
5. Heat your oil for frying in a deep and wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat to 360 degree F (180 degrees C).
6. Slide dough slowly into the oil to avoid splattering and deep fry until they puff up and are golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully remove onto a rack with paper towels underneath and allow to cool until you can handle them. Place in a clean paper bag with confectioners’ sugar and shake gently until covered generously or, use a sifter to dust the beignets with powdered sugar.
This is TRULY amazing. I hope you try it and really get what you’re looking for. I would put the milk and powdered sugar on as a glaze, like Krispy Kreme does to their hot, plain donuts.
Let me know if you make them and what you think!
Chantell
Google led me to you early this morning and so we tried these with the kids. They turned out great! I used brown sugar and (accidently) doubled it and we used coconut oil to cook them. They were perfect! Just like from the store. Some of the earlier commenters suggested that they weren’t crispy enough but I thought they were great! Maybe the extra sugar??
I did burn the first one but once I figured out to make them a little thinner so they would cook more evenly then it worked like a charm.
Thanks so much! Have a great week!
Thank you for this recipe. Looked all over for this. You make it seem so easy. Making them today 🙂 Love your blog too.
These were phenomenal; I added a 1/4 tsp ground cardamom and 1/8 tsp nutmeg to the other dry ingredients. I used peeled Honey Crisp apples; since they are a softer, juicier apple they turned out to the perfect tenderness and added a little more apple perfume. Made six tennis ball-sized fritters. My wife and I ate all but one. Oink!
Those look delicious. I, too, opt for the apple fritter at Shipley’s. Shipley’s uses a yeast dough for their fritters, though. I have yet to replicate it, but I have been trying! Congrats on not being defeated.
I’m planning to make doughnuts today with my sister and have had a hankering for apple fritters. I stumbled onto your blog while looking for recipes. I’m Bevy from over at Treasured Up and Pondered.
thanks! I’ll be back – to take a deeper look around. Nice blog… great recipes.
I made these for the first time a few days ago. I was so impressed with how good they turned out I made them at the restaurant where I work for the whole staff and they were gone within minutes! and I tripled the recipe! A+
The only thing I changed was instead of using the glaze on top, I rolled them in cinnamon/sugar.
I’m so glad you liked the apple fritters! I’ll bet they were delicious rolled in cinnamon/sugar. I’ve made some little pumpkin muffins like that and they were also gone in seconds. What a great alternative to glaze!
I am determined to make a doughnut shop worthy apple fritter! I have tried your recipe twice and still am not happy, making changes the 2nd time as you advised earlier by using less baking powder and more milk to make these less fluffy. But, now they are coming out like the density of hush puppies. Ugh. They always come out like balls and I want them to be flat like in the shop. Do you have any ideas of what I am doing wrong? Also, my husband says the apples are always to hard. I have tried Braeburn, pink lady, and golden delicious. Any advice on this either?
I know that my recipe tends to come out in balls instead of flat like the shop. The difference is that the flat apple fritters in the donut shop (at least the ones at my shop) are yeast-dough. You may want to search for a yeast-dough fritter recipe.
For the hard apples, you can always bake them ahead of time until they are just a little bit softer (but still firm enough to dice).
Hope that helps and let me know if you find a yeast-based fritter recipe that you like.
Thanks Cara! That helps me to know that I am not just totally off base with your recipe. It is good, just not flat so I will look for a yeast recipe and let you know how that comes out!
I made these apple fritter three times. Each time the outside is done but the inside is never done. What can be done to help with this problem???
