Peel, core, and dice apples into small pieces. Toss apples with some lemon juice and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar just until combines.
Sift in flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Start whisking the dry and wet ingredients together and pour in melted butter. Whisk until the ingredients are just incorporated.
Fold in apples until they are evenly spread through the batter and set the batter aside.
Preheat the oil:
Fill a Dutch oven with oil about 2-3 inches up the side. (Or preheat your fryer if using.) Heat the oil to 375° over medium heat.
Line a cooling wire rack with paper towels and place it inside a baking sheet.
Stir the batter one more time and carefully drop about 1/4 cup of batter into the hot oil. Fry fritters in batches of 3-4.
Let them fry for about 2-3 minutes per side. Make sure to use metal spatula or metal tongs to flip and take out the fritters. Take fritters out onto the prepared cooling rack.
Glaze:
Place powdered sugar in a bowl and heat up heavy cream and vanilla extract in a microwave for just a few second. (It should be just not, don't heat for too long or it will boil over.)
Stir powdered sugar and warmed cream together until glaze if formed.
Spread the glaze all over the top of the fritters while they are still hot.
NOTE: if you want to glaze the fritters on top and bottom, double the amount of glaze.
Video
Notes
TIPS:
Prepare the apple fritter batter first, then start preheating the oil. This will give time for all the ingredients in the batter to come together and give apples a chance to release some natural juices. Give the batter another stir before dropping the batter in oil.
Heat the oil to 375°F and then give the oil a couple of minutes to reheat between the batches.
Fry the fritters in batches of 3-4 so the pan doesn’t get overcrowded and the oil cools too much.
Don’t use a scoop to drop the batter, but rather a spoon or a measuring cup. A scoop will leave the donuts round and they won’t cook all the way through inside.
Make the glaze while the fritters are frying and glaze the fritters while they are hot. Don’t glaze room temperature fritters or the glaze won’t melt and spread on the fritter.
You can glaze them on both sides or just on one, it’s up to you.
To reheat, you can easily pop a fritter into the microwave for a few seconds or use an over or an air-fryer. In the oven, reheat the apple fritters at 350° for a few minutes. In the air-fryer, reheat at 360° for about 1 minute, depending on the size. They will reheat fast in the air-fryer, don't overheat!