Updated 30th September 2024
These homemade baked apple cider doughnuts are tender, and super flavourful. Their sugary spiced coating makes them irresistible! They are very simple to make and are the perfect fall treat. No need to make a special trip to the apple orchard for these doughnuts (although I strongly recommend going for the apples – something I have yet to do yet this fall) – these are just as good if not better. The recipe doesn’t require reducing the cider but the option is there – it helps deepen the flavours of the apple cider and doughnuts. Full details about the cider concentrate below if you chose to. I have made with the reduced cider and without reducing it and both are irresistible.
Why You Will Love These Baked Apple Cider Donuts/Doughnuts:
- Easy to make cake doughnuts that are fluffy and coated in cinnamon sugar.
- Made with simple ingredients, readily available in your local grocery store and some you might already have in your pantry.
- They are baked not fried. No need for any yeast.
- They are light and fluffy and taste just like old fashioned apple cider donuts.
- They are infused with delicious apple cider.
Flavor and Texture
If you like spice cakes or apple cakes or anything with warm apple spices, then you’ll love this doughnut recipe. These reminded my hubby of a spice cake his mom use to make when he was a kid and he couldn’t stop eating them. They have a denser crumb similar to muffins, but oh so tender. That sugar cinnamon coating adds extra flavour but even more crunch.
Apple Cider Doughnut Recipe Ingredients
- SPICES: I like to use a blend of cinnamon and apple pie spice. Apple Pie Spice is a pretty standard item sold here in Canada. Instead of using Apple Pie spice you can use an extra bit of ground cinnamon and add ¼ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger and ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves- more or less of each to taste. Adjust amounts to taste.
- APPLE CIDER: Fresh apple cider is best. Do NOT use apple cider vinegar as it is NOT the same thing as apple cider. If you have a little extra time you can reduce the apple cider for more depth of cider flavors – details about that in recipe notes.
- FLOUR: All-purpose flour
- SUGAR: I use light brown sugar and granulated sugar for the cake for sweetness and granulated white sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping.
- BUTTER: I use unsalted butter. Make sure it is room temperature
- EGGS: Make sure they are room temperature
- VANILLA EXTRACT: Adds that classic warming flavor to any baked goods.
- BAKING SODA & SALT: For leavening and flavor
How to make Apple Cider Doughnuts
- PREPARE PANS: grease pans with cooking spray/baking spray or grease very generously
- WHISK the dry ingredients together
- CREAM butter and sugar then add in the eggs and vanilla.
- COMBINE and add the dry ingredients to wet and mix until well blended. Drizzle in the cider and mix until combined.
- SPOON out batter or use a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the end snipped off to fill each doughnut cup/cavity
- BAKE until golden
- BRUSH & SPRINKLE: Mix together sugar, and cinnamon a shallow bowl. Brush each donut with melted butter and then toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Donut Pan: You will need a 12 hole donut/doughnut pan. You can also use two 6 cavity doughnut pans. You can also make these in a muffin pan or even a Madeleine pan too. Full details in recipe notes.
- Pastry Bag: This is not necessary, but it helps for piping the donuts into the donut pan. You cold also use a ziploc bag with corner end trimmed.
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