Apple Fritters
Homemade apple fritters made with yeast-risen dough folded together with juicy cinnamon apples, and finished with a maple glaze are the ultimate fall treat! This recipe is more do-able than you might think, and totally worth the effort.
Apple fritters are one of my favorite treats from the doughnut shop, especially during the fall. They’re soft and tender on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside, with lots of nooks and crannies for the glaze to hide, and plenty of cinnamon-spiced apples throughout.
Do you love fritters too? Just you wait till you fry a batch in your own kitchen. They’re so fresh and delicious you might shed a tear (I did, really). Seriously, they’re that good. A must-make! This recipe makes a large batch, perfect for sharing with friends and family.
Table of Contents
- A special note about this recipe
- 3 parts to these fritters
- Ingredients you'll need
- How to make apple fritters
- Recipe FAQs
- More fall apple recipes
- Get the recipe
A special note about this recipe
This recipe was originally published as a sourdough apple fritter recipe using Red Star Yeast’s Platinum Instant Sourdough. I still love the product, which combines yeast + sourdough culture, but I have re-worded the recipe to include traditional active-dry yeast as they can be used here interchangeably. Either will be amazing in these fritters!
3 parts to these fritters
This recipe has a few components, sure, but they add up to one amazing dessert!
- Soft and tender dough. I use my favorite yeast-raised doughnut recipe as a base. It’s an enriched yeast dough, which means it includes milk, eggs, butter, and sugar for richness and flavor.
- Soft caramelized apples. They’re cooked over the stove in butter, sugar and cinnamon.
- Quick maple glaze. Made from powdered sugar, real maple syrup, vanilla and salt. It firms up into a crisp shiny shell once set.
The soft dough ends up chopped up and folded together with the apple chunks to form a really messy disk that’s deep-fried to golden perfection before getting dunked into the maple glaze. It’s a little but of a messy and unique process, but I promise it’s not hard. You can do it!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s everything you’ll need for the fritter dough, plus vegetable oil for frying, and a few extra ingredients like maple syrup and powdered sugar for the glaze. You can find the full recipe in the recipe card below.
How to make apple fritters
- Prepare the dough and let it rise. You can knead by hand or use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (my preference!). Choose a warm place to let it rise.
- Cook the apples. While the dough is rising, cook the apples in a little butter, sugar, and cinnamon till slightly soft.
- Roll out the dough and top with apples. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, cover half of it with the cooked apples, and fold the other half of the dough over the apples.
- Cut and shape. Use a bench scraper to cut it into strips about 1 inch apart. Then make another cut at a perpendicular or slanted angle. It’s going to be messy, and that’s okay! The goal is lots of sticky bits of uneven dough and apples.
- Shape into fritters and rise again. Divide into 15 equal(ish) portions, gently squishing the apples and dough chunks together so they stick (we don’t want them to fall apart during frying), then flatten slightly into a disk. Let them rise until puffy for about 30 minutes.
- Fry the apple fritters— Preheat vegetable oil to 375°F in a large pot and fry fritters in the hot oil 2-3 at a time, cooking for a few minutes on each side until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider strainer and place on paper towels to drain.
- Dip fritters in the maple glaze. While the fritters are frying, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze. While the fritters are still warm, drop them into the glaze and flip them over so that every part is covered.
- Let the fritters set. Put the fritters on a cooling rack set over a sheet pan to catch drips. The glaze needs just a few minutes to set up, if you can stand the wait.
- Enjoy! The fritters are best devoured immediately and should be enjoyed the day they’re fried.
baking tip:Deep frying tips
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot, such as Dutch oven.
- Fill it with at least 3 inches of oil so that everything has enough room to float.
- Use a thermometer so you know the exact temperature of the oil.
- Fry at 350-375°F (per recipe instructions) and adjust heat as needed to maintain that temp. If the oil is too cool, it’ll take longer and your treats will soak up more oil. If the oil is too hot, you risk burning them.
- Work in batches as needed to not crowd the pot or cause the oil temp to drop too much.
- Protect yourself! Wear an apron to protect your clothing from any splatters, and use a slotted spoon to flip them over and remove them.
- When you’re done, turn off the heat and let the oil cool to room temperature completely. Pour through a funnel into a container with a secure lid and discard (or save to use for frying later). Do not pour oil down the drain.
Recipe FAQs
You want apples that are tart, firm, and won’t break down during cooking. Granny smith, jonagold, jonathan, gala, honeycrisp, and pink lady/cripps pink are all great varieties to choose from.
These fritters really are best served fresh! But you can prepare some of the components ahead of time. The cooked apples will keep in the fridge for a few days, and you can let your dough rise overnight in the fridge (either bulk rise or the final rise after shaping the fritters). When ready to fry, let the dough come to room temp and continue where you left off.
I highly recommend following the frying instructions for a true fritter experience, but it is possible to bake them. Bake them at 375°F on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden, then drizzle the glaze over the top.
