Sourdough Apple Fritters

Today’s post achieves two feats: the first being it memorializes the conquering of my fear of frying things in hot oil, and two, it documents this recipe for delectable sourdough apple fritters. If you have a glut of apples on your counter from a festive day of apple picking, this is a great way to use some of them up!

Recipe here, and more information after the jump. I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that the most common gripe with food blogs is that the blogger rambles on for too long before sharing the recipe. But if you happen to enjoy rambles, there will be some below!

Sourdough Apple Fritters

Whip up a batch of these sourdough apple fritters with Honeycrisp apples and watch them disappear almost as soon as you make them.

4.58 from 28 votes

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Prep Time 12 hours hrs

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 fritters

Calories 133 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Dough

• 1 c (275g)unfed sourdough starter from fridge
• 1 1/4 c (160g) all purpose flour
• 1/4 c (60g) water see notes below
• 1 ½ tsp (7g) baking powder
• ½ tsp (4g) salt
• ½ tsp (3g) cinnamon
• ¼ tsp (2g) ground ginger
• ⅛ tsp (1g) ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup (50g) sugar
• 1 egg

Apples

• 2 large Honeycrisp apples peeled, cored, and chopped to ¼ inch pieces
• 3 tbsp (40g) unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp (12g) sugar
• ½ tsp (3g) cinnamon

Frying

• 3 cups (650g) canola oil

Glaze

• ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp (15g) oatmilk or other dairy or unsweetened non-dairy milk, this is what I had on hand

Instructions

 

• The night before you want to make the fritters, mix the flour and sourdough starter together until thoroughly combined. Depending on your starter hydration, you can add up to 1/4 cup water to get consistency right. Then cover and let rest in a warm spot (I use the oven with the light on) overnight to let the starter do its thing.
• The next morning, take your starter and flour mix, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer, and add in the remaining ingredients from dough section (baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, and egg. Using paddle attachment, mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Then cover, set aside for 30 minutes while you prep the apples.
• In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat, then add chopped apples, cinnamon, and sugar. You're going to stir this occasionally, for roughly 10 minutes until apples soften up and begin to release some of their juices.
• Strain apples and allow them to cool off a bit. While you're waiting for them to cool, add canola oil to large pot and heat over medium heat until temperature reaches 350 degrees. Use a meat or candy thermometer to test. While monitoring temperature, add cooled apples to the dough and stir to incorporate.
• Once oil has reached frying temperature, take a cookie scoop or spoon and carefully drop 1/4 cup sized dollops of the apple fritter dough mixture into oil. Fry for up to 2 minutes per side, checking frequently to assess color. You're going for golden brown, and they can quickly burn so keep a close eye on them!
• Once both sides are browned, carefully remove the fritters from the oil with a slotted spoon (or anything, really. I used grill tongs!) and transfer to a plate covered with paper towels so the fritters can drain off excess oil.
• Once all of the fritters are fried, transfer them to a serving plate, quickly whisk up the powdered sugar and milk for a glaze, and drizzle. Serve immediately, or flash freeze extras for longer term storage!

Notes

• I initially made these in Fall 2021 with an 80% hydration starter, and the original recipe reflected that — I mixed 1 cup starter and 1 cup flour together the night before baking. After hearing some folks say this seemed too dry for them, I retested in Winter 2024 with a new 65% hydration starter (my current baking preference) and indeed found that I needed to add 1/4 cup water to the overnight mixture! Recipe is updated to reflect that, and thank you to everyone who mentioned the issue they had!
• I tried baking a couple to see if they would turn out alright, but they ended up more like apple cookies. If you’re not a fan of fried foods, I can’t personally vouch for how they will bake — I would look for another recipe!
• You can reserve the juices from cooking the apples and add a bit of milk to that and use for the glaze. Someone mentioned they did that and I tested it in my recent retest of this and it was fantastic!

Nutrition

Calories: 133kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 2gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 157mgPotassium: 51mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 124IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg

Keyword apples, baking, desserts

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

I know one of the common complaints about apple fritters — what’s the point? Why would anyone knowingly reach for an apple fritter at a donut shop when presented with all manner of delectable donuts coated in the most imaginative toppings? But time and time again I order an apple fritter and relish in the doughy glory, the little tart bites of apple, and the sweet, sticky glaze. 

The only reason I haven’t made them before is…I’m scared of frying things in hot oil! Chalk it up to an unfortunate fried plantain escapade 10 years ago when I made said plantains and then proceeded to clean up — by putting the frying pan in the sink and turning the water on.

Big. Mistake.

I learned my lesson the hard way that you never, ever, EVER, under any circumstances, pour water in a pan of scalding hot oil. Because let me tell you, that stuff will splatter like there’s no tomorrow.

Now, at the mere whiff of potential oil splatter, I shriek and leap away from the stove. But the 20 lbs of apples from a recent apple picking outing was looming large over my head, well, on my counter, and I had apple fritters on the brain. So I put on my big girl pants and set out to make one of my favorite fall treats.

I knew I wanted to incorporate sourdough because I’m always on the hunt for ways to use up sourdough discard from my bread baking. If you’re looking for tips on sourdough bread for beginners, that post has everything you need to get started!

The resulting sourdough apple fritters have the perfect mix of tang from the sourdough discard, tart from the Honeycrisp apples, and sweetness from the glaze. I personally love baked goods that are not too sweet so I intentionally kept the sugar on the lower side. Also, cooking the apples first before adding them to the batter results in a much softer overall finished product. Some apple fritter recipes I’ve seen call for simply adding the chopped apples straight to the batter without cooking them first, but that’s not my style.

This recipe makes roughly 18 fritters depending on what you use to drop them in. I used this nifty little cookie scoop and it worked like a charm! I brought a big plate of these out to the team of guys putting a new roof on our house this week and they gobbled them right up so I think it’s safe to say this is definitely a recipe that’s getting added to my fall baking repertoire.

If you try this, I’d love to hear what you think!