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Baked Apple Cider Donuts are moist and tender with tons of apple and cinnamon flavors. Since these are baked, not fried, they’re easy to make and you don’t even need a mixer! Dusted with cinnamon sugar, these will satisfy your fall donut craving.
We love going apple picking every fall and two of the highlights are apple cider donuts and fresh apple cider. By learning how to make these apple donuts at home I can enjoy them all year long! You won’t even miss the fried doughnuts because these are just as good: moist, tender, and baked in donut pans so there is no oily mess.
The secret to getting that rich apple cider flavor into a baked donut without making the batter too watery is to reduce the apple cider to concentrate the flavor. This is an extra step but 100% worth it in the end: the extra water in the cider evaporates as it cooks down, giving it a much more intense flavor which passes along to the donuts. Along with a hearty dose of cinnamon sugar coating, these taste even better than the orchard!
Apple Cider Donuts Ingredients
- Reduced apple cider should be cooked down and cooled to room temperature (or made the day before). Don’t bake with it still hot!
- Melted unsalted butter is the binding fat in the recipe. While you can also use vegetable oil, butter gives additional flavor.
- Brown sugar gives a ton of depth of flavor because of the molasses in it plus it keeps the donuts soft.
- You’ll need cinnamon and nutmeg (apple pie spice flavors) in the donuts as well as in the cinnamon sugar.
- The donuts have baking soda and baking powder to help them rise and be nice and fluffy and moist.
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Dorothy’s Testing Notes
- It’s best to reduce the cider the day before making these so it has time to cool.
- The donuts can be made and stored up to a day ahead (or frozen) but warm them before dusting in cinnamon sugar. They taste best freshly coated.
- If you don’t have a donut pan you can make these as 12 standard muffins.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coating
- 1 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Add cider to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer until it has reduced to approximately ¾ cup (approximately 7-10 minutes). Pour into a bowl or measuring cup and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the reduced apple cider, melted butter, and both sugars until smooth. Add the milk, egg, and vanilla; whisk until well combined. Use a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Transfer the batter to a gallon-size zip-top bag or a piping bag. Cut off the tip and use this to pipe the batter into the donut pan.
- Bake standard-size donuts for 12-14 minutes; bake mini donuts for 9-11 minutes. Donuts are done when the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the fattest part of the donut comes out clean.
- Allow donuts to cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes. Run a knife or small offset spatula around the outside edges of each donut and remove from the pan to a wire rack.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and spices. While the donuts are still very warm, coat in the spiced sugar mixture.
- If your donut pan is not big enough to bake all of the donuts in one round, clean and re- spray the pan and repeat baking with remaining batter as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How to make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- It’s always best to whisk the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, baking powder) before adding them to the wet ingredients.
- The melted butter, cider, sugars, and egg will make a thin mixture.
- The batter will be a typical muffin batter texture once mixed.
- It’s easiest to pipe the dough into the donut pan using a ziploc bag or pastry bag. Add the batter and cut off the tip so you can easily fill the pans.
- If you only have one donut pan, bake 6 then allow them to cool slightly before removing and filling a second time.
- Only dust baked apple cider donuts with cinnamon sugar while hot.
