Description
Crispy, golden homemade apple fritters filled with spiced caramelized apples and finished with a sweet apple cider glaze—perfect for Thanksgiving mornings or holiday desserts.
Ingredients
Fritter Dough:
½ cup milk (warmed to ~110℉)
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp salted butter (melted)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg (room temp)
¼ tsp salt
1¾ cups + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Vegetable oil (for frying)
Caramelized Apples:
2 large baking apples (Honeycrisp & Granny Smith mix preferred)
1 tbsp salted butter
3 tbsp light brown sugar (packed)
½ tsp lemon juice
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
⅛ tsp allspice
⅛ tsp ground cloves
Pinch salt
½ tsp cornstarch
½ tsp water
Apple Cider Glaze:
4 tbsp salted butter (melted)
1½ cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp apple cider concentrate (boiled cider)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1–2 tbsp milk (to thin)
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch salt
Instructions
1. Warm milk to 110℉ and combine with yeast, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, egg, salt, flour, and spices to form soft dough. Knead, cover, and let rise 1 hour.
2. Cook apples with butter, sugar, lemon juice, and spices until soft. Thicken with cornstarch slurry if needed.
3. Flatten risen dough, spread with ⅔ apple mixture, fold in thirds. Flatten, add remaining apples, fold side-to-side. Flatten to ¾ inch thick.
4. Cut into 24 pieces, press into 8 fritters. Rest 15 minutes.
5. Heat oil to 365℉. Fry 90 seconds per side until golden, 212–220℉ inside. Drain on rack.
6. Whisk glaze ingredients. Dunk warm fritters in glaze. Let set on rack.
Notes
You can prepare apple filling and glaze up to 2 days ahead.
Unfried fritters can be assembled and refrigerated up to 24 hours.
Press dough pieces firmly to prevent falling apart in oil.
Use a thermometer to maintain frying temperature.
Best eaten fresh, but can store 1–2 days refrigerated and reheat in microwave.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Thanksgiving
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 fritter
- Calories: 367
- Sugar: 37g
- Sodium: 171mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: -
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 61g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 52mg