Skillet Fried Apples Recipe

It’s apple season my friends! If you’re like us, you’ve made at least one trip to an apple orchard resulting in a counter full of fresh apples. Or if you’re not in an area with orchards, your local market or grocery store suddenly has an influx of beautiful apples at a great price. This is when it’s the perfect time to make fried cinnamon apples! It’s been a yearly tradition for us over the 7-8 years because it’s an easy way to use up your bounty and can be served in so many ways.

In addition to serving cooked cinnamon apples over our whole wheat applesauce waffles (you can even see them featured in the pictures from 2021!), we love using them to make fall oatmeal, eat them served on top of ice cream, and served with porkchops!

Since we’ve been making these for so long, I figured it was time to finally write out the directions so you can enjoy them too! Our detailed post will help you select the best apples for cooking, choose which way to cut your apples based on how you plan to enjoy them, how to cook them on the stovetop, and give you ideas of how you can use this easy fried apples recipe.

Ingredients for Fried Cinnamon Apples

Apples. Fresh apples are the star of the show in this easy skillet apples recipe. See the section below called ‘What Are The Best Apples for Cinnamon Fried Apples’ for a detailed outline of good varieties to use in this recipe.

Salted Butter. Butter is what is used for pan-frying. This gives our recipe that indulgent pie feel…but without all the crust and extra things. We use salted butter in our recipe because it’s generally what we have in the fridge and the salt helps balance out the sweetness as well as enhance the other flavors.

Ground Cinnamon. This is what adds the fall flavor to our recipe!

Granulated and Brown Sugar. We’ve extensively tested this recipe and have found that using a mixture of granulated sugar and brown sugar is the very best way to make these.

See the recipe card below for measurements and directions.

What Are The Best Apples for Cinnamon Fried Apples?

You will want to select a variety of apples that is firm enough to hold it’s shape during cooking and baking.

Granny Smith apples are a popular variety for making fried apples, as their natural tartness plays nicely off of the cinnamon-sugar. However, you can use a wide variety of baking apples for this recipe!

Personal favorites that work well in this recipe include Gala, Haralson, and Pink Lady apples. Other common varieties that hold their shape well for cooking that you can try in this recipe include: Braeburn, Fuji, Honey Gold, Pippin, Cortland, and Golden Delicious.

If you’re going apple picking, be sure to ask your orchard what varieties they may have that are good for baking! Local orchards often grow different varieties you may not see in the grocery store.

How to Cut Your Apples for Fried Apples

You can either slice or chop your apples into bite sized pieces. It’s really up to your personal preference!

I personally like slices when I’m using this as a side-dish or stand alone treat. But if I’m using my fried cinnamon apples as a topping, I like to chop them!

No matter which way you decide to cut your apples, be sure to core and peel your apples for the very best outcome.

Fried Apples Recipe Variations

• Mix Up the Spices. The classic way to make these just uses cinnamon, but I love tossing in up to ¼ teaspoon of pumpkin spice (or apple pie spice) when I make these for my family. You can also add a simple pinch of nutmeg, ginger, and/or allspice if you’d like.
• Use unsalted butter. If this is what you have on hand, no problem! If using this substitution, I will recommend adding a pinch of salt into your apples to enhance the other flavors and balance the sweetness.
• Use just one sugar. If preferred (or you don’t have one of these on hand), you can use all white sugar or all brown sugar for this recipe too!
• Add Bacon Drippings. While I haven’t tried this myself (it just isn’t my thing), this is a common addition if you are looking to make a copycat version of the Cracker Barrel Fried Apples!

How to Make Stovetop Apples

Peel, core, and slice or dice the apples into bite size pieces. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.

When the butter is melted, stir in the white and brown sugars.

Stir continuously until the sugars begin to melt (they will kind of clump, and them begin to liquify / bubble).

Add the cinnamon and stir to combine.

Add the apples to the skillet, and stir to coat with the butter, cinnamon, and sugar mixture.

Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (the amount of time required can vary depending on how thickly sliced the apples are. Start checking around 8-minutes).

Serve warm and enjoy!

How to Store Fried Apple Slices

Store fried apples in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Enjoy them cold, or warm them up on the stove over medium heat when ready to enjoy.

FAQs About Making Fried Cinnamon Apples

What Pan Should I Use to Make Fried Apples?

You will need a pan with rimmed edges to make your cooked apples on the stove. Most standard skillets will work fine, or use a sauté pan with high edges.

Helpful Equipment

An apple corer and basic peeler are helpful (and small-sized) pieces of kitchen equipment for this recipe. But if you like to make a lot of recipes that need cored and peeled apples, we love this old-school Johnny Apple peeler contraption and use it a ton each fall.