These easy air fryer apple fritters with brown butter glaze are healthier than an old fashioned fritter, yet still a delicious and tasty air fryer dessert.
It’s still summer and well into the 80’s, but as we approach September, I can’t help but dream of all the delicious apple and pumpkin fall recipes…IT’S ALMOST APPLE SEASON PEOPLE!!!
Can you tell I’m a little bit excited???
These air fryer apple fritters are the perfect recipe to kick off Fall.
Made with fresh apples and an easy batter, the fritters are baked in the air fryer until the edges are crispy and golden, then drizzled with a brown butter glaze while still warm.
Hello Fall :).
Apple fritters are like a mix between a doughnut and cake. They’re cake like on the inside, but crispy and golden on the outside.
The dough doesn’t need to rise so they’re easy and quick :).
The apple fritter recipe is adapted from SmallTownWoman . Hers are the original fried version so if you want to try them the good old fashioned way, you can follow her recipe.
I must stress that because these are made in the air fryer and not actually fried, the texture is different than a regular apple fritter.
While they still have those crispy golden edges, the inside is light and cake-y.
I suggest using either Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples for these apple fritters. You don’t want any thing too soft like a red delicious or Macintosh.
How to make apple fritters in the air fryer?
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Line the basket of your air fryer with a piece of parchment paper (I like to cut it to fit) and brush lightly with oil.
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Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine.
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Make a well in the center and add your wet ingredients (milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice). Stir just until combined then fold in your diced apples.
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Drop about ¼ cup of the batter onto your parchment lined air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your air fryer you may only be able to fit 2 fritters at a time. (You don’t want to overcrowd or they won’t get crispy.)
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Lightly dab the tops of the fritters with oil and set your air fryer to 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until deep golden brown.
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Place on cooling rack and drizzle with brown butter glaze while still warm. (I place a piece of parchment underneath the cooling rack to catch the drippings).
*I also recommend getting an oil sprayer instead of dabbing the oil with your brush. The sprayer gives you a more even and lighter coat of oil, helping to create that golden crisp :). You can get it on Amazon (affiliate link)
These homemade, no fry apple fritters are an easy air fryer dessert recipe. They take minutes to make and have way less calories than the traditional fried version.
If you don’t have an air fryer yet, I recommend the two I’ve listed below. They have a digital display for easy use, and they’re 6QT which is bigger than most standard air fryers so you can fit a lot more instead of having to cook in batches.
You can find the links for the air fryers below on Amazon.
For other easy air fryer recipes check out:
For more Fall Dessert Recipes try:
- Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting
- Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake with Chai Streusel
Air Fryer Apple fritters with Brown Butter Glaze
Ingredients
Brown Butter Glaze
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup Butter (1/2 stick)
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Milk if needed
Apple Fritters
- 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/3 cup Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice fresh
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Apples (such as Honey Crisp or Green Apples) peeled, cored and diced small
- Canola or Vegetable Oil for brushing/spraying
Instructions
Brown Butter Glaze
- Place butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continuing melting the butter until it starts to foam and turn brown. Once browned, remove from heat to cool slightly. You should smell a nutty aroma and see brown specks in the butter.
- Add powdered sugar to a small bowl. Add browned butter, milk and vanilla whisking until smooth. (If mixture is too thin for your liking, simply add more powdered sugar.) Set aside.
Apple Fritters
- Line the basket of your air fryer with a piece of parchment paper (I like to cut it to fit so there's no overlapping over the edges). Brush lightly with oil.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in medium bowl.
- Make a well in the center and add milk, vanilla, lemon juice and eggs. Stir until evenly combined, then fold in the apples.
- Drop about ¼ cup of the batter onto your parchment lined air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your air fryer you may only be able to fit 2 fritters at a time. (You don’t want to overcrowd or they won’t get crispy.)
- Lightly dab the tops of the fritters with oil using a pastry brush (see recipe notes). Set the air fryer to 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until deep golden brown.
- Place apple fritters on cooling rack and drizzle with brown butter glaze while still warm. (I place a piece of parchment underneath the cooling rack to catch the drippings).
I made these today, my first air fryer attempt at desserts. Pleasantly surprised that they looked almost as good as yours, and they tasted great! Like little apple cakes inside. Followed your recipe. Thank you.
Thank you Reeta! Glad you liked them 🙂
So I don’t need/want 10 fritters. Do you have a recipe for just a few??
Hi Leila, you can simply cut the recipe in half!
I just tried this recipe. It took an extra 1/3 cup of milk to make the batter to the proper consistency. All over a very good recipe
Hi Falcon, glad you liked the recipe 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about needing to add the extra milk (I’ll have to add that in the recipe notes!)
Will almond flour work?
Hi Pamela! I have not tried these with almond flour but I’d suggest if you do try it start with the 1 1/2 cups of flour as the recipe calls, and then adding more if the dough looks too thin. Good luck!
I just made in my AF 10 yummilicious babies for the 4am “goûter” break with this recipe.
Thanks a lot, easy made, super tasty.
Adopted ✔️
Greetings from france ☺️
Thanks Katy, so glad you liked them all the way from France 🙂
Hi, I made these tonight and they were very good! I am new to the air fryer and have only a small one, so first I tried 2 at a time, as you suggest. Then I decided to try making one large one at a time and that worked too. Both were yummy! This recipe made for me 4 small and 4 large fritters. And they were pretty easy to make, so thanks!
So glad you liked them Betsy! Thank you for sharing 🙂
The ingredient list states granulated sugar but instructions state powdered? Is it granulated or powder? Planning on making this weekend, they look amazing!
Hi Sarah! It is powdered sugar for the glaze, and then granulated for the fritter batter. I hope you like them!
They are on the flatter size than regular fried fritters! I adjusted the milk amount so the batter shouldn’t be so thin. I agree with you…they are not the prettiest but that’s why I love the glaze, it hides all the imperfections ;).
I made this and they flattened out. The batter is very thin like cake batter. It’s kinda like a thick pancake.
Hi Amanda, the batter is supposed to be thin. The end result should be light and airy with slight crispy edges :).
How may fritters will this make?
Hi Sandy, these will make about 6-8 fritters depending on how much batter you use.
How much butter for the glaze?
1/4 cup (1/2 stick). Sorry for that typo, just updated the recipe 🙂
Thanks 😄
I am yet to try anything sweet in the air fryer – so here’s the first recipe for me to try 🙂 YuM!
Thanks Alexandra, yes it was my first air fryer dessert as well and it was delicious :).