Simple Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Baked Apple Cider Donuts are a perfect Fall treat, great for cool mornings or cozy afternoons. Instead of using fresh apple cider that needs to be reduced, this recipe uses spiced apple cider packets, making it quick and easy to bring the cinnamon and apple spices you are craving to your favorite donuts.

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Apple Cider Donuts are big business here in New Jersey, not just in the Fall, but all year round. My first bakery job at a local apple orchard included making dozens of apple cider donuts every day. We reduced our apple cider in big commercial vats and then fried them in a scary conveyer belt/hot oil contraption that looked like it came out of Wile E. Coyote's ACME catalog.

The idea for these homemade Apple Cider Donuts came when I wanted to recreate the donuts from the bakery and I saw spiced apple cider packets. I thought "What if I made baked apple cider donuts without reducing apple cider?" Best decision ever.

The apple cider mix, along with a little bit of apple juice (steal one of your kid's juice boxes), adds just the right amount of apple flavor and cozy spices to the donut batter. The resulting donuts are soft and moist on the inside, with just a hint of spice, so they taste like Fall in New Jersey, and that's a good thing.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Baked, not fried - Skip the mess of frying without sacrificing flavor.
• Apple-packed flavor - Using spiced cider packets to the donut and the cinnamon sugar gives all the apple flavor.
• Cozy fall spices - Cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg bring Autumn warmth to every bite.
• Quick to make - From mixing bowl to first bite in under 30 minutes.
• Perfect texture - Soft and tender inside, with a crisp cinnamon-sugar coating.

Ingredients & Substitutions

I wanted to use ingredients that were easy to find and inexpensive, and I think I did a pretty good job. Let's go over the major players and any kind of ingredient swaps that you can make and still get all the Fall flavors of delicious donuts in your belly:

• All-purpose flour - I recommend a good strong all-purpose flour for these donuts so that they can hold up to brushing on butter and rolling them around in the cinnamon sugar. If you have leftover self-rising flour from making bagels or cream biscuits or pancakes, feel free to use it and leave out the baking powder and the salt.
• Sugars - I recommend brown sugar in the donut batter to give it that full Fall flavor, and then will use granulated white sugar to make the cinnamon sugar for the buttery donut dunk party.
• Fall spices - I can't say enough about the delicious combination of cinnamon and cardamom and nutmeg. They are BFFs forever. But if you have some apple pie spice or some pumpkin spice laying around, feel free to use that instead.
• Butter - I always use unsalted butter so that I can control how salty my foods are, but if you only have unsalted butter, I would use half the amount of additional salt called for the recipe. I also add a little oil to the butter to ensure that you get that flavor of butter, but the moisture from oil.
• Milk - I wanted to make these baked apple cider donuts were accessible as possible, and one way to do that was to use milk in the batter. If you would like to use buttermilk or yogurt, that would also be delicious! I haven't tried it with plant-based milks, but if you do please let me know how it goes in the comments.
• Spiced apple cider packets - If you can't find the instant spiced cider packets, replace them with ¼ cup boiled apple cider (or concentrated apple cider). Since this adds liquid to the batter, reduce the apple cider in the recipe by the same amount to keep the balance.
• Optional apple juice or apple cider - Straight from the bottle (or juice box), adding a little bit of apple juice or cider reinforces the apple flavor. That being said, if you don't want to open a huge bottle to use only ½ a cup, feel free to just add water.

See recipe card at the bottom of this post for measurements and directions.

Equipment: Donut pans

In order to make baked donuts, you kinda have to have a donut pan. I've used my Wilton donut pan for years and it's the one I recommend. I use two of them to make this recipe, but you can always bake them in batches. If you don't have one, you can bake them as fluffy muffins in a standard muffin pan, for 18 to 20 minutes, or make donut muffins in a mini muffin pan for 10 to 12 minutes.

That being said, even though your pan may say that it's nonstick - don't believe it. I have yet to meet doughnut pans that weren't big fat liars. Can't trust 'em. Spray your donut pan generously with cooking spray just before filling them with batter, then wipe the excess from around the donut wells so it doesn't burn.

Instructions

My flavorful apple cider donuts are considerably easier than the Wile E. Coyote donuts I made in the bakery. We're going to make a simple and delicious batter, we're going to pipe it into a donut pan, we're going to bake them, then we're going to brush them with melted butter and roll them around and cinnamon sugar, and then we're going to eat them. Yay!

• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 (6-cavity) donut pans with nonstick spray.
• In a microwave, or in a small saucepan on the stove, melt butter in a small bowl. Add oil to bring the melted butter to room temperature. Set aside.

Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Set aside.

Step 2: In a medium bowl, or large measuring cup, combine two eggs, brown sugar, milk, apple juice or water, two spice packets, and vanilla extract.

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and begin mixing. 

Step 4: When halfway mixed, begin drizzling in your melted butter and oil, combining just until the last of the dry ingredients disappear. 

Step 5: If you have time, let the batter rest for 15 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate.

Step 6: Transfer batter into a disposable piping bag or a large zip top bag. Cut a ½ inch opening cut from one corner of your bag and fill each well of your prepared donut pans ⅔ full.

Step 7: Bake at 350°F until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion of a donut comes out clean, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove them from the pans and set on a cooling rack.

• Step 8: Melt your butter and combine your cinnamon, sugar, and another spice packet in a medium bowl.

Step 9: Once cool enough to handle, use a pastry brush to brush both sides of each donut in the melted butter. If you don't have a pastry brush, then just quickly dip them in the butter on both sides. 

Step 10: Roll still warm donuts in the cinnamon sugar topping and enjoy!

Cynthia's Helpful Tips

• Piping the batter - Using a piping bag (or zip-top bag) makes it easier to get the batter neatly into the donut pans.
• Don't overbake - Keep a close eye at the 10 minute mark; overbaking will make them dry.
• Fresh is best - These donuts are at their absolute peak the day they're made.
• Storage - Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
• Double dip - For extra flavor, dip the buttered donuts in cinnamon sugar twice. Or thrice 😉

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