These Banana Apple Cider Donuts, made with boiled cider, are rolled in cinnamon sugar, dipped in a maple glaze, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar walnuts for all the tastes and textures of Fall!
Everyone is all about pumpkin this time of year, and I'm not hating on their love of that, but for me it's prime apple season! Whether it's in a dessert, like my French Apple Cake with Almonds, a hearty meal like my Breakfast Chops with Maple Apples, or these Banana Apple Cider Donuts, apples are my Fall obsession!
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Ingredients
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are pantry staples. The bananas add sweetness, with less sugar, the reduced apple cider adds a deep warm flavor, and the maple glaze take you straight into Fall in an apple orchard in Vermont. Gather everything together - it's time to make donuts!
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
I try to make all of my recipes as accessible as possible, but here are a few substitutions you can make if you're missing or can't tolerate an ingredient.
- Apple cider - You need to simmer the apple cider to concentrate the flavor but, if you don't want to do that, you can use ½ cup of cider straight out of the bottle. If you can't find apple cider, you can use ½ cup of apple juice, reduced or not.
- Banana - These are not overtly banana donuts, but some people don't love banana. If that's you, replace the banana with ½ cup of applesauce.
- Gluten-free - These donuts can be made with Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
- Dairy free - Replace the butter in the donut batter with an equal amount of a neutral oil. Replace the cream in the glaze with the alternative milk of your choice.
Variations
I think these Banana Apple Cider Donuts are perfect just as they are, but here are a few ways you can customize these to your tastes
- Apples - Add ½ cup of finely diced apples to the batter for a full apple harvest experience.
- Cinnamon sugar walnuts - If you have a nut allergy, replace the crumbly topping with a light sprinkle of cinnamon, or just finish with the maple glaze.
- Glaze - Feel free to skip the glaze and just roll these donuts a few more times in the cinnamon sugar.
Instructions
Follow these simple steps to the best apple cider donuts of your life!
1. Bring apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan then reduce to a simmer. Keep simmering until reduced to ½ cup, checking amount at 10 minutes, and every 5 minutes, until required volume is reached.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, until fully combined. Set aside.
3. Mash banana with fork or whisk until fairly smooth. Some small chunks are fine.
4. Whisk banana together with eggs, vanilla, and reduced apple cider until fully combined.
5. Drizzle in melted butter and continue to whisk.
6. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
7. Fold all ingredients until just combined. Some visible lumps are fine. Transfer batter to a disposable pastry bag, or a large zip top bag.
9. Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, a pinch of salt, and heavy cream.
10. Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together until smooth.
11. Whisk cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. When cool enough to handle, turn donuts in cinnamon sugar. Let cool completely on wire rack.
12. Dip the tops of fully cooled donuts in maple glaze.
Finish with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar walnuts, if desired. Delicious!
Equipment
I use two of this Wilton nonstick donut pan to make these donuts. If you don't have one, you can bake these in a standard muffin pan, baking for 18 to 20 minutes. You should get 8 or 9 muffins.
Expert tip
When reducing cider, after 10 minutes, pour the cider into a measuring cup to check the amount, and then pour back into the pan. Continue doing this every 5 minutes until you have ½ cup. If you accidentally over-reduce, just add a bit more cider until you have the proper amount. This whole process should take 20 minutes
You can reduce your cider up to 5 days in advance, storing the boiled cider in an airtight jar.
If your glaze is too thick, add more cream, one tablespoon at a time, until you get the perfect dippable consistency. If it's too thin, add a couple more tablespoons of powdered sugar, until just right.
Recipe FAQ's
The donuts are best eaten the day they are baked, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Once the donuts are glazed, I would not recommend reheating them, or the glaze will melt. If you know you'll be making these to eat later, skip the glaze until ready to serve. Microwave for 10 seconds, dip in glaze, and enjoy warm.
Yes! Use the servings button on the recipe card (next to the ingredients) and click on the .5x option. You can also double the recipe with the 2x option.
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Banana Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
Apple cider reduction
- 1 ½ cups apple cider
Donuts
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 banana mashed
- 1 stick unsalted butter melted
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup reduced apple cider
Cinnamon sugar coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/16 teaspoon kosher salt a pinch
Glaze
- 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1/16 teaspoon kosher salt a pinch
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
Optional cinnamon sugar walnuts
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Reduce apple cider
- Bring the apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until you’re left with about ½ cup. Start checking at 10 minutes, and then every five minutes, until you have ½ cup. If you don’t reduce it enough, simmer a little longer. If you reduce it too far, add enough fresh apple cider to equal ½ cup.
Making donuts
- Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 (6-cavity) donut pans with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl mash banana with a fork until fairly smooth. Whisk in two large eggs, vanilla extract, and reduced apple cider until fully combined. Drizzle in melted butter walk continuing to whisk.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold, using a rubber spatula, until just combined.
- Transfer batter into a disposable piping bag or a large zip top bag.
- Using your disposable piping bag or large zip top bag (with a ½ inch opening cut from one corner), fill each well of your prepared donut pan ⅔ full.
- Bake until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion comes out clean, about 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking.
- Let the doughnuts cool for 5 minutes after baking, then unmold them from the pans.
Cinnamon sugar topping
- Mix together granulated (white) sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- As soon as they are cool enough to handle, roll your baked donuts in the cinnamon sugar and place them on a wire rack. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before glazing.
Glaze
- Mix together all of the glaze ingredients, whisking until smooth.
- Dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze, or use the back of a spoon to spread on top.
Optional topping
- In a small food processor, pulse walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon for just a moment. Alternatively, you can seal the ingredients in a small zip top bag and give them a couple of taps with a rolling pin.
- Sprinkle on still wet glazed donuts.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t want to reduce apple cider, you can use fresh apple cider. It will still taste delicious, but just won’t have as deep of an apple cider flavor.
- If you don’t want to use, or don’t have access to apple cider, feel free to use apple juice.
- A pinch of salt is defined as 1/16 of a teaspoon, or as much as you can pinch between your thumb and your first finger.
- If you are making muffins, lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray. Using a medium scoop, or a large spoon, divide batter evenly between the prepared cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.
Nutrition
The nutritional and caloric information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It does not assert or suggest that readers should or should not count calories, and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s or doctor’s counseling.
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