These vegan apple fritters are made with an authentic Italian recipe that has been passed around for generations. Of course, we tweaked it a bit to avoid eggs, and make it vegan.
Our Italian apple fritters are light, soft, moist, crisp, and full of apple and cinnamon flavour. Try them dipped in our vegan custard for a sweet treat that is out of this world!
Table of Contents
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Ingredients & Substitutions
- Apples: get the biggest and sweetest apples you can find.
- Flour: we tried different flours but the best result is with plain all-purpose flour.
- Sugar: regular white sugar.
- Plant milk: any will work. We use soy.
- Sparkling water: you can use plain water too, but cold sparkling water helps make the fritters lighter and crispier.
- Baking powder: to make them slightly puffy.
- Aromas: cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon zest are perfect!
- Salt: to bind all flavours together.
- Vegan custard: in Italy it is customary to dip apple fritters in custard. You can follow our vegan custard recipe to do that. It’s very easy.
Equipment
You’ll need a tool to remove the core of the apple. You can either use an apple corer / seed remover, or a small round pastry cutter.
Tips
- Add sparkling water: it makes the batter lighter and the fritters will be more airy when you fry them.
- Sift the dry ingredients: since we don’t mix our batter much, it’s best to sift the dry ingredients to break off big lumps.
- Don’t over-mix the batter: over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour, resulting in heavier, gummier fritters. The best way to mix the batter is to do it with a fork, or with some chopsticks for just a minute.
- Put in the fridge to rest: we do this not only because resting allows the ingredients in the batter to come together, but also because we want our batter cold, so that the thermic shock with the hot oil will make our fritters extra light and they won’t absorb a lot of oil.
- Dust the apple slices in flour: we do this before frying them so that the flour creates a protective layer that will absorb the moisture released by the apples. This way our fritters will be less soggy.
- Bring the oil to the right temperature: that is around 160C or 320F. If the temperature of the oil is too low, the fritters will be soggy.
- Dip them in vegan custard: because Italian apple fritters should be eaten this way.
Frequently asked questions
Apple fritters are very moist due to the moisture in the apples. To make them less soggy follow our tips above. That is, don’t over-mix the batter, cool down the batter, have the oil at the right temperature, dust the in flour before frying.
Apple fritters have been around Italy since Roman times, and still today they are very very popular, especially in the north of Italy where apples are abundant.
Apple fritters are made of sliced apples and a light batter.
No, just don’t do it. Make apple pancakes instead. Fritters just don’t turn out well in the oven. We tried several times and we cannot recommend it.
Storage
Apple fritters don’t store well. So it’s best if you make them and eat the on the same day.
Variations
Our fav variation of apple fritters is to dip them in our homemade vegan custard that is also super easy to make.
As toppings we love swapping the powdered sugar for regular sugar mixed with cinnamon. Dip them in the cinnamon-sugar while they are still hot and you’ll love them.
Similar recipes
If you (too) are a lover of vegan pastry, check out our other plant-based sweets:
- Vegan donuts
- Fluffy vegan brioche bread
- Vegan lemon tart
- Sicilian vegan cannoli
- Vegan brioche rolls with custard
For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.
Vegan Apple Fritters
Ingredients
- 3 big apples
Dry ingredients
- 150 grams all-purpose flour + 2 tbsp for coating the apples
- 8 grams baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
Wet ingredients
- 125 ml sparkling water
- 80 grams plant milk cold
- 20 grams sugar
- vanilla aroma + lemon zest optional
Topping
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar or cinnamon + sugar
- 300 g vegan custard to dip them in
For frying
- 1.5 liter frying oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the wet ingredients (sparkling water, plant milk, sugar, and aromas) and mix them well until the sugar is dissolved.
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt) and add them to the bowl with the liquids.
- With a fork, mix everything together without over-mixing. Then let rest the batter in the refrigerator while you prepare the apples.
- Peel the apples, cut them in slices 0.7mm thick (0.25 inches), remove the core.
- Cover the apple slices with flour on both sides. Set aside.
- Bring the frying oil to frying temperature. That is 160C or 320F. Then take the batter out of the refrigerator and dip the apple slices in it, a few at a time.
- Fry the battered apples in the oil for about 2 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Turn them around once.
- Take out of the oil, let drip excess oil, then place on a tray lined with kitchen paper.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar or dip in cinnamon sugar and enjoy.
Serving suggestion
- The best way to eat these apple fritters is to dip them in our vegan custard. Link in ingredients list.
