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Air Fryer Apple Fries

Air fryer apple fries with a lightly battered, crisp exterior and a crunchy cinnamon sugar coating. Served piled high like fries with caramel dipping sauce for an easy air fryer dessert.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 320
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Apples (fry-shaped sticks)
  • 3 large apples (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp) peeled, cored, and cut into fry-shaped sticks
Batter
  • 0.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 salt pinch
  • 0.5 cup sparkling water or club soda
Cooking spray
  • 1 cooking spray
Cinnamon sugar coating
  • 0.333 cup granulated sugar
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
Caramel dipping sauce
  • 1 caramel sauce for dipping

Equipment

  • 1 Air fryer

Method
 

Preheat & mix batter
  1. Preheat the air fryer to 380°F. Keep it hot so the fries start crisping right away.
  2. Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, granulated sugar, salt, and sparkling water until a smooth batter forms. Stop when no dry flour streaks remain.
Coat apples
  1. Pat the apple sticks completely dry. This helps the batter cling and prevents sogginess.
  2. Dip each apple stick into the batter, letting excess drip off. Lay them down briefly so the batter is not pooling.
Air fry
  1. Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and arrange the battered apple sticks in a single layer. Leave space between fries for even browning.
  2. Spray the tops with cooking spray, then air fry for 10-12 minutes at 380°F, flipping halfway. Cook until golden and crispy with visible browning.
Finish & serve
  1. Immediately toss the hot fries with melted butter. Coat quickly while they’re warm so the butter acts like glue.
  2. Toss the fries in cinnamon sugar until evenly coated. Serve hot with caramel dipping sauce.

Notes

For best crunch, cut apples into evenly sized fry-shaped sticks and pat them thoroughly dry before dipping. Store leftovers in the fridge up to 2 days, then re-crisp in the air fryer at 350°F for 3-4 minutes. Freezing is not recommended because the batter coating softens after thawing. For a gluten-free swap, use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend in the batter.