Old-Fashioned Apple Fritters

If you love the light, sweet taste of a donut but you’re in the mood for the flavor of apples and cinnamon, this is the recipe for you! These Old Fashioned Apple Fritters are out of this world!

What is an Apple Fritter?

Apple fritters are prevalent in the Amish country. Basically, they’re donuts with apples inside, covered in a sweet powdered sugar glaze.

Because you probably equate apple fritters with the Amish you might assume that they got their start there. That’s not completely true.

According to Mobile Cuisine:

The batter-frying technique was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese and Spanish in the late 16th century; the tempura that developed, a mixed fry of shrimps, herbs, and vegetables, has been totally incorporated into the cuisine.

One of the earliest recipes for Americanized Apple Fritters dates back to Martha Washington during her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis. Of course, Martha fried hers in lard. I opted for vegetable oil. You can use any oil you like but choose one that won’t leave an aftertaste.

I knew I wanted to try to make these easy Amish treats but didn’t have a recipe handy. My mama left me her recipe book when she passed away but there’s no recipe for apple fritters in there, so I did a bit of searching on the web.

In doing so, I stumbled across a video on YouTube from Collard Valley Cooks. Then I perused the web looking for a recipe simple enough for someone like me, a person who had never made fritters. . .ever.

I found a recipe at Yummly that looked simple enough so I chose that one. I’m so glad I took the time to learn how to make this delicious sweet treat. You will be, too!

Ingredients for Apple Fritters

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick peek at the ingredients you’ll need. These are all very simple ingredients. You’ve probably got most of them in your pantry right now.

Fritter Ingredients

• finely chopped apples (I used canned but next time I will use fresh apples)
• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• sugar
• ground cinnamon
• large egg
• whole milk
• vegetable oil (or oil of choice, for frying)

Glaze Ingredients

• powdered sugar
• milk
• vanilla extract

How to Make these Easy Apple Fritters

Mixing up the batter for these fritters was incredibly easy. Frying them required a bit more focus. I’ll walk you through the process so you can learn from my mistakes (and successes).

Start by chopping your apples. Use Granny Smith or something similar.

You’ll want to finely chop them. Small pieces are best.

I had canned apple pie filling and decided to use that but (in retrospect) wish I had used fresh apple bits. And I do mean bits. You’ll want them teensy-tiny, smaller than I cut mine.

Make your glaze and set aside. (Mix together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.)

In a separate large bowl mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar).

Add egg.

Add milk and mix well, making sure there are no lumps.

Now it’s time to add your apples. As I mentioned above, you’ll want to chop yours into very fine pieces (pea sized).

Mix well. Check out that apple fritter batter!

Stir and set aside.

Prepare Your Oil

Deep frying is probably best but I was just making one batch and I wanted to cook them one at a time so I used a sauce pan. (I thought about using a skillet or Dutch Oven. I might choose one of those next time.)

Getting the oil to the right temperature is the tricky part. I ended up throwing away a couple of fritters. One burned on the outside but wasn’t done in the middle. One was too soggy on the outside. (This happened because I turned the temperature down too much after burning the first one.)

I finally found just the right temperature. On my stove it was #6. Just to the north of medium heat.

Drop a spoonful of batter into the hot oil. Cook for approximately two minutes and then flip with slotted spoon.

Cook on the other side for about two minutes or until golden brown. Lift and flip with a slotted spoon.

Drain and Glaze Your Fritters

Have a plate nearby with a paper towel on it. I kept mine right next to the stove. As the fritters come out of the hot oil place them on the paper towels to drain.

While still warm dunk them in the glaze. Immediately place on a plate to allow the glaze to set.

Enjoy the fritters while warm, but they’re great at room temperature, too.

Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 days. You can freeze these and that them at room temperature.

See this recipe at

Full Plate Thursday 

Weekend Potluck

Sunday LinkUp

What to Expect from Apple Fritters

A couple of things surprised me with these. First, I don’t seem to have much skill when it comes to frying thing. I always make a huge mess and I tend to burn thing, as I mentioned above. It took a few tries to get the hang of things, but I didn’t give up. Hopefully you won’t either.

Perhaps it was the addition of canned apple pie filling but mine were more donut like than crisp funnel cake (which was the texture I expected). The moisture in the apples is lovely and makes the inside of the fritter somewhat cake-like, (though it’s a really light cake).

If I use fresh apples next time I’ll shoot for tiny pieces so the batter spreads evenly. My fritters were a little thick. They still tasted amazing, though.

The combination of the crisp exterior and the sweet creamy glaze was luscious. Absolutely dreamy. I thought they were delightful.

Variations on this recipe

This was my first time to make these apple fritters so I don’t know what it would be like to change things up, but if I worked up the courage here are some things I would try:

• Drizzle caramel sauce on top of the fritters while they are cooling. (I would add it after the fritters are glazed but before they are fully cooled.)
• Add chopped walnuts. (I think this would be delicious. You could consider adding finely diced nuts to the top of the fritter while the glaze is still wet.)
• Skip the glaze and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• Apple rings. Cut apple into rings and dunk into the batter, then fry. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, or dip in glaze.
• Use fresh peaches in place of apples. (Peach pie, anyone?)
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar instead of using the glaze. (This would be a quick, easy way to get the extra sweetness in.)
• Cook them in the air fryer. I plan to make air fryer apple fritters next time.

Other Apple Desserts from Out of the Box Baking

I did a full post of apple-licious apple desserts. I only wish I’d completed this apple fritter recipe before posting it! Here are my top three apple recommendations:

• Easy Apple Pie with Homemade Crust (Absolutely delicious!)
• Apple Pie Cobbler with Crescent Rolls (This one’s my fave!)
• Apple Pie Coffee Cake (I took this to a friend and she flipped out. . .in a good way!)

That’s it for this recipe, friends. Grab a hot cup of coffee and then let me know what you think of these delicious apple fritters!

Find this and many more cinnamon-sugar breakfast recipes on my Cinnamon Breakfast Bakes post!

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.