My husband and I found these to be “alright.” They were good, just not doughnut-like, more like a fast fruit-bread. Maybe it is because it isn’t a yeast recipe. I don’t know. Â I made a great maple glaze to go on them, also I let the apple pieces sit in some cinnamon-sugar while I got the batter together. Â Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. I had no trouble frying them. Maybe it’s because I had a certain flavor in mind that I was going for being 8 mos pregnant, but not my favorite. I wasn’t expecting to nail doughnut shop perfection or anything, just something a tad more pleasing to my taste buds. Thanks anyways, we at least had a good time making them as a family! 🙂
I thought these were great! I sauted my apples in butter and cinnamon before to make the apples more tender. Also, I added a little bit more milk to make the mixture smoother. I made three different versions. One with cinnamon and sugar on top. One with cinnamon sugar and the powder sugar glaze drizzled on top. And one with just the glaze. After eating them all up, I’d have to say the cinnamon sugar glazed ones were my best. Of course, I may have to do a second batch for the sake of science. 😉
These were delicious! My boys and I went on a school field trip to an apple farm and wanted to make something fun with the apples they picked. Â They were gone within minutes!! May make a second batch today! Thanks 🙂
hi i made them too for the first time and if you get them too thick they dont cook in side, so my scoop is small and i spread the dough alittle in the oil befor they really start to cook,, then flip and there done,,
Never made apple fritters, this is a must try. THANKS!!!Â
I am going to make this recipe vegan on my vegan dessert show on youtube. They look amazing. Check it out youtube.com/thesweetestvegan
Nope. The apple fritters in bakeries ARE raised yeast dough, NOT the easier baking powder type. THAT is a recipe that’s hard to find. They also barely have any glaze on at all. This picture has too much glaze; it shouldn’t look white, just shiney, like a “glaze”.
Fantastic!!! Apple fritters are one of my husbands favorites and this recipe is not only scrumptious but easy. Thank you so much for sharing.
Absolutely delicious. If you are wanting bakery type fritters that are flat and crispy, this will not be the recipe for you but these are easy, delicious, and my whole family loves them. I can make these in less than a half hour and they are gone in five minutes. This recipe is really great and definitely worth trying.  I can’t imagine anyone not loving them. Don’t hesitate. thank you for sharing!
I use to live in Louisiana too, and have to say that it will be very hard to beat a shipley’s donut! Which is a shop I use to enjoy right before high school started in the mornings. Yumm, you just brought back many a memories! My daughter and I are going to be trying these today! Thanks!
I just made these today and my hubby raved over them. The only thing I did different was simmer the apples in brandy. I’m printing out several copies so I can’t lose it. A real winner. Thanx for the recipe!
good for how many servings?
Wanted an apple fritter and wanted it fast. These were perfect and super tasty! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, we have a place here that makes great apple fritters but they are closed during the winter and miss eating them. I did change it a little. There was not enough apple taste, so I added 1/2 cup of apple sauce, 1 1/4 cup of flour and 2 cups of apples.
Just tried this recipe with my grandson. Â We had lots of fun making them – and now I have to hide them – from myself! Â We’ll make this again right after I figure out who I can give them away to!
Just add a yeast mixture (add a little vit. C in the yeast mix) to this recipe and let it rise. The use of baking powder with the yeast will work great. I use to bake bread from scratch using self-rising flour and yeast mixture. This makes great bread. Also, we are diabetic so I will use Nectresse or Splenda.
I will flatten the fritters so they will cook well. I will use sugar free maple syrup for the glaze. Let me know if anyone else will make these this way. BTW, why do you use milk instead of apple juice or water? Thanks for this recipe!
Instead of using all milk I use l/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate then add powdered milk to this. It adds a lot of flavor without messing up the recipe.
I, too, had trouble finding just the right kind of apple fritter recipe, until I saw yours. Perfect. Just what I was looking for. Thanks!
just got your recipe, gonna try it today , ill let you know how it goes.
These look like the ones they sell in the grocery store bakery departments. Are they similar to those. I like the texture of those but sometimes the flavor is less than great. I’m going to try these…they look yummy!
I’ve noticed no one puts raisins in their apple fritters. Up here in Pa most recipes call for raisins. I also found some when I was in Los Angeles that had raisins in. I really like them that way.
These were delicious! I looked through so many recipes and couldn’t find the courage to do the ones with never-ending lists of ingredients. This recipe is SO simple, and in no way lacks taste. The cinnamon, the sweetness, the apples. (Screams fall) I couldn’t imagine what more could be added, it’s perfect. The only thing is I kind of ignored the ‘add dough to oil in teaspoons’, wanting big fritters. But definitely don’t make them too big or you’ll end up with uncooked center. THANKS for sharing this recipe! x
Ohmyglob, this was amazing!
I made it grain free (allergies) using almond, potato and tapioca starch, and sweet potato flour, and fried them right up.
I’ve never tried a fair or bakery fritter so I have nothing to compare this too, but all I know is it’s a fried sweet that got eaten before I could glaze it.
Would make again.
Don’t cook on high. Fritters will be cooked in the outside and raw on the inside. I would suggest med low. Thank goodness I cooked 4 at a time.