Spiced Apple Fritters With Hot Honey
Published December 23, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1½ cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
⅔ cup/160 grams milk, or more as needed
2 large eggs, beaten
3 cups/360 grams diced, peeled apples (about 3 apples)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar or hot honey (see Tip)
Nutritional analysis per serving
24 grams carbs; 32 milligrams cholesterol; 236 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 157 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 10 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice in a mixing bowl.
- Step 2
Add milk and eggs, and whisk well to make a thick batter. Mix apples into batter. Thin with a little more milk if necessary; the batter should be about the consistency of pancake batter.
- Step 3
Put about 2 inches of oil in a cast-iron pan or Dutch oven and heat to 375 degrees.
- Step 4
Using a soup spoon, gently drop small blobs (about ⅓ cup) of batter into the hot oil without crowding. Let fritters cook until puffed and golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on a cooling rack set over paper towels or a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until all batter is used.
- Step 5
While still warm, dust with powdered sugar, roll in cinnamon sugar or drizzle with hot honey. Serve at room temperature.
To make hot honey, stir 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper and ¼ teaspoon cayenne into 1 cup warm honey. Steep overnight, strain before using if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
I hasve my great grandmother Sophie's apple fritter recipe (she fried them in lard), and she notes that she always grates the apples "for better flavor". This recipe is lovely as well, no lard required.
If you are looking at this and wondering how to make it gluten and dairy free, you can buy a box of GF vanilla cake or muffin mix and add dairy free milk and the apples. Keep the batter on the thicker side. Or... if you ever happen to be in the Walla Walla, WA airport there is a gluten free bakery in the airport that makes these and they are outta this world tasty.
@Aine o like the grated apple idea!!
I added vanilla and extra cinnamon and sugar and they came out really good! Would be reeeeally good if you have almond extract
Batter came together easily and I used the suggestion of another commenter to shred the apples. I couldn't make this recipe work though. I used a Dutch oven, as suggested, but dont have a thermometer to check the temperature. I couldn't find the sweet spot, so each time they browned way too fast and were undercooked on the inside. Pity.
Delish! My first foray into deep frying. Couldn’t get crispy outside but that seems like the cook’s error