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a bunch of apple cider donuts stacked on top of each other with a bite taken out of one
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4.74 from 23 votes

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.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert, Donuts, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple cider donuts
Servings: 20
Calories: 225kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 tablespoon butter unsalted, softened at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon ground
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • vegetable oil for frying

Cinnamon Sugar

  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoon cinnamon ground

Instructions

  • Heat the apple cider in a large saucepan over medium high heat until reduced to ⅓ cup, should take about 10 minutes.
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
  • Combine the dry ingredients: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.Combine the wet and dry ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and combine gently just until fully moistened. 
  • 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 ½-inch in thickness. Cut out rounds with a 3-inch cutter donut cutter. Don't discard the donut holes, fry those too.
  • Make cinnamon sugar: In a shallow bowl combine the 1½ cups granulated sugar with the 3 tbsp of ground cinnamon. Set aside.
  • Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375℉.
  • 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.

Video

Notes

  1. Recipe yields 20 donuts and 20 donut holes. Nutritional information is for 1 donut and 1 donut hole.
  2. 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!
  3. So while I don’t recommend storing these cooked, lucky for us the uncooked dough can be stored for future use!
  4. 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.
  5. 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!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 225kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 133IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg