I love ordering apple fritters at old fashioned donut shops. It’s one of the best indicators of a great donut shop. A great fritter is fried very well, has a super crispy crust is enrobed in a thin, but obvious sweet glaze. The apples are cooked all the way through and it’s never greasy.
I really wanted to take a crack at making apple fritters at home, but was a little scared off because I’ve had some bad luck trying to fry donuts in the past. I’ve ended up with dense fried dough instead of the light and fluffy donuts of my dreams.
The Ultimate Internet Apple Fritter Recipe?
But, I scoured the Internet for recipes anyway. And what I found is that there are dozens of ways to make apple fritters, so I cobbled together the techniques that I thought were best into this one, uber-Internet apple fritter recipe. I tested it for a video, and this fritter recipe was a success.
♥ Related: Apple Upside-Down Biscuit Cake
The best part about this apple fritter recipe is that it’s only slightly more difficult than making pancakes. And as long as you keep your oil to the right temperature, these fry up super nicely!
Note, while these are reasonably edible the day after you fry them, these fritters are at their very best about 20 minutes after frying and glazing. I made these in the late afternoon and really wished that I subbed dinner for donuts!
♥ Related: Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Video: Watch Me Make This Recipe
Apple Fritters with Chai Spice Glaze
Ingredients
Fritters
- 3 apples peeled, cored, and diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 oz apple brandy
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- 2 large eggs separated
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- ½ cup apple juice
Glaze
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp Chai spice
- 2-4 tbsp apple juice
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp of butter. Cook the butter over medium heat until it turns slightly brown and starts to smell nutty. Add the apples to the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the brown sugar, apple brandy, and lemon juice. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the liquid in the pan reduces and becomes syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and apple pie spice.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, melted butter, and apple juice.
- In a large bowl, using a mixer or by hand, whip the egg whites to medium peaks.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir the batter together until just combined and there are only a few streaks of dry flour left.Fold in the cooled apples.Stir about 1/4 of the whipped egg whites into the batter to lighten it up. Then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter until just combined.
- Add about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a high sided skillet, cast iron skillet, or Dutch oven. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until the oil registers 365F degrees on a candy thermometer. Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter into the hot oil. Flatten slightly and fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side until the fritters are a deep golden brown. Fry about 3 fritters at a time so as not to crowd the pan. Drain on a rack over a sheet pan so that the oil drains away from the fried fritters. Let fritters cool for about 5 minutes while you make the glaze.
- Whisk together the confectioners sugar, Chai spice, vanilla extract, and apple juice until smooth and a consistency that you can drizzle over the fritters. Then glaze the fritters. You can drizzle, dip, or brush the glaze onto the fritters. A silicone brush makes this an efficient and clean process.
Notes
- Use a sweet tart apple variety like a Macintosh or Honey Crisp.
- If you don’t have apple pie spice, use 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ginger, and 1/8 tsp of nutmeg.
- To make whisking the egg whites quicker, use room temperature eggs.
- You can replace the apple juice in this recipe with apple cider.
Things You Might Need for This Recipe
Chai Spice Blend
Apple Pie Spice
Silicone Pastry Brush
Disher Scoops
Cooking & Cooling Racks
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Fritters were really good, especially right after they were fried. Reminded me of some fried donuts I get every year in the Adirondacks I love.