Apple Cider Donuts

Perfectly spiced and beautifully tender, these Apple Cider Donuts are about to be your latest and greatest fall snack, and yes I know the competition is stacked. Full of warm cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, tangy apple cider, and with a heavenly chew, these donuts are buzz worthy.

Now I’ve mentioned before in my Krispy Kreme recipe that there is an eternal debate raging in the food world, one side is for yeasted donuts and the other prefer cake donuts. I thought I offered you guys a great showcase of what a yeasted donut can do, so why not introduce you all to the magic that is the Apple Cider cake donut?

Now what exactly is an apple cider donut? Well like most North American traditions, this one centres around getting creative with our harvests. Specifically apples.

What Is An Apple Cider Donut?

This one began in the northeastern US, fresh apples were picked, turned into cider and that cider was then used to craft these delicious donuts. A little cinnamon here, a little nutmeg there, all thrown into the cake donut to end all other cake donuts. Don’t believe me? Well let’s test it out.

Ingredients

• Butter – Unsalted as always – a must for baking!
• Sugar – Just a bit of granulated sugar for a clean sweet flavor.
• Eggs – We want to incorporate these into our creamed butter mixture afterwards to act as a good binder for our donut.
• Leavening agents – Baking soda and baking powder, this is the key to a good cake donut as we’re using these powders to create height and volume as opposed to yeasting our dough.
• Flour – Just all purpose flour.
• Spices – A bit of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg if you can swing it! If you only have cinnamon sticks on hand feel free to throw those in with the cider as it reduces.
• Buttermilk – This will create light, tender, and fluffy donuts. If you don’t have any on hand I’ve included a section below detailing how to make your own.
• Apple cider – The whole flavor profile of our donuts! Only cider will do – not juice not sauce, just cider.
• Vanilla – Just a bit of vanilla extract to act as a secret weapon flavor enhancer.
• Vegetable oil – Something light like canola oil is perfect for frying up our donuts in.
• Cinnamon sugar – Combine regular granulated sugar with ground cinnamon to roll our warm donuts around in – believe me this is key.

Why Buttermilk?

Let’s talk about the buttermilk in these donuts because the buttermilk plays a very important role here. First of all, the buttermilk will add complexity and depth to your apple cider donuts. It’s what makes them super soft and light and what keeps them from browning too quickly so that you end up with treats that are baked perfectly, inside and out!

Can I Make This Recipe Gluten Free?

Yes you can! Just add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum to your gluten free flour to allow protein bonds to form and for the dough to stick together properly. You can substitute regular flour for gluten free flour 1:1.

How To Make Apple Cider Donuts

1. Heat the apple cider in a large saucepan over medium high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, should take about 10 minutes.
2. Cream the butter: In a large bowl using a hand-held or standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the sugar and the butter until mixture is pale, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and continue beating for another 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Combine wet ingredients: Pour the buttermilk, reduced cider, and vanilla into sugar/butter/egg mixture. Mix well, and don’t worry if the mixture looks a bit curdled; it’ll smooth itself out.
4. Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and combine gently just until fully moistened.
6. Form the dough: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times until it comes together; form it into a ball. Roll out the dough so that it’s 1/2-inch in thickness. Cut out rounds with a 3-inch cutter donut cutter. Don’t discard the donut holes, fry those too.
7. Make cinnamon sugar: In a shallow bowl combine the 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar with the 3 tbsp of ground cinnamon. Set aside.
8. Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.
9. Fry the donuts: Working in batches, add donuts to the Dutch oven and cook until evenly golden and crispy, 1 minute per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate for 30 seconds; then roll warm donuts in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Not A Fan Of Frying?

Fear not, I totally understand and luckily for you this recipe is easily convertible. If you’re not into frying or don’t have the tools necessary these will pop in the oven nicely.

1. Once you’ve shaped your donuts, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Brush the donuts with melted butter before placing in the oven.
3. Bake the donuts for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown. Roll in cinnamon sugar and serve hot!

How To Make Your Own Buttermilk

If you can’t find any at the store, or you didn’t feel like buying some just for this recipe – fear not! You can make your own buttermilk quite easily with just regular milk and something acidic.

Just take 1 cup of regular milk and mix in either 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice. Let stand for 15 minutes before incorporating.

Some Tips

1. We want flavor concentrate in our donuts which is why we reduce our apple cider, so consider this step crucial! You want it reduced enough to create a syrupy flavor bomb.
2. Want some sweetness and even more apple flavor? Try adding a half cup of apple butter and thank me later.
3. Save the donut holes! Toss them warm in the cinnamon sugar mixture and snack on these little morsels for hours to come!
4. Before frying these donuts make sure your oil is hot, it needs to be 350 F degrees. Try one at first and check out the oil.

Storage

Sadly these little cake donuts lose their appeal when not eaten hot and fresh. Frying them up when you’re ready to feast is half of the magic!

So while I don’t recommend storing these cooked, lucky for us the uncooked dough can be stored for future use!

Fridge

You can refrigerate uncooked dough for 1 day if stored in an airtight container. Just be sure to take it out of the fridge and allow to come back up to temperature before frying, You never want to add cold dough to a fryer.

Freezer

Form the donuts and line them up raw on a baking sheet, place this in the freezer and once frozen through move them to an airtight container or freezer bag. Keep this in the freezer for up to 1 month. Allow it to defrost fully on the counter before frying up!

Craving More Donuts? Try These Delicious Recipes

• Jam Filled Sour Cream Donuts
• Porky Monkey Donut
• Cherry Filled Donuts
• Mandazi African Donuts
• Paczki (Polish Donuts)
• Baked Jelly Filled Donuts
• Krispy Kreme Donuts