These homemade apple fritters are made bakery-style with a yeast dough, sweet cinnamon apples and topped with a vanilla glaze. Way better than any local donut shop!
Love apple desserts? A few other favorites include apple cake, apple crepes and apple pie cupcakes!
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Table of Contents
Bakery Style Apple Fritter Donuts
Homemade apple fritters are a bit like beignets or homemade donuts in that they are made from yeast dough and deep-fried like funnel cake, but the dough for apple fritters isn’t as sweet and they’re filled with diced fresh apples coated in cinnamon sugar!
This apple fritter donut and apple turnovers are the perfect fall treats. Crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside then topped with a maple glaze, powdered sugar, or drizzled with caramel sauce. Made from scratch only makes them better!
Why You’ll Love This Classic Recipe
- Better than your local doughnut shop. While these may remind you of a Dunkin Donuts apple fritter recipe, making them homemade is way better!
- A fun way to enjoy apple season! Baked apples and apple cobbler are staples, but once in a while, I like to try something different. Enter this apple fritters recipe.
Homemade Apple Fritter Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Warm milk: The milk needs to be warm so that it activates the yeast. If it’s too hot it will destroy it, but if it’s too cold it won’t do anything. About 90°F is perfect.
- Active dry yeast: Make sure it’s fresh, otherwise discard it and get some new. If you’re unsure test a bit to see if it foams. This is what gets the dough nice and fluffy.
- Large eggs: Helps to bind the dough so it doesn’t fall apart as it cooks.
- Melted butter: Use unsalted butter and allow it to cool first before adding it to the dough. You don’t want it so hot that it starts to curdle the milk or cook the eggs!
- Sugar: Yeast feeds on sugar but we also need the sugar for its sweetness.
- Salt: Brings out the flavor in the dough to enhance the taste.
- All-purpose flour: You’ll need some for the dough and some for rolling to help prevent sticking. When used in the dough it’s super important to measure it correctly so your donuts are nice and light!
- Apple filling: Salted butter, chopped Granny Smith apples, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Oil for frying: Use vegetable oil or canola oil as both can withstand high heat and are neutral in flavor.
- The glaze: Powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
How to Make Apple Fritters
- Proof the yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the dough hook to stir the warm milk and yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it starts to foam. If it doesn’t, now’s the time to get some fresh yeast.
- Form the dough. To the yeast mixture, add the eggs, melted and cooled butter, sugar, and salt. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Then, slowly add the flour as directed until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Let it rest. Transfer the ball of dough to a greased bowl and cover it. Let it rest for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
- Make the filling. While the dough is resting, let’s make the filling. In a saucepan over medium-low heat stir the butter, apples, sugar, and cinnamon for about 5 minutes until the apples are tender. The liquid should reduce by half. Remove it from the heat and let it cool completely.
- Roll out the dough. On a floured surface, turn out the dough and roll it into a 12×16 rectangle, about 1/4” thick. Have the rectangle placed horizontally in front of you, meaning the long side is closest to you.
- Add the filling. Use a slotted spoon to spread the apple filling over 2/3 of the rectangle, leaving 1/3 without filling. Sprinkle a little flour over the filling.
- Fold it over. Grab the side of the dough that doesn’t have filling and fold it over just the center portion of the filling. The middle 1/3. Then, fold the remaining 1/3 with filling overtop the middle portion to create a long (now vertical) rectangle. Press down gently.
- Cut the dough. Use a sharp knife or a dough scraper to cut the log into 1/2 inch squares. Do your best to keep the dough together and the filling inside. Sprinkle a bit of flour overtop and press the pieces together so they stay formed as a log.
- Separate into fritter-sized portions. Cut the checkered log into 10 pieces and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet while the oil is heating up. They will rise a bit once more.
- Heat the oil. Fill at least 3 inches of oil into a deep heavy bottomed pot and heat it until it reaches 375℉. Use a candy thermometer for an accurate reading. You never want to add the fritters to oil that is either too hot or too cold.
- Fry them! Carefully drop 2 or 3 fritters to fry for 1 minute until golden brown. Flip them and fry for another minute until cooked through. Use tongs to transfer them to a wire rack over top of a baking sheet to cool slightly. Once the oil reaches its temperature again, continue with the next batch.
- Dip them in the glaze. Make the glaze by combining the ingredients into a bowl then dip the apple fritter donuts into the glaze and allow them to set on the cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Apple Fritter Donut Tips
- Use a candy thermometer. This will give you an accurate reading at all times of how hot your oil is. It’s important to note that between each batch you will probably need to adjust the temperature of the oil.
- Maintain the temperature of the oil. It’ll drop once the apple fritter donut batter is added, so, before the next batch you want to make sure to turn the heat back up again.
