Meyer Lemon Fritters

Treat yourself to a batch of freshly fried Meyer lemon fritters with this quick recipe. They're a delightful twist on the classic fried treat, bringing a burst of citrusy sunshine to your mouth.

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Recipe

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Meyer Lemon Fritters

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: donuts

Servings: 12 fritters

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (195 grams)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
• 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon dry milk powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup Greek yogurt, plain (115 grams)
• 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar or as needed

Instructions

• Preheat frying oil to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, milk powder, and salt in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add them to the dry ingredients along with the yogurt, lemon juice, milk, and vanilla. Combine the ingredients just until combined.
• Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons of the fritter batter into the oil and fry until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on paper towels. Let cool slightly. Repeat with the remaining batter.
• Dust the Meyer lemon fritters generously with powdered sugar. Serve warm.

Notes

If Meyer lemons are unavailable, substitute with regular lemons instead.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make fritter batter

With Meyer lemons popping up left and right, it only seemed right that I incorporate the citrus into these fritters. If Meyer lemons aren't in season, you can swap them out for regular lemons or use another citrus, like grapefruit or orange.

The Meyer lemon fritter is incredibly easy to make. All you have to do is combine the dry ingredients, whisk the wet ingredients, and stir everything together until combined. Easy peasy!

If you don't have dry milk powder, you can omit the ingredient, but I love adding it to desserts because it makes them more tender.

Step 2: Fry

Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons of the fritter batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. I like to use a small scooper to make the fritters the same size and make it easier to drop them into the oil. Once the fritters are a lovely brown, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on paper towels.

Let the fritters cool slightly and then dust them with a generous coating of powdered sugar. If the fritters are too hot when adding the sugar, they'll melt away.

The actual fritter batter isn't that sweet, so it needs that extra bit of sugar. If you want to skip the sugar, you can serve the Meyer lemon fritters with a fruit jam instead.

When I started this journey, I wanted to replicate baked powdered donuts. Instead, I ended up with fried Meyer lemon fritters. But after eating one too many of these, I can't complain! They have the perfect texture with a lovely hint of lemon and just the right amount of sugar. So, turns out it was a success!

For more citrus treats, check out this complete list of citrus desserts worth making!

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: You can make the fritter batter up to 1 hour in advance.
• Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refridgerator for up to 3 days.

More Meyer lemon recipes

Looking for more dishes featuring Meyer lemons? Try these: