Pumpkin Fritters With Orange Marmalade
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These fluffy, filling, and flavorful pumpkin fritters are made with canned pumpkin puree and lots of delicious spices. Add an orange marmalade dipping sauce for the ultimate fall appetizer.
Hot from the pan pumpkin fritters and orange marmalade dipping sauce. My stomach just rumbled writing that. I love to bring a little something different out any time of the year. We all know pumpkin and fall go together but this pumpkin fritter recipe is just as delicious as an appetizer at a barbecue. With just a hint of spice and sweetness, it is particularly satisfying. I’m an orange marmalade gal so that burst of citrus flavor is definitely the best way to top these off.
These easy pumpkin fritters are deep-fried so you can expect a crisp fried exterior and a fluffy moist interior. The perfect combo, right? To make them, you’re going to need canned pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, self-rising flour, milk, an egg, and some spices: ground cinnamon, ground allspice, and ground cloves. The instructions are as easy as mixing the ingredients together to make a batter and then frying the batter in hot oil.
Add your orange marmalade dipping sauce and your pumpkin fritters are ready to serve. If the marmalade isn’t your thing, rest assured I’ve included more serving options below. Because the best part of these fritters is that you can enjoy them as a savory appetizer or as a sweet dessert. Who doesn’t love that? No matter how you serve them, I hope you make these fluffy pumpkin fritters soon.
Ready for the pumpkin fritter recipe? Don’t blink because you might miss it. It’s just that easy!
Recipe Ingredients
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Self-rising flour
- Sugar
- Egg
- Milk
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground allspice
- Ground cloves
- Oil for frying
- Store-bought orange marmalade
How To Make Pumpkin Fritters
To start, take a saucepot and fill it with the oil of your choosin’ to a depth of 2 inches.
Put this on medium-high heat to preheat while we make our batter.
I use a saucepan because it is smaller so I’m able to use a lot less oil in order to get the depth I want.
Now let’s make our batter!
Just take all ingredients (exact measurements at the bottom), dump them in a bowl, and stir until they’re well mixed like this.
I love recipes like that, don’t you? 🙂
Scoop up by spoonfuls and carefully drop that into your hot oil.
I just get my spoon close to the surface of the oil and push the batter off with my finger.
They will immediately start bubbling and float to the top.
Cook until nice and dark golden brown, turning every now and then so they cook evenly, like this.
It will take a few minutes.
Remove to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon and cook the remainder of the fritter batter.
Tip to get that delicious texture…
Now keep in mind that this batter is dark colored so you need some real browning to go on before you know they are done. It is okay to take one out and cut it in half to test so you know you have the cooking time about right.
I cooked these for about two minutes or so on each side. Then I added an extra minute for good measure.
To make my orange marmalade dipping sauce, I just emptied a small jar of orange marmalade into a bowl, heated it in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and then stirred in two tablespoons of water until well mixed.
This makes it a nice thick syrup consistency, perfect for dipping those fritters in!
Note: You wanna have a spoon in the sauce so they can spoon it onto their fritter or plate.
That’s all there is to it, now eat them pumpkin fritters up!
Storage
Now, fritters always taste best when freshly made. However, you can store that are left over in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Reheat them briefly in the oven or air fryer to get that crispy coating again.
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to substitute the listed spices for 1.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice instead.
- If you’d prefer more of a savory flavor, substitute the spices for 1 teaspoon of curry powder.
- I’ve listed below how to test if the oil is hot enough, but temperature-wise, you want it to reach 325 degrees. Vegetable oil, canola oil, and peanut oil are all good oils for frying.
- Remember you want to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The latter has added sugar, which we don’t need.
- If you like, substitute the granulated sugar for brown sugar.
- Another easy substitution is to use buttermilk instead of whole milk.
- For extra sweetness, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the batter.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve pumpkin fritters?
So, you can enjoy them as an appetizer with a sweet dipping sauce like orange marmalade or cranberry sauce. Otherwise, enjoy them as a dessert or sweet snack with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, confectioners/powdered sugar, salted caramel sauce, maple syrup, or with a simple sugar glaze on top.
Check out these other easy appetizers:
How to Bake Brie (With Delicious Toppings)
Little Smokies Pigs In A Blanket
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Fill a saucepot with vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches. Place over medium-high heat while you prepare the batter.
- For the batter: combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and stir together with a spoon until well blended.1 cup canned pumpkin puree, 1 cup self-rising flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Check the temperature of the oil by dropping a pinch of flour in it. If it immediately bubbles, the oil is ready. If not, allow the oil to heat for a few more minutes.
- Reduce oil to medium heat. Carefully drop batter by spoonful into the oil, pushing it off the spoon with your finger. Repeat until you have several cooking simultaneously. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until dark golden brown.
- Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and cook the remainder of the batter.
- To prepare the marmalade dipping sauce, spoon a small jar of marmalade into a bowl and add two tablespoons of water. Heat in microwave for 45 seconds. Stir together until well combined.
Nutrition
“You better take care of me, Lord, if you don’t you’re gonna have me on your hands.”
~Hunter S. Thompson
This is so true :).
This looks delicious Christy! I will try them soon.
I hope you enjoy them Annette!!
These look good! I have to try it soon. Good thing I have some orange marmalade left from a big jar I recently purchased for an Orange Chicken recipe that I tried from Stacey’s Southern Bite site (I found him through you, Christy. Thanks!)
By the way everyone, Libby’s website still has that 50¢ COUPON available. You can print it out twice. Just click the link that Christy has for “Pumpkin Can” at the end of this post
Thanks for another great recipe, Christy! Ill be sure to let you know when I’ve tried it.
I hope you enjoy them Samantha!!!!
These fritters sound wonderful Can’t wait to try them. I’ll try them with the orange marmalade but I’m thinking that dipping them in apple butter would be good too,
The apple butter sounds really good! But I was thinking something along the lines of softened cream cheese with whipped topping mixed in it until it’s a soft dip consistency and then putting in maybe a little cocoa powder, GOOD vanilla or cinnamon or equally yummy add in. I know for a fact that my family does not care for orange marmalade…. I’m the only one that does! The sillies! But I’m definitely going to make this for one of our family get together barbecues. Thank you!
Hmmm, I bet you are right Karen!!
I love your recipes! I have been looking EVERYWHERE for a recipe like my grandmother used to make. It’s a cobbler recipe. As a child I watched her, but I don’t know all that was involved. I know she rolled out a dough and cut it into dumplings which she dropped into boiling fruit. She then put a crust on it and baked it. Do you have any idea where I might find a recipe similar to this? Thank you.
Yum! Can not wait to try this. Remembering corn fritters at the now all gone Kapok Tree Restaurant in Clearwater, Florida. What a beautifully interesting place and gardens it was. For those savory ones, they were dipped in confectioners powder.
Oh Betty, I have been trying to think of the Kopok for months. My “other mama” lived in Clearwater and it was such a treat to go there. I could visualize the place but just could not come up with the name. Thanks.
I remember eating at The Kapok Tree Inn in Clearwater in the late 60s and early 70s
Loved it – always felt like I was on a visit to a tropical island!
That sounds wonderful. I’m headed to the store to get some orange marmalade. I have everything else. I made the fudge brownies this morning. My family will love them! Bless you Christi jordan
No way I’d need the spoon cuz I don’t think I’ll be sharing this with anyone!!! Being good here…hubs is diabetic so these would not be good for him!! Not so good for keeping my weight down though…how well would the batter keep in the frig if I just made a few every day?