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…
Air Fryer apple fritter ingredients:
- all purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- milk
- vanilla
- lemon juice
- eggs
- apples
- oil (for brushing/spraying)
Best apples for apple fritters:
- granny smith
- honeycrisp
- gala
- pinklady
- braeburn
How to make apple fritters in the air fryer?
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 F (just set it to manual 400 F for 3-4 minutes until the basket inside is nice and hot).
- While air fryer is preheating, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine.
- 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.
- Carefully line the basket of your air fryer with a piece of parchment paper (I like to cut it to fit) or use these handy air fryer basket liners (affiliate link) and brush or spray lightly with oil.
- Drop about ¼ cup of the batter onto your 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 (or spray with an oil sprayer!) and set your air fryer to 400 F for 4-5 minutes or until fritters are deep golden brown. Flip fritters over and repeat on the other side.
- 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).
Air Fryer Apple Fritters
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
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
Brown Butter Glaze
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- ¼ cup Butter, (½ stick)
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Milk, if needed
Apple Fritters
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ⅓ cup Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh
- 2 Eggs
- 2 large 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
- Preheat air fryer to 400 F (set temperature and let the inside basket get nice and hot for 3-4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, 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.
- Carefully line the basket of your preheated air fryer with a piece of parchment paper or air fryer basket liners (link below). I like to cut the parchment to fit the bottom so there’s no overlapping over the edges. Brush lightly with oil or spray lightly with an oil sprayer (link below).
- Drop about ¼ cup of the batter onto your 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 or oil sprayer. Set the air fryer to 400 degrees for 4-5 minutes or until fritters are a deep golden brown. Flip fritters over and repeat.
- 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).
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
*These apple fritters are a bit more cake like inside than regular fried fritters since they are not actually being fried.
*If your glaze is too thin for your liking, simply add more powdered sugar or use less milk.
*Apple fritters are best eaten immediately but you can store the cooled, glazed leftovers in an airtight container room temperature for up to 2 days.
