Quick Apple Fritters Can Be Made In This Favorite Countertop Appliance

The perfect autumnal dessert, apple fritters combine fried dough with diced apples all in one tasty bite. But if you're overwhelmed by the idea of making apple fritters at home in a deep-fryer or pot of sizzling oil, we feel you. Luckily, there's a quick way to make apple fritters without all the oil or a splattering hot mess (or worse, a soggy finished product). You can use this favorite countertop appliance instead: an air fryer.

While some people find air fryers overrated or posit that they can't be used to make batter-based treats, with the right recipe and air fryer know-how, the appliance can be used to quickly churn out some of the best apple fritters around. Homemade air fryer buttermilk apple fritters take less than 20 minutes to prepare, and come out as a delicious alternative to their fried counterpart. Preparing the treat involves folding diced apples into a simple batter, then baking them on the appliance's tray at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until crisp. Since most air fryer trays have slits or holes, just make sure to dollop the batter onto a tray lined with parchment paper before popping it into the air fryer basket to do its thing. It also helps to cut your apples into small pieces, since the fritters will only bake for about eight minutes. That way, they're more likely they are to cook through evenly at the same rate as the batter.

Air fryers function similarly to a convection oven to circulate hot air and bake crisp foods, so they also create ideal apple fritters with a crunchy exterior and pillowy interior. Though some apple fritter recipes include instructions for cooking apple fritter batter in either oil or an air fryer, if you're not using an air fryer-specific recipe, getting the bake right might take a little trial and error. You may want to do a quick trial run to test a few fritters before baking the rest. If you notice your dessert is crisp on the outside but not perfectly cooked within, you can try thinning out your batter with extra liquid, making smaller fritters, or lowering the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

To achieve a slightly oily finish akin to funnel cake and other fried doughs, spray the air fryer apple fritters with oil while they bake. However, if you're going to drizzle the apple fritters in a sweet glaze, dust them in powdered sugar, or roll the hot dessert in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, it's likely you won't even miss the frying oil. For the tastiest apple fritters, choose your favorite flavorful apple, like gala or Golden Delicious, and season the batter with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The result: A sweet treat that's perfect for serving with sweet caramel dipping sauce or vanilla ice cream — without the hassle of deep-frying.