More fall apple recipes
Get the recipe
Apple Fritters
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup (227 grams) milk , whole or 2% preferred
- â…“ cup (68 grams) butter
- 3½-4 cups (455-520 grams) all-purpose flour , as needed
- 1 packet (7 grams) active-dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Vegetable oil , as needed for frying
Cinnamon apples:
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) butter
- 4 cups (450 grams) apples , peeled, cored, and chopped small (about 4 medium apples)
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Maple glaze:
- 4 cups (450 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) boiling water
Instructions
Prepare dough:
- Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat until butter is melted. Let cool about 5 minutes (if mixture is steaming, it's too hot) until 120-130°F.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add warm milk mixture and eggs and mix until it forms a wet dough.
- Add remaining flour ¼ cup at a time while kneading on medium-low speed until dough clears the sides of the bowl but still sticks slightly at the bottom. It should feel tacky to the touch. You may not need all 4 cups of the flour, do not add excess flour or your fritters will be dry and tough.
- Continue to knead as needed until dough is smooth and elastic, and when pulled it should stretch for several inches before breaking. If it breaks sooner, keep kneading. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place somewhere warm to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Prepare cinnamon apples:
- While dough is resting, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes until apples are softened and juices are thickened. Set aside to cool slightly.
Assemble fritters:
- Gently punch down the dough and reshape into a ball. Let rest for about 10 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a large rectangle (roughly 12×15 inches but no need to be exact.
- Spread cinnamon apples over one half of the dough lengthwise, leaving a one inch border. Fold the other half of the dough over the apples. Use a bench scraper (or a pizza wheel) to cut the dough and apples in strips about 1 inch wide.
- Cut the dough and apples again at a perpendicular or slanted angle. The goal is lots of uneven chunks of dough. Gather the dough chunks and apples back into a row.
- Use the bench scraper to divide the row into 15 even portions. Use your hands to smash the dough and apples of each portion together so that it will all stick and hold (if they aren't stuck together, they'll come apart during frying). Flatten and shape into a disk. Place on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Fry fritters:
- While prepped fritters are rising, add vegetable oil to a heavy bottom pot (like a dutch oven) to at least 3 inches deep and insert candy/deep fry thermometer. Set over medium high heat and heat to 375°F. This may take 15-20 minutes.
- Once oil is hot, fry 2-3 fritters at a time (depending on size of pot) for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove fritters from oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a sheet pan lined with paper towels.
Dip in glaze:
- While oil is heating, prepare glaze. Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, salt, vanilla and boiling water in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Glaze will be thin.
- Dip warm fritters in glaze, flipping them over to make sure they are completely covered. Transfer to a wire rack set over a sheet pan to set up.
- Enjoy apple fritters while they are warm! And they are best the day they're made, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
This recipe was originally published in October 2019 in partnership with Red Star Yeast, a brand I still use and love! Thank you for supporting collaborations with brands I believe in, which allows me to continue to bring you fresh new content. All opinions are always my own.
Try making homemade apple fritters this fall! With yeast-risen dough, cinnamon apples, and a delightful maple glaze, they’re an irresistible treat. The recipe is easier than you think, and you’ll love the freshness.
Oops saw your comment on baking. Â Going to make your recipe without making individual pieces. Â Baking not frying.Â
Wondering if these can be baked vs fried? Â
packet Red Star Yeast Platinum Instant Sourdough
I didn’t know this was a thing.
It is, and it’s a great product! Not quite the same flavor as you get from a sourdough starter, but very delicious.
This is a great recipe must try it at home.
Title misleading, this isn’t true sourdough , there’s commercial yeast in it.
I’d like to use sourdough starter, if I were to do that how much would I use?
I haven’t tested this with a sourdough starter so I couldn’t say. You could try a similar ratio to bread recipes you have tried.
Someone commented they used 50g of sourdough starter.
Hey, Thanks for writing this kinda content. i loved to reading your content. it’s smooth content.
Could you bake these?
I haven’t tried so I can’t advise on that, sorry!
For the Sourdough Apple Fritter recipe, what kind and how many apples do you use? Thanks!
Made this for the desert last night and must say the whole family was surprised looking at the final result. No one believed it was homemade and was made by me, all thanks to you for sharing the recipe for this gem of an item. Keep up the good work.
Yay! Thanks for the feedback Peter, I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe!
After a request from family to make apple fritters I found your recipe. I looked at MANY. I am a seasoned baker and I found yours to be the right combination of everything.
I bake my own sourdough bread. So i added 50 grams of starter. I don’t think it made much difference. Except that it made the dough a little bit more wet.
It was a HUGE hit. My whole family were Oohing and awing over them. And they do that over my baking. BUT, they were a little extra this time. ;D They said it was the BEST fritter they EVER had.
If you put in the time you will not regret it! I wish I doubled the batch.
Thank you so much Annalise!!!!Â
EM, did you use any instant yeast or only sourdough starter?  I was hoping to use my sourdough discard… ?
Yes I have the same question! I’d love to use only my starter and no instant yeast?
Same question as the first: can I make with regular yeast? Def can’t find sourdough yeast in small town Spain.Â
Yes, you can definitely use traditional active-dry yeast in this recipe!
After Seeing this, i am feeling hungry, great recipe, will surely going to try it.
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
Would this work with traditional yeast as well? No where locally sells this sourdough yeast and amazon won’t deliver until next week. I’d love to do it this weekend!
Yes, traditional active-dry yeast will work just fine!