Baked apple cider donuts

Happy New Year, everyone!  For my first post of 2013, I wanted to write about an ingredient that might still be in your fridge – apple cider.  It tastes good warm or cold and is even better with some mulling spices infused in it. It was only recently that I discovered apple cider donuts. We went apple picking for a work outing, and one of my coworkers told me that the orchard’s apple cider donuts were to die for.

Well, she didn’t have to tell me twice. I immediately bought a half dozen of them so I could eat some and share some with my family (I may or may not have eaten 5 of them on my own). Not surprisingly, my coworker was right – those donuts were unbelievable. They were coated with a cinnamon sugar topping, and the donuts themselves were perfectly baked with a bit of crunch and a light and fluffy interior. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my face.

I knew it was time to try my hand at homemade apple cider donuts. However, I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand and wanted to make a baked version to cut down on the calories and fat. I found these on Sugar Crafter and was happy to have freshly baked donuts in about 30 minutes.

I opted to leave off the salted caramel glaze, but if you’d like to add some to yours, head over to Sugar Crafter for the full recipe. These would be great with a regular powdered sugar glaze, a maple powdered sugar glaze or a cinnamon sugar topping.

Baked apple cider donuts

When we go apple picking, we always buy apple cider donuts. Now we can make them at home with this recipe!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Breakfast
Servings: 6
Author: Eva Bakes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 and 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom I did not add
  • 3 Tablespoons butter softened
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare your donut pan by adding cooking spray to each of the wells.
  • Boil the apple cider down in a small saucepan until it reduces down to 1/4 cup. Set aside and let cool.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer (or a large bowl using a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugars. Add the olive oil, reduced apple cider, and egg. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, ending with the flour (dry) mixture.
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared donut pan and bake for 9-10 minutes or until golden.
  • Remove the donuts from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before glazing. If you want to add a cinnamon sugar topping, you can brush the donuts with melted butter and dip into some cinnamon sugar.

Notes

6 Comments

  1. Joanna
    January 2, 2013 / 11:50 pm

    I just got a donut pan as a gift. This may be the recipe I break it out for!

  2. Dawn
    January 3, 2013 / 12:29 am

    I also just got a donut pan for Christmas and my husband requested apple cider donuts-looks like you read our minds with this post!

  3. USA Kiwi (Kylee)
    January 3, 2013 / 3:57 pm

    Uh, YEAH. I'm on an apple cider kick lately. Must buy donut pan. Stat.

  4. SuburbiaMom
    January 4, 2013 / 6:30 am

    I'm drooling over here, too! Gotta make them–thanks!!!

  5. Jessica @ Sunny Side Up
    January 8, 2013 / 6:02 am

    I have a jug of apple cider that's just begging to be used. Now I just need a donut pan!

  6. Tracy
    January 14, 2013 / 8:39 pm

    Hooray, so glad you enjoyed the doughnuts!! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating