I have to confess until I married my husband, I hadn’t heard or had the pleasure of eating an Apple Cider Donut. They were a special fall treat for him on his school field trips to Edwards Apple Orchard in Northern Illinois. Once we had kids and started visiting pumpkin farms, he zoned in on the concession stands looking for his beloved apple cider donuts. Sadly, it took him several years to find a farm that served a true apple cider donut. Also sadly, it only occurred to me after 10 years, that I can satiate his craving from home.

Now I’m not a fan of deep frying at home. It just plain scares me. So when I found many other bloggers baking donuts, I thought it was ingenius. I purchased this Wilton Nonstick Donut Pan (affiliate link, because I loved it).

I tried several donut recipes before I received a “just like I remember it” praise. I found this recipe on Sallys Baking Addiction. What makes this recipe work well, is the reduced apple cider. It added such a strong apple flavor that was missing from other recipes. The apple flavor of these Baked Apple Cider Donuts is enhanced by the cinnamon sugar topping, so don’t skip it. Enjoy these with your morning coffee, or even as a dessert. These will now be a fall tradition in our home and hopefully yours as well.

Kristen bought the donut pan and tried out this recipe too. She discovered that these donuts are delicious with gluten-free flour. She used Grandpa’s GF flour, but I’m sure your go-to will work great.

Ingredients

Donuts:
1 and 1/4 cups apple cider
2 cups all-purpose flour (or your favorite Gluten-Free flour blend)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature*
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar (or dark brown)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Simmer apple cider over low-medium heat in a small saucepan on the stove for 15-20 minutes. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, spices, and/or orange slices for flavor if desired. In this step you are reducing the apple cider for a stronger flavor. You will need 1/2 cup from this reduced cider. Allow it to cool in the refrigerator as you prepare the other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of concentrated apple cider.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and very gently mix together with a whisk. Be very gentle as over-mixing will develop the gluten and result in a tough textured donut. Whisk until all ingredients are *just combined.* Some small lumps may remain, but not many.

To fill the donut pan up with batter, simple spoon the batter into a large zipped-top bag, cut off one bottom corner and pipe the batter into the pan. Fill each crevice 2/3 of the way full. (Any more than that and the donuts will puff up and you will lose the hole in the center.) Bake the donuts for 9-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The donuts will take the same amount of time.

Mix sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush each donut with the melted butter and toss it in the sugar mixture.

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

 

Print

Prep time

35 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Sally's Baking Addiction

Serves: 14

Ingredients

• Donuts:
• 1 and ¼ cups apple cider
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, room temperature*
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup light brown sugar (or dark brown)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Topping:
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions

1. Simmer apple cider over low-medium heat in a small saucepan on the stove for 15-20 minutes. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, spices, and/or orange slices for flavor if desired. In this step you are reducing the apple cider for a stronger flavor. You will need ½ cup from this reduced cider. Allow it to cool in the refrigerator as you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
3. Toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and ½ cup of concentrated apple cider.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and very gently mix together with a whisk. Be very gentle as over-mixing will develop the gluten and result in a tough textured donut. Whisk until all ingredients are *just combined.* Some small lumps may remain, but not many.
5. To fill the donut pan up with batter, simple spoon the batter into a large zipped-top bag, cut off one bottom corner and pipe the batter into the pan. Fill each crevice ⅔ of the way full. (Any more than that and the donuts will puff up and you will lose the hole in the center.) Bake the donuts for 9-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The donuts will take the same amount of time.
6. Mix sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush each donut with the melted butter and toss it in the sugar mixture.

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