Baked Apple Cider Donuts coated in cinnamon and sugar.
It is officially Fall season and one of the most popular desserts out there is Apple Cider Donuts. I love making baked versions of donuts and have been doing so for many years. This recipe is easy to whip together if you have some fresh apple cider. If you don’t have a donut pan you can make them in a muffin pan as well.
Some recipes call for the apple cider to be boiled down, some don’t. I chose to not boil down the cider and I like the way they turned out. I think it had plenty of tang to it without boiling. I just didn’t want to mess with an additional step. If you want to boil it down for a stronger flavor this can be done by starting with 1 1/2-2 cups of apple cider in a saucepan and boiling it until it is reduced to 1/2 cup for the recipe.
I like to use a small spoon to scoop the batter into the donut pan (Amazon affiliate) but you can also use a piping bag or make your own using a ziploc bag & cutting a bottom corner to pour the batter into the pan.
The tops will be a very light golden brown when they are done and they will be springy to the touch. If you have trouble removing them from the pan try using a rubber spatula. The bottom side of the donuts will be a nice dark golden brown color.
Recipe makes 12 donuts. I used 2 Wilton donut pans (Amazon affiliate).
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
- ½ cup apple cider
- ---Coating---
- 3 Tablespoons melted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 F. degrees. Grease two 6-cavity donut pants and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl stir butter, brown sugar, and sugar together. Mix in egg, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg (optional).
- Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.
- Slowly mix in apple cider until it is well combined.
- Fill each donut cavity about ¾ full.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl for the topping.
- Once cool enough to handle gently remove from pan and brush with melted butter, coat with cinnamon and sugar mix.