My mom hates the flavor of maple, but always says the one time she enjoys it is with corn fritters. The combination of sweet corn, fried dough, and maple is not only delicious, but it’s also nostalgic. It brings me back to the days of state fairs and street festivals of my childhood. This year, I’m not sure if we’ll even get to attend a single festival, so I decided to bring the food, at least, home to me. Plus, I added my own kick, of course! Enjoy these sweet corn fritters with bourbon-maple syrup.

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Combining sweet corn and maple, to me, feels like one of the most upstate New York things you could ever do. The state is known for naturally growing both, and we’ve loved taking advantage of the local abundance since we’ve lived here.

Meanwhile, the fritters themselves remind me of my summer days, visiting the New Jersey state fair or the shore boardwalks. We’d walk around with paper plates of fried dough, our faces and hands coated in powdered sugar. It’s a memory that’s worth revisiting with this treat.

Let’s Make Sweet Corn Fritters

To get started, you’ll need some corn. You can make these fritters with fresh, canned, or frozen corn. If you’re using frozen or fresh, you’ll want to cook the corn briefly so it’s soft. For canned, be sure it’s thoroughly drained.

Then you can begin to prepare the batter. You’ll mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl whisk the egg and milk. Mix together and stir until everything is combined.

Next, add the melted butter and corn, folding in until the corn is spread evenly throughout the batter. Cover the whole thing and chill for at least twenty minutes. If you are making these later, you can store the batter overnight. Don’t skip chilling. It helps firm up the batter, so it’s easier to fry later.

Frying the Corn Fritters

If you’ve never deep fried before, this recipe is fairly easy for beginners to try. Use a high-sided pot to reduce oil splatter, and get your work-station set up ahead of time. I like to arrange everything in a row, in the order I’ll be using it. In this case it was batter bowl, pot of oil, pan of sugar, and paper-towel lined plate.

The best way to make sure the oil is the correct temperature is to use an instant-read thermometer. Oil that’s too hot will burn your fritters on the outside, while the inside remains raw. While oil that’s not hot enough will cause the batter to absorb more oil, so your fritters are greasy.

Use a standard spoon or cookie scoop for getting the batter out of the bowl, and then use a heat-proof slotted spoon to gently lower the fritter into the oil, so it doesn’t splash. Add about 5 or 6 to the pot at a time. Turn them occasionally, using your slotted spoon, until they are a perfectly crisp golden brown. It takes about three-four minutes.

Scoop the fritters out of the oil and immediately drop into the pan of powdered sugar. You can use a spoon to toss the fritters around so they get fully coated. Then transfer them to the paper-towel lined plate.

Before starting each batch, be sure to use your instant-read thermometer to check the oil temperature. If it’s too hot, turn the heat down or even off for a few minutes until it’s below 325F. Then increase the heat to fry. If it’s too cool, let the oil warm up again before adding in the next batch of batter.

Prepare the Bourbon-Maple Syrup

While the fritters are frying, or in between batches, you can start the bourbon-maple syrup. In a small saucepan, you will mix the bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark) and real maple syrup. Cook this over low heat, stirring occasionally for about seven minutes.

It will thicken up slightly. Once that happens, you can turn off the heat and stir in some vanilla. You can leave the syrup in the pot while you finish frying the fritters, or transfer it to a heat-proof bowl.

If you aren’t into bourbon, or don’t have it on hand, you can try to use a different whiskey, or serve the fritters with maple syrup. I suggest warming the syrup before serving, especially if it’s stored in the fridge.

What is a Fritter?

I’ll be honest, when I first started working on this recipe, I had no idea what to call these! Are they doughnuts, hush puppies, or fritters? I knew that I was basing them on what my mom called corn fritters, but when I researched, I had trouble finding exactly what I was envisioning.

I went with fritters because it covers pretty much any type of fried dough. and it can be sweet and savory. Doughnuts were more specific, usually round, and generally involved rolling and cutting dough. Hush puppies are essentially balls of fried cornbread. So fritters was the most general term, and I think it fits these well!

How to Serve Corn Fritters

These taste the best when served just a few minutes after frying. Once they are cool enough to handle, that’s when they will be the perfect texture. You can either drizzle the corn fritters with the syrup, or serve it on the side.

These don’t store well, so I suggest making only as many as you want to eat or serve at a time. You can store the batter for a few days, so feel free to make that in advance to save time or to fry up a quick single portion at a time.

You can eat these fritters as an afternoon snack, a side with brunch, or really whenever you want. They are sweet, but if you are looking for a less sweet version, skip the powdered sugar. Then they work well as a side dish with dinner.

For a complete brunch, try pairing these with some fried eggs and pecan-lentil sausage. Or serve alongside bananas foster stuffed french toast for a decadent morning.

Because of the bourbon, a whiskey cocktail like an amaretto old fashioned or mint bourbon lemonade suit these perfectly. For something fun and colorful, try dragon fruit raspberry rose sangria.

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5 from 7 votes