These bakery style apple fritters are crispy, soft, fluffy, filled with juicy bites of cinnamon brown sugar apples, and studded with chunks of cheddar. The simple donut glaze is delicious and seeps into every crevice giving the donuts a delightful crunch and sweet vanilla flavor. This is your bakery style apple fritter donut using a pillowy, yeasted, no knead dough. The cheddar gives the fritters a beautiful salty sweet flavor and tastes absolutely delicious. If you love apple and cheddar together, you should try making these apple fritters with cheddar!
These donut apple fritters are the best way to celebrate fall and apple season.
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🍩 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Delicious, soft, fluffy donuts: This recipe creates the most delicious soft and fluffy donut apple fritters.
- No knead recipe: You don't need an electric mixer or even your hands to painstakingly knead the dough! Just mix it up together, let it rise, and fold it a few times before shaping the apple fritter donuts.
- Lots of apple filling: These donuts are packed with loads of apples!
- Cheddar apple: I love sweet desserts with a bit of a salty kick so I added some cheddar cubes and it gives these fritters the perfect touch of saltiness and flavor! Apple and cheddar is a delicious combination, you should try it if you haven't.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
Active dry yeast: I prefer using active dry yeast for my donuts and cinnamon rolls. If you use instant yeast then you don't need to dissolve it into the water. Just check the expiry date to make sure it isn't expired and mix it directly into the dough. Make sure you add the warm water into the dough as well before mixing it all together.
Eggs: Add structure, richness, and moisture to the donuts.
Granulated and brown sugar: I added granulated sugar to the donut dough to keep them light and fluffy. Brown sugar goes into the apple filling for caramelized, molasses flavor that enhance the apple flavor.
Cheddar cheese, optional but delicious for a salty sweet treat: Apples and cheddar are an elite combination. Have you ever had sharp cheddar with your apple pie? The salty, tangy creaminess pairs perfectly. Little bits of cheddar in these apple fritters gives every other bite a delightful sweet and salty surprise.
Butter: Gives the donut dough extra richness, buttery flavor, and makes it soft.
Frying oil: You can use your preferred frying oil for this recipe. I love using corn or canola oil for frying. Avocado oil also works. Keep in mind that the higher the smoke point and the more neutral the flavor, the better the donuts will taste!
Milk: If you have it on hand, use whole milk. 2% milk is second best. You can use plant based milks in a pinch.
Powdered sugar: Gets mixed with milk, vanilla, and salt for a classic vanilla glaze that seeps into all the cracks and gives a delightful crackle when it sets.
Apples: Choose a firm fleshed, tart variety. My favorite apple to use for baking is granny smith because its tartness gives the filling the most amount of apple flavor (compared to other apple varieties). If you have an abundance of apples, try my popular salted caramel apple pie bars.
Cinnamon: A touch of cinnamon gives these apple fritters the perfect amount of warmth and flavor without overwhelming the apple and cheddar flavor.
Lemon juice: Added to the apple filling for a touch of acidity to make the apple flavor really pop. If you skip the lemon juice the apple flavor may not be as bright and vibrant in flavor as you'd wished it would be.
👩🍳 How to make bakery style donut apple fritters
Apple fritter dough step by step
Step 1: In a small bowl, combine warm water, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and active dry yeast. Stir to dissolve the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes. If it foams on top, then it is good to use. If it doesn't foam, then it expired and you should try a different packet of yeast.
Step 2: Pour the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the sugar, butter, eggs, salt, vanilla extract, and warm milk. Then add the dissolved yeast mixture.
Use a Danish whisk or a large spoon to mix the dough together, starting with breaking up the wet ingredients in the middle. Mix together until a dough forms.
Step 3: Cover the dough with a towel and place it in a warm spot to rise. A sunny windowsill works great! I like turning on my oven to the lowest setting for 1 minute then turning it off and placing the dough inside. Rise for 20-30 minutes, until dough doubles in size. Make the apple filling while the dough rises
Step 4: Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes, about ¼" in size. Place them in a pan.
Add cinnamon, lemon juice, and brown sugar to the apples.
Yeast Tip: Make sure that you don't exceed 113°F (45°C) because that is the temperature at which yeast starts to die off.
Step 5: Cook on medium-low heat until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened and reduced. Set aside to cool.
Step 6: Once the dough has doubled, use your fingers to lift up the edges of the dough and fold it over the rest of the dough. Do this about 6 times, or as many times as needed until the dough is deflated and looks smoother.
