Homemade Apple Fritters

Soft homemade donut dough folded with apples and spices and fried in a cast iron skillet for a crispy exterior crust. This recipe comes to us from blogger Nick Evans.

Ingredients

Dough

• 1, ¼-ounce package, active dry yeast (2 ½

teaspoons)

• 2 tablespoons warm water (105-115

degrees Fahrenheit)

• 1 cup milk, room temperature

½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, softened

• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for
• shaping
• Canola or other neutral oil for frying

Apple Filling

• 4-5 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and cubed

½ lemon, juice only

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Glaze

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. 85

Dough

1. Combine milk and water in a mixing bowl. Add yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast

foams.

1. Add all other ingredients, flour last, and mix with a dough hook until dough forms a soft, but
2. not sticky ball. If it’s sticking to the bowl, add more flour. If you don’t have a mixer, you can

just use a wooden spoon.

1. Dust dough with flour and let rise for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
2. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface into a large rectangle (about 12x18 inches).

Filling

1. Peel, core, and dice apples. Toss with lemon juice. Add butter to a large cast iron skillet over

medium heat.

1. Once melted add apples and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook for 5-6

minutes until apples are soft. Stir regularly.

1. Remove apples from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Fritters

1. After you roll out dough, Add half of the filling mixture to the dough on half of it. Fold the
2. other half over. Then add more filling and fold the dough over a second time, creating

layers.

1. Cut the dough into about 1-inch cubes. It’s okay if apples spill out and make a mess.
2. Use your hands to make fritters out of the apples and dough. I recommend smashing
3. together 2-4 sections to make smaller or larger fritters depending on your preference. Press
4. them together tightly but it’s okay if they fall apart a bit.
5. Wipe your Cast Iron Skillet out well from cooking the apple filling and fill with neutral frying
6. oil. Fill it about ½-1 inch full of oil. You don’t need a lot of oil.
7. Heat oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry fritters in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until they
8. are golden brown. Test one to make sure they are cooked through.
9. Remove fritters and let them drain on a rack or on some paper towels.Then drizzle with

glaze.

1. Serve while warm or store in an air-tight container for a day or two.

Notes

From the Lodge Cast Iron cookbook I picked up during my visit to the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron in South Pittsburg, Tennessee (June 2026). Contributed by Nick Evans. Recommended cookware: Classic Cast Iron.