Golden Baked Apple Cider Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar
Ingredients
Method
- Pour the apple cider into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer gently until it reduces to 1/2 cup, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 6-well donut pans, with each well about 3 inches across, using nonstick baking spray or a little melted butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt until evenly combined. Set the dry mixture aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk the avocado oil, egg, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the applesauce, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and the cooled reduced apple cider, and whisk until the mixture is fully combined and glossy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in two or three additions, folding gently with a spatula by hand until just combined and no dry streaks remain. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag or a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off. Pipe the batter into the prepared donut pans, filling each mold about halfway full.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the donuts spring back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the donuts cool in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool until just warm.
- For the coating, stir the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl. While the donuts are still warm but comfortable to handle, brush each one lightly with melted butter, then roll it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until completely coated on all sides.
- Serve the donuts warm or at room temperature. They are best enjoyed the same day with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of apple cider.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Why You’ll Love These Baked Apple Cider Donuts
There’s a memory I keep coming back to. A crisp October morning, a paper bag of warm donuts from the orchard stand, my hands sticky with cinnamon sugar before I even made it back to the car. That smell. That first crackly bite. I wanted that experience at home so badly.
But frying? No thanks. The hot oil, the splatter, the lingering smell in the kitchen for days. Not my thing. So I set out to make baked apple cider donuts that could hold their own against the fried version. And honestly? These do.
They’re soft and tender with a gentle crumb, thanks to apple cider that’s been reduced down to concentrate all that fruity flavor. Each donut gets brushed with melted butter and rolled in a warm cinnamon sugar coating that crackles when you bite into it. No deep fryer. No fear. Just a cozy weekend baking project that makes the whole house smell like fall.
The Secret: Reduce the Apple Cider
Here’s where most baked donut recipes miss the mark. They just pour plain apple cider into the batter and call it a day. The problem? Cider is mostly water, and water dilutes both flavor and texture.
The fix is simple. You simmer two cups of fresh apple cider down to about half a cup. This is called an apple cider reduction, and it’s the difference between a donut that whispers apple and one that sings it.
The reduction process takes about 15 to 20 minutes on the stove. You’ll watch the cider go from cloudy and pale to a deep, amber syrup that smells like autumn in a saucepan. Let it cool completely before adding it to your batter. Warm cider can cook the egg and change the whole texture of your baked donut recipe, so patience pays off here.
Pro tip: reduce the cider the night before and keep it in the fridge. Then Sunday morning, you’re already halfway there.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This recipe keeps things pretty straightforward. You’ve got your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and a warm spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. The wet side brings in an egg, both granulated and brown sugar, unsweetened applesauce, buttermilk, vanilla, and a neutral oil or melted butter.
The applesauce is the quiet hero here. It adds moisture without extra fat, which keeps these cake donuts tender instead of dense. And the combination of both sugars gives you that deep, caramel-like sweetness that pairs so well with the cider.
A few substitutions worth knowing:
- No buttermilk? Whisk half a tablespoon of lemon juice into a quarter cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Works perfectly.
- No avocado oil? Any neutral oil or melted butter will do the job.
- No donut pan? Grease a muffin tin instead and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. You’ll get donut muffins, which are honestly just as delicious.
Tools You May Need
Before you start, gather your gear. You don’t need anything fancy, but the right tools make the process smoother.
- Two 6-well donut pans, each well about 3 inches across
- A small saucepan for the cider reduction
- A piping bag, or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off
- A shallow bowl for the cinnamon sugar coating
- A pastry brush for the melted butter
- A wire cooling rack
If you bake often, you might already own all of this. That’s the beauty of homemade donuts without frying, you’re not investing in a deep fryer just to satisfy a craving.
How to Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
The full instructions are in the recipe card, but let me walk you through the four big moments so you know what to expect. This is the part where I tell you that the first time I made these, they stuck to the pan so badly I nearly cried. But I fixed my method, and now they release like a dream.
Stage 1: Reduce the cider. Bring the cider to a boil, then drop it to a gentle simmer. Keep an eye on it, cider can go from perfectly reduced to burned in about thirty seconds. You’re looking for that deep amber color and a slightly syrupy consistency.
Stage 2: Mix the batter. Whisk your dry ingredients in one bowl. In another, whisk the oil, egg, both sugars, applesauce, buttermilk, vanilla, and the cooled reduced cider. Then fold the dry into the wet with a spatula, gently. stop when no dry streaks remain. Overmixing batter is the fastest way to tough donuts, so be kind to it.
Stage 3: Fill and bake. Pipe the batter into your greased donut pans, filling each mold about halfway. The batter should be thick and scoopable, not runny. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they spring back under your finger and a toothpick slides out clean.
Stage 4: Coat while warm. Let the donuts cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a rack. While they’re still warm but comfortable to handle, brush each one with melted butter and roll it in that cinnamon sugar mixture. The warmth melts the sugar just slightly, creating that crackly shell you’re after.
Tips for Perfect Baked Apple Cider Donuts
I’ve made these enough times to know where things go sideways. Here are the mistakes I made so you don’t have to.
- Don’t skip the cider reduction. Plain cider makes a bland, watery donut. The reduction is non-negotiable.
- Cool the reduced cider completely. Hot liquid will cook your egg and ruin the batter’s texture.
- Watch the batter mixing. Fold until just combined. A few tiny streaks of flour are fine.
- Grease the pan generously. Donut pans are notorious for sticking. Use a solid coating of baking spray or melted butter.
- Don’t swap one sugar for the other. You need both granulated and brown sugar for the right texture and flavor.
- Coat when slightly warm. Too hot and the butter melts too fast. Too cold and the sugar won’t stick.
Variations & Add-Ins
Once you’ve mastered the base recipe, feel free to play around. This is where you can make it your own.
- Muffin version: Pour the batter into lined muffin cups and bake 15 to 18 minutes at 350°F.
- Mini donuts: Use a mini donut pan and check at 8 to 9 minutes.
- Maple glaze variation: Skip the cinnamon sugar and drizzle a simple maple glaze over the cooled donuts.
- Extra spice: Add a pinch more nutmeg or swap the cinnamon sugar coating for apple pie spice.
- Dairy-free: Use any non-dairy milk in place of buttermilk and swap the melted butter for coconut oil.
They won’t all taste like the classic orchard version, but that’s the fun of a baked donut recipe. You get to make it your own.
Storage & Reheating
Here’s the honest truth. These baked apple cider donuts are best the day they’re made. That crackly coating is at its peak within a few hours of baking. But leftovers can absolutely be saved.
Store uncoated donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you want to freeze them, do it before coating. Place them in a sealed container with parchment between layers and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready, thaw, reheat, then brush with butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. It’s like baking them all over again.
For reheating, the microwave works in a pinch, about 10 to 15 seconds. But I prefer the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes. It brings back that just-baked warmth without making the donuts soggy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Thoughts
These baked apple cider donuts have become my fall tradition. They’re the thing I make when the air gets crisp and the farmers market starts stocking fresh cider. They don’t need to be perfect, rustic is charming. The slightly uneven edges, the patchy sugar coating, that’s what makes them look homemade in the best way.
They’re a baked vs fried situation all day long. No hot oil, no splatter, no fear. Just a warm kitchen and a plate of donuts that disappear faster than you’d expect. I’d love to hear about your orchard memories or see a photo of your batch. Come share your donut photos with me on Pinterest, I’m always looking for baking inspiration there.
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