Step 7: Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Place the dough onto the surface and lightly sprinkle with flour. Flatten the dough and pull the edges of the dough into a 12" by 15" rectangle.
Step 8: Spread the apple filling onto half of the dough. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top of the apple filling. Then, sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over top. Fold the plain dough half over the filled dough.
Step 9: Use a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into ¾" squares.
Step 10: Then, using a bench scraper or your hands, pile half of the dough and filling mixture gently on top of itself. Give the mixture a few more chops with the bench scraper and pile it onto itself again so that it mixes slightly. You don't want to fully mix it together, it needs to be chunky. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the dough pile.
Step 11: Separate handfuls of dough and place onto a piece of parchment paper with 1.5 inches in between. You should get 10-12.
Step 12: Flatten the dough and try to stuff the cheddar cheese cubes in between the pieces of dough so that it's less likely to leak out. Sprinkle a little bit of flour lightly over each shaped apple donut fritter.
Frying apple fritters step by step
Step 1: Pour frying oil into a wide pot, making sure that you have at least two inches of space from the top of the oil to the brim of the pot. Heat to 190°C (370°F). Cut the parchment paper around the apple fritters so that each fritter sits on its own square.
Step 2: Lift up the donut apple fritters by the parchment paper and carefully drop them into the hot oil (with the parchment paper). Leave enough space as the fritters need space to puff up and expand in the oil. Use tongs to remove the pieces of parchment paper.
Step 3: Fry the apple fritters for 2-3 minutes on each side, monitoring the oil temperature.
Cool and drain the apple fritters on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the fritters are fried.
Step 4: Combine powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt, and whisk together.
Dip the top of each warm apple fritter donut in the glaze and shake any excess off. Place the donuts on a piece of parchment paper to set for a few minutes.
Apple fritters are enjoyed best on the day that they're made.
✔️ Expert donut tips
- Don't over or under mix the donut dough with the filling: I found that cutting it and folding it on top of itself created the best results where the fritters don't fall apart when frying yet there's still some definition between the chunks of dough and filling.
- Make sure that the oil is hot enough! I found that the best temperature for frying donuts is 190°C (370°F). Anything more than that and the donuts will burn. Anything less, and the donuts will be undercooked and raw in the center.
- Test fry the first donut: After frying, break it in half and check the center if it's still raw. If it is, make sure you cook the next donuts 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Tuck the cheddar cheese into the dough as much as you can when shaping the donuts: This helps prevent the cheese from frying out of the donut apple fritters and burning in the oil.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
Donut apple fritters are best enjoyed the day they're made. Once the glaze sets, you can store them in an airtight bag or container so that they don't become stale. Store them at room temperature for up to 3 days. If they even last that long!
You can cook the apple filling a day or two ahead of using it. Store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
🍏 How to bake apple fritters
You can certainly bake apple fritters. I tried it with this recipe! But keep in mind that they will taste a lot more like apple buns than like apple fritters, and will be much more pale in color. Brush the shaped apple fritters with melted butter before popping them into the oven at 355°F (180°C) for about 10 minutes. The dough should spring back when you press on it. Glaze them as usual.
📖 Recipe FAQs
You shouldn't replace gluten free flour for all purpose flour in yeasted dough recipes. Gluten is important to the dough's structure because it traps the carbon dioxide created by the yeast fermentation, allowing the dough to hold its shape, creating fluffy, light donuts. Try finding a recipe that has been formulated to be gluten free. You'll get much better results this way!
Of course you can, just leave the cheese out of the recipe. You don't have to make any other changes.
You can certainly try! I used gruyere and it was too funky tasting, cheddar cheese tasted much better. You can certainly experiment with other cheeses. Brie cheese would be so interesting to try as it pairs beautifully with sweet fruit flavors.
Apple fritters brown and can burn much faster and easier than regular donuts because of the high sugar content in the apple filling that gets folded into the dough. Don't worry, it doesn't mean that the donuts are actually burnt! Take a look at the photos of my fritters, they're very deeply browned but not burnt. Taste a piece to check. If it tastes bitter and burnt, try lowering the temperature by 5-10° and cooking the fritters for slightly longer.
