These are fluffy baked apple cider donuts, made with either a cinnamon sugar coating or apple cider glaze for maximum apple flavor.
These donuts are delicious by themselves but if you're feeling allll the apple feelings, have it with Apple Cider Punch.
Apple Cider donuts are my new favorite thing, right after Apple Cinnamon Scones. This is an old fashioned apple cider donut recipe, with no mixer, rolling pin, donut cutter, or yeast required. Say WHAT. The texture of apple cider donuts are muffin-esque, cake-ish. They are soft and tender, with just the right amount of cinnamon spice.
While apple cider is delicious, it is not quite enough by itself to flavor the donuts. The best way to ensure you get the delicious apple flavor is to concentrate the apple cider by boiling it on the stove to reduce the volume. Imagine the best apple cider you've ever had. Now it's a smaller, powerful flavor baby ready to be the star in the best ever baked donuts.
Ingredients needed:
Here are the basic ingredients for apple cider donuts. You will also need donut pans, it is 100000% worth it to invest in these. You might need a fall candle and some hot chocolate, and also some sizeable lounge pants.
- Apple cider - store bought or homemade
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar - light
- Baking powder & soda
- Ground cinnamon, ginger, & nutmeg
- Sour cream - can sub plain greek yogurt
- Large egg
- Salted Butter - melted & cooled
- Vanilla
Instructions
How do you make baked donuts anyway? Here's an overview! I like to start with the apple cider so that I can speedily assemble the other ingredients while it's boiling and cooling. You can also prep the apple cider the night before and refrigerate it before using for a deliciously sweet (but not overly) breakfast!
- Boil the apple cider over medium heat to reduce the volume by half. Less liquid but more flavor! Cool to room temperature before mixing into wet ingredients.
- Mix dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder & soda, and spices together in a mixing bowl.
- Mix wet ingredients: sour cream, egg, vanilla extract, and melted and cooled butter together in separate bowl. Add in reduced/cooled apple cider.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients together, transfer to piping bag or plastic bag with tip cut off. Pipe into prepared donut pans.
- Bake at 350 F for 11-13 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Glaze by mixing powdered sugar, apple cider, and cinnamon and drizzling over warm donuts.
Optional: brush donuts with melted butter and sprinkle with a sugar/cinnamon mixture, measurements can be found in recipe card below.
This is essentially a sour cream baked donut recipe, flavored with apple cider. They're best served fresh and warm, but you can easily store them if you need to (you won't, they will disappear).
Can you freeze Apple Cider Donuts?
Yes! To freeze: cool them completely after baking and transfer to an airtight container before placing in the freezer.
To thaw: You can warm individually in the microwave for 1-2 minutes or leave out at room temperature until thawed. Glaze or coat in sugar/cinnamon to serve.
In our house, we have no problem eating all of them. As in two adults (and two babies) eating all 12 donuts. One here, one there, two after lunch, and oh boy it's time to make some more donuts!
More autumn desserts:
Need a few more fun fall baking ideas? I got you covered!
- Caramel Stuffed Snickerdoodles
- Butterscotch Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Cream Cheese Pie Crust
📝 Printable Recipe
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 1.5 cups apple cider, reduce to ¾ cup
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted and cooled
For the icing
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- optional alternative: ½ cup white granulated sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare 2 donut pans with baking spray.
For the Donuts:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, boil apple cider for 20-25 minutes until reduced by half, to equal ¾ cup. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile in a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
- In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients: sour cream, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Add in cooled apple cider and mix well.
- Add wet ingredient mixture into dry ingredients, mix until no flour pockets are left and batter is smooth, careful not to overmix. Transfer to piping bag or plastic bag with tip cut off and pipe batter into prepared donut pans.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
For the icing:
- Mix together powdered sugar, apple cider, and cinnamon. Drizzle over warm donuts. Alternatively: brush donuts with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar mixed with cinnamon.
Jackie says
This recipe did not turn out well for me. First, the apple cider vinegar flavor was too strong. Second, the donut itself was not sweet enough. I think it needed white sugar in the batter in addition to the brown sugar. I made the first batch at 350 degrees F and then the second batch at 400 degrees F. The second batch came out better, but the inside of the donut did not cook well for some reason. I would appreciate insight into what I might have done wrong, but I do not think I will do this again.
Sara says
Poor Jackie! I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out well. Vinegar is not used in this recipe, just regular apple cider, which is similar to apple juice. It is reduced to 3/4 cup to increase the sweet apple flavor in the cider.
Since vinegar has so much acid, it would change the recipe chemistry completely and may cause it to bake differently.
If you do end up trying it again, I hope it turns out better. Just make sure you don’t use vinegar!
Jackie says
Oh my goodness! I can't believe I misread one of the ingredients. Thank you and I apologize for the confusion.
Sara says
No problem! It made me chuckle. Those must have been very interesting donuts! If you do try it again and like it, would you mind updating your star rating?
Analynn Berry says
Ermagersh, these look amazing!
Sara says
Thank you!!