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These Baked Apple Cider Donuts are a delightful way to celebrate the season. Moist and rich with fall flavor, they can be served for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even dessert.
I have a sweet treat for you today. Last week I shared my latest fall tablescape and hinted at a couple tasty recipes. Today I’m back to share these Baked Apple Cider Donuts.
Like many folks, when it comes to fall, I’m a sucker for anything apple cider or pumpkin flavored. (Hence this recipe for Baked Apple Sider Donuts!) However, I do prefer homemade or freshly baked goodies over “fake” pumpkin things.
A few years ago on one of the Fall Home Tours of my St. Marys’ home, I showed you how to make Baked Pumpkin Donuts. Since they were so delicious, I thought I’d make them again but switch up the flavor with apple cider.
These are actually mini-bundt cakes, but I couldn’t resist calling them donuts because of the holes in the center. It seemed so much more suitable.
What I love about this particular recipe is that they are simple to make. You just need two bowls and a whisk. That’s right, no mixer is required. (I know it’s not a big deal, but sometimes it’s nice not to have to clean the mixer.)
How to Make Apple Cider Donuts:
To make these Baked Apple Cider Donuts, mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another and then mix them together. (It’s really that easy.)
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I decided to use this cute mini-bundt pan to bake these donuts. I just love the shape. In fact, it might look familiar as I have a full-sized version of this pan which I used to make both my Funfetti Coffee Cake and my Lemon Pistachio Bundt Cake.
Once they are out of the oven and still warm, brush them with butter and press a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on them. This will give them that beautiful deep cinnamon color and add a crunchy outer shell.
With that, your Baked Apple Cider Donuts are complete!
They are wonderfully moist and full of apple spice flavor. I think you’re going to love them!
If you liked this fall-inspired recipe, you’ll love these:
Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
Apple Cinnamon Hot Toddy
Apple Streusel Cake
Frosted Apple Cider Cookies
Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Spread
If you’d like to make a batch yourself, you can find the full recipe below. Enjoy!
Baked Apple Cider Donut Recipe:
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
These Baked Apple Cider Donuts are a delightful way to celebrate the season. Moist and rich with fall flavor, they can be served for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even dessert.
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple cider, apple cider donuts, donut, fall donut
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your donut (mini-bundt cake) pan with a baking spray*. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, apple cider, canola oil, applesauce, vanilla, and eggs. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan filling each cavity about three-quarters full.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the donuts to sit in the pan for 3-4 minutes. Then invert the pan to remove.
In a small bowl, make the topping by whisking together the cinnamon and sugar. Brush each donut with melted butter. Then, using your hand, press the cinnamon and sugar mixture onto each donut.
The donuts can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
*The particular pan that I used for this recipe will bake six donuts at a time. I baked half of the recipe first, removed the donuts from the pan, and then baked the remaining half. Alternatively, you could use two of the same pans.
Cider doughnuts are cake doughnuts that get their flavor from cinnamon, nutmeg and apple cider used in the batter. They are a harvest tradition in autumn in the northeastern United States and are sometimes sold at cider mills.
Nothing pairs better with our apple cider donuts than a nice, creamy slathering of our Chiles Family Orchards apple butter. If you're looking to branch out into more fall flavors, try our rich and scrumptious pumpkin butter. A good tip for this dessert is to heat up your apple butter and toast your donut.
Taste: The little bit of nutmeg combined with the sour cream and sweet glaze makes these doughnuts taste just like the ones at your favorite bakery, if not better! Texture: Slightly crunchy on the outside, cakey and soft on the inside.
Freezing: Place donuts on a baking tray and put in the freezer for 3-5 hours or until frozen. Without letting them thaw, place in an airtight container or freezing bag. Keep up to 3 months. Thawing: Leave at room temperature, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.
Cider donuts originated with the American colonialists. With fall as the butchering season, there was a surplus of leftover fat from the animals. To use it up, colonial cooks would mix the seasonal apples with fry dough, and eventually, cider donuts became a homespun Halloween treat.
Note that while apple cider donuts include apple cider, they're actually not designed to TASTE very strongly of apple, per several readers. Fittingly, most of these recipes are basically excellent cinnamon sugar cake doughnuts with a hint of apple.
The best way to store cider donuts is at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock bag. The donuts will keep for about 1 to 2 days, though the longer you keep them on the counter, the less fresh they taste. Don't try to store them in the fridge. The cold will just make them dry out more.
A good one is tender yet cakey, has a delicate crust, and is lightly spiced, with an apple-y tang. And it's best eaten warm. One might argue that it's hard to re-create this experience at home, but I would argue that making apple cider doughnuts at home is the best way to ensure that you get the best doughnut possible.
The priciest doughnut on the planet is filled with champagne and topped with 24-karat gold. It's called the Golden Cristal Ube, and a dozen will set you back $1,200.
Glazed donuts are the most popular donut flavor because of their simplicity and sweetness. They are perfect for breakfast or as a snack. The Glazed donut is a classic, delicious treat at Dunkin Donuts. It features a soft, fluffy, and slightly chewy yeast donut that has been coated in a sweet and glossy glaze.
Yes, you can store apple cider doughnuts, but we don't recommend it as fried doughnuts are best eaten right away. If you want to enjoy these doughnuts later, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds to refresh.
How to Reheat Apple Cider Donuts? Apple cider doughnuts never really reheat well. You can put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften them up, but you may need to coat them with cinnamon sugar again. Do not try to re-fry these doughnuts as they will simply get very greasy inside.
Luckily, you can freeze doughnuts for up to two months, giving your glazed treats a nice, long life. Here's everything you need to know about freezing doughnuts, whether they're homemade or from a local doughnut shop.
Many apple cider doughnut recipes are cake-based, not yeast-based. And most apple fritters don't have cider in the dough, they just rely on the apple chunks to provide flavor.
Cider Donuts are to be eaten with cider, that's where the name comes from. So if you grew up in rural New England, as I did, you have indelible memories of the smell of cider donuts at Apple Orchards this time of year.
What Are Apple Cider Doughnuts? Apple cider doughnuts are a New England treat — one of the symbols of fall as the spectacular foliage turns autumnal and the weather starts to feel crisp. They're made with a base of boiled-down apple cider, which turns into a syrup that's sweet and deeply apple-y.
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If you’d like to make a batch yourself, you can find the full recipe below. Enjoy!