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📖 Recipe
Donut Apple Fritters [Bakery Style]
Equipment
- pot for frying
Ingredients
Donut Dough
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast 7g, 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 4 ¾ cup all purpose flour 570g
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter softened
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk warm
- 40 oz frying oil (1.18L) high temperature neutral oil like canola, corn, or avocado oil
Apple Fritter Filling
- 4 medium-large apples peeled and cubed (4 cups cubed)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 2 oz cheddar cheese cubed (½ cup) optional
- 3 tablespoons flour
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Donut Dough
- In a small bowl, combine warm water, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and active dry yeast. Stir to dissolve the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes. If it foams on top, then it is good to use. If it doesn't foam, then it expired and you should try a different packet of yeast.½ cup warm water, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 packet active dry yeast
- Pour the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the sugar, butter, eggs, salt, vanilla extract, and warm milk. Then add the dissolved yeast mixture.4 ¾ cup all purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup butter, 2 large eggs, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¾ cup milk
- Use a danish whisk or a large spoon to mix the dough together, starting with breaking up the wet ingredients in the middle. Mix together until a dough forms.
- Cover the dough with a towel and place it in a warm spot to rise. A sunny windowsill works great! I like turning on my oven to the lowest setting for 1 minute then turning it off and placing the dough inside. Make sure that you don't exceed 113°F (45°C) because that is the temperature at which yeast starts to die off. You want the dough to rise for about 20-30 minutes, until it doubles in size. Make the apple filling while the dough rises
Apple Fritter Filling
- Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes, about ¼" in size. Place them in a pan.4 medium-large apples
- Add cinnamon, lemon juice, and brown sugar to the apples. Cook on medium-low heat until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened and reduced. Set aside to cool.1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- Once the dough has doubled, use your fingers to lift up the edges of the dough and fold it over the rest of the dough. Do this about 6 times, or as many times as needed until the dough is deflated and looks smoother.
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Place the dough onto the surface and lightly sprinkle with flour. Flatten the dough and pull the edges of the dough into a 12" by 15" rectangle.
- Spread the apple filling onto half of the dough. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top of the apple filling. Then, sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over top. Fold the plain dough half over the filled dough.2 oz cheddar cheese, 3 tablespoons flour
- Use a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into ¾" squares.
- Then, using a bench scraper or your hands, pile half of the dough and filling mixture gently on top of itself. Give the mixture a few more chops with the bench scraper and pile it onto itself again so that it mixes slightly. You don't want to fully mix it together, it needs to be chunky. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the dough pile.
- Separate handfuls of dough and place onto a piece of parchment paper with 1.5 inches in between. You should get 10 to 12. Flatten the dough and try to stuff the cheddar cheese cubes in between the pieces of dough so that it's less likely to leak out. Sprinkle a little bit of flour lightly over each shaped apple donut fritter.
- Pour frying oil into a wide pot, making sure that you have at least two inches of space from the top of the oil to the brim of the pot. Place a thermometer into the pot to monitor the temperature and heat to 190°C (370°F), read notes if you don't have a thermometer. While the oil heats, use scissors to cut the parchment paper around the apple fritters so that each fritter sits on its own square of parchment paper.
- When the oil reaches temperature, gently lift up one apple fritter by the parchment paper and carefully drop it into the hot oil (with the parchment paper). If there's enough space, you can add another fritter. Leave enough space as the fritters need plenty of space to puff up and expand in the oil. Use tongs to remove the pieces of parchment paper.
- Fry the apple fritters for 2-3 minutes on each side, monitoring the oil temperature so that it stays at around 190°C (370°F).
- Remove the fritters and let them cool and drain on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the fritters are fried. Immediately make the glaze while the donuts are still warm.
Glaze
- In a wide bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk it together until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, you can add more milk, one tablespoon at a time to thin it out.2 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup milk, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Dip the top of each apple fritter donut in the glaze and shake any excess off. Place the glazed donuts on a piece of parchment paper to set for a few minutes. Enjoy as soon as the glaze sets and isn't sticky to the touch! Apple fritters are enjoyed best on the day that they're made.
Notes
- Don't over or under mix the donut dough with the filling.
- Make sure that the oil is hot enough. The best temperature for frying donuts is 190°C (370°F).
- Test fry the first donut and crack it open to check your frying time. If it's still raw, cook the next ones longer.
- Tuck the cheddar cheese into the dough as much as you can when shaping the donuts.
Karri
I made these today for my 89 yr old grandmas birthday. She loved them!! So did everyone else! My first time making doughnuts.