Most store-bought pancake mixes use flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt as part of the base. This is essentially the same set of ingredients you would use if you were to make the batter for your apple fritters from scratch. So all you need to do is get your oil hot enough to fry, add water to the pancake mix to bring it to the right consistency, whisk in a beaten egg, mix in your chopped apples, and start frying your fritters.
Why does this mix make such deliciously fluffy, golden pancakes, despite the bare-bones prep process? It's because all the ingredients you'd use in a from-scratch recipe are included in the product, such as baking soda for a good rise, powdered eggs and buttermilk for a rich flavor and pillowy texture, and salt to round out the taste. This mix also contains cornstarch, the ingredient Ina Garten uses to make pancakes more tender. The starch inhibits the development of gluten, preventing the flapjacks from turning tough.