Oven baked apple cider doughnuts are full of warm fall spices like cinnamon & sugar, and made with apple cider giving them a burst of fresh picked apple flavor. The perfect fall treat to serve with morning coffee or dessert.
When the calendar flips to September, I get a bit giddy. Fall is my favorite time of year; I love the crisp air, vibrant red, orange & yellow hues that demand attention from the leaves all around, and most of all, apple season!
Local orchards will encourage visitors to pick their favorite varieties and enjoy a classic treat: apple cider cake donuts!
Related recipes to try: Apple butter, Crockpot Applesauce, Dutch Baby Apple Pancake, Red's Apple Ale Pulled Pork, The Best apple pie recipe
Apple cider donuts near me
Local farms with apples, pumpkins, corn mazes, and hayrides are opening their doors for folks to come to visit. You can find your favorite fall event in the Capital District or see where the leaves are most vibrant.
There is a farm not too far from here that I think has what could be the perfect recipe for this sweet, round, delectable piece of heaven.
The small kitchen works all day long, churning out warm, soft cakes, encrusted in cinnamon & sugar. Apple cider doughnuts are around for such a short time that it makes a trip to the country store almost a weekly occurrence. Until now!
Cider doughnuts are delish
Whether you spell them doughnut or donut, the end result is always delicious. I had a craving for these last week, and I did not have time to make the drive to the orchard, so I decided to try and recreate the recipe in my own kitchen. The result? WOWZA!
The best part about these cider doughnuts is that they are baked, not fried, and are just as soft and delicious. After my son tried them, he said, “Mom! Please, please make these EVERY WEEKEND. Please!”
How could I refuse such a request?
Tools Needed to Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Making baked donuts is actually very easy, especially if you have the right baking tools. I use the same method to make our pumpkin spice donuts too. Here's what you need:
- Non-Stick Donut pan like the one I use from Wilton. You can get a set of 2 Wilton donut pans on Amazon and have them delivered in no time!
- Silicone pastry brush works great for preparing your donut pans and brushing on apple cider. I really like the Norpro Silicone brush because it's light. This makes a great stocking stuffer too!
- Cooling Rack is just what every kitchen should have. Perfect for baked goods and pretty much anything that comes out of the oven.
If you are about to go purchase a pan for this recipe, I highly suggest buying two of them. I recommend the Wilton non-stick 6-count donut pan 2-pack. It makes the perfect-sized donuts!
Other recipes to try!
- Chocolate Glazed Donuts
- Baked Blueberry Cake Donuts
- Love fall baking? Don’t miss my September Recipe Roundup with more cozy apple and pumpkin favorites!
Ingredients for apple dounts
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- nutmeg
- allspice
- cinnamon
- kosher salt
- maple syrup
(the real stuff!) - apple cider, divided
- applesauce, unsweetened
- canola or avocado oil
- vanilla extract
- Topping:
- sugar
- cinnamon
(the real stuff!)
How to make apple cider doughnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a pan with a little bit of butter or brush with oil.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix ¼ cup apple cider, applesauce, canola oil, maple syrup
, and vanilla extract, and then add to wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
Mix until combined.
Using a spoon
or pastry bag, fill the prepared doughnut wells ¾ full.
Bake 10 minutes or until the top springs back to the touch.
Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 2 minutes.
Remove from pan
and place on a wire rack to cool a bit more.
While doughnuts are cooling, pour the remaining ¼ cup of apple cider into a small bowl
.
In a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, combine the topping mixture of ¾ cup sugar & 1 Tbsp. cinnamon.
The doughnuts should now be cool enough to touch, but still warm.
Quickly dunk half of the flat side into a bowl of cider. Flip and dip the other side.
Place a doughnut into a Ziploc bag
and gently shake in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.
Place back on a rack
to cool or serve immediately.
To Make Apple Cider Donut Less Sweet
Maybe you are looking for a tasty fall treat that isn't very sweet. You can adjust the sweetness of this donut very easily.
Instead of dunking your apple cake donut into the cider, brush cider on top using your silicone pastry brush and lightly tap into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
You can also enjoy your apple donut without any topping at all and still have the sweet flavor of apple and warm spices.
Serving suggestions
Once you bake your first apple cider donut recipe, you will want to make them every weekend! These little treats are perfect to serve:
- For breakfast
- Brunch– try adding to the table alongside our pumpkin pound cake!
- Fall dessert
- Halloween parties– next to our Halloween Snack Mix
- Tailgate parties
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
Apple Cider Doughnuts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. allspice
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1/3 cup maple syrup the real stuff!
- ½ cup apple cider divided
- ¼ cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Topping:
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease pan with a little bit of butter.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
- In separate bowl, mix ¼ cup apple cider, apple sauce, canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract, and then add to dry ingredients.
- Mix until combined.
- Using a spoon, fill prepared doughnut sections ¾ full.
- Bake 10 minutes or until top springs back to the touch.
- Remove from oven and cool in pan for 2 minutes.
- Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool a bit more.
- While doughnuts are cooling, pour remaining ¼ cup apple cider in a small bowl.
- In a gallon sized Ziploc bag, combine the topping mixture of ¾ cup sugar & 1 Tbsp. cinnamon.
- The doughnuts should now be cool enough to touch, but still warm.
- Quickly dunk half of flat side into bowl of cider. Flip and dip other half.
- Place doughnut into Ziploc bag and gently shake in cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.
- Place back on rack to cool or serve immediately.
Nutrition
Original post: 10/14/18
Updated post: 9/29/20, 9/2/25
These donuts look amazing. Can’t wait to try them for my family. I don’t have a donut pan so I’m going to use a mini muffin pan and make “donut holes”. Shhhh, don’t tell.
Perfect! That will work just as good! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
These are so good, I tell you. Didn’t last long. 🙂