- Work in batches. Do not overcrowd the pot otherwise, you’ll drop the temperature of the oil too much and nothing will cook properly.
- Dice the apples small enough. This will ensure there are enough apple pieces in each apple fritter donut. Don’t fret if some pieces fall out while deeping frying the donuts, there will be plenty still in them.
- Serve warm. Serve your warm apple fritter donut recipe with a dusting of powdered sugar, or drizzled in a powdered sugar glaze. On a warm day, I love a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
More fried dough favorites include maple bacon donuts, homemade churros and fry bread!
More Apple Recipes
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Apple Fritters Recipe
These homemade apple fritters are made bakery-style with a yeast dough, sweet cinnamon apples and topped with a vanilla glaze. Way better than any local donut shop!
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 ¼ cups milk , warm (about 90°F)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
- 2 large eggs
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour , divided, plus more for rolling
Filling
- 1 Tablespoon salted butter
- 2 Granny Smith apples , peeled and chopped into 1/2" pieces
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Frying
- vegetable or canola oil , plus more if needed
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk , plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Dough
- Activate yeast. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together 1 1/4 cups warm milk and 2 1/14 teaspoons yeast. Let sit 5 minutes, or until foamy.
- Enriched dough ingredients. Beat 2 large eggs, 8 Tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt into the yeast mixture on medium-high speed until combined.
- Finish yeasted donut dough. With the mixer on medium-low speed, slowly add 2 cups flour until nearly combined. Mix in the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour 4 minutes, or until the dough is no longer sticky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is still wet and sticky, add 2 Tablespoons flour at a time. Transfer to greased bowl and cover. Let rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Apple Filling
- Combine apple filling. While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a medium saucepan, stir together 1 Tablespoon butter, 2 cups diced apples, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until the apples are tender and the liquid has reduced by half. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Rolling
- Roll out dough. On a floured work surface, turn out the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12×16-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick.
- Add apple filling. With the rectangle placed horizontally in front of you, picture it divided into three parts from left to right. Using a slotted spoon, spread apple filling evenly over 2/3 of the rectangle, leaving 1/3 without filling. Sprinkle a little flour over the apple filling.
- Fold dough. Fold the 1/3 plain dough over the 1/3 filling in the center. Fold the remaining 1/3 with filling over the top to create a long rectangle facing away from you. Press down gently.
- Cut into fritter donut shapes. Using a sharp knife or a dough/bench scraper, cut the log into 1/2-inch squares, keeping the dough together and the filling inside. Sprinkle a little flour over the top and press the dough pieces together to form a log. Cut into 10 pieces and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet to rise while the oil is heating.
Frying
- Heat oil. Place 2 cooling racks over baking sheets near where you will be frying. In a deep, heavy-bottomed pot, add enough oil to fill at least 3 inches of the bottom of the pot. Heat over medium-low heat until temperature reads 375℉ on a candy thermometer.
- Fry fritters. Carefully add 2 to 3 fritters to the oil and fry 1 minute, or until golden brown. Flip and fry 1 minute more, or until golden and cooked through. Using tongs, transfer to the cooling racks to cool slightly. Wait until the heat reaches 375℉ before adding the next batch of fritters. Repeat with remaining dough.
Glaze
- Whisk glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth and about the thickness of heavy whipping cream.
- Dip fritters. Dip each fritter into the glaze and return to cooling rack to set. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Variation: Instead of glazing, you can also roll the fritters while warm in a quick cinnamon-sugar mixture, if preferred.
Tip: I like to use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of my oil for accuracy.
Frying: Make sure your oil is at temperature in between adding each batch of donuts, so that they fry properly. Be careful around the hot oil.
Storage: These donuts are really best the same day, but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1donut | Calories: 460kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 273mg | Potassium: 177mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 463IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
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Recipe FAQs
Are apple fritters made from batter or dough?
They can be made with both! When they are made with a batter they rely on baking powder for their rise while an apple fritter donut is made with a yeasted dough. This recipe is for classic apple fritter doughnuts like you would find in the bakery or your local donut shop!
Can you bake apple fritters?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is no. They just don’t taste the same as the fried donut version! If you still want to make them though, bake at 350°F for 20-25 minuts.
Why are my fritters soggy?
The common reason for this is when the fritter donut was are added the oil was too low or not hot enough. What this happens, it takes longer for them to cook and as they sit in the oil for too long, they absorb too much of it.
How to store leftover fritter donuts?
I suggest eating these apple fritter doughnuts the same day they’re made since that’s when they’re at their best.
If you do have leftovers, once they’ve completely cooled, you can store them in an airtight container or brown bag on the counter. You can also wrap them in a paper towel and keep them in a brown paper bag. Either way, enjoy them for up to 2 days!
Categorized as: American, Breakfast, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Nut-Free, Sweet Breakfast, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
