Make donuts from the coziness of your own kitchen with this simple, absolutely delicious recipe for apple cider donuts. These cake donuts are baked with the warm flavors of apple cider, brown sugar, and vanilla; they have a tender cake-donut crumb and a sandy, cinnamon-sugar coating.
Key Takeaways: Apple Cider Donuts
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Bake Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 47 minutes
- Servings: 12 donuts
- Cook Method: These donuts are baked in a donut pan, which saves you from the mess of traditional fried donuts.
- Flavor & Texture: They are soft and tender with a crisp sugar coating, and full of warm flavor.
- Difficulty: Easy. This recipe is as simple as mixing up the batter and baking. The only extra step is melting some butter for dipping into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Why this Recipe? This recipe is full of fall flavors with a fluffy, cakey texture. They are a simple homemade treat perfect for seasonal hosting.
We are no strangers to homemade donuts – brioche donuts with vanilla custard and baked sourdough donuts are some big favorites – these homemade apple cider donuts are perfectly fitting for the fall season. They have a crackling, cinnamon-sugared outside, with a cakey, fluffy interior and the spicy-sweet flavors of reduced apple cider.
Serve these for breakfast with a homemade pumpkin spice latte or for dessert with a scoop of dairy-free date ice cream.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Delicious fall flavors – Sweet and spicy apple flavors make these the perfect cider donuts.
Fluffy, cakey texture – These delicious fall treats have a delightfully tender crumb and the crisp crunch of cinnamon sugar.
Easy homemade donuts – Made with pantry staples and uncomplicated steps, this recipe is not only simple, but it comes together quickly. Since they are baked, there is no dealing with hot oil or waiting for the yeast to rise. Unlike traditional fried sourdough donuts, they can be whipped together in little time.
Ingredients
Apple cider – I think fresh, unfiltered apple cider tastes best in this recipe. You can find it seasonally in grocery stores or at your local orchard or farmer’s market. You can use leftover apple cider from this recipe to make whole berry cranberry sauce or date squares.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Apple Cider Donuts
Step 1: Pour apple cider into a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until reduced to 1/2 cup of cider. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
Step 2: Stir the flour, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a large bowl.
Step 3: Add the cooled cider, melted butter, vanilla extract, milk, and egg to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
Step 4: Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit and grease the donut pan. Pour the donut batter into your prepared pans. You can also use gallon bags with the corner cut out to pipe the batter in.
Step 5: Bake for 12 – 13 minutes or until golden brown. To tell if they are done, gently press the donuts. They should spring back. Once baked, let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Step 6: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow bowl or plate. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate shallow bowl or plate. Dip the donuts in the butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar until coated. Enjoy warm apple cider donuts right away.
Lisa’s Expert Tips
- Reducing the cider gives the donuts a heightened flavor.
- Pipe the batter into the donut pans with a gallon bag or piping bag.
- Donuts are done when they are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Dip in butter and sugar while still slightly warm for the best results.
- Want another sweet apple treat? Try my apple cake with caramel glaze.
Apple Cider Donuts FAQs
Muffin tins work well as a substitute for a donut pan. Even though you won’t have the classic donut shape, it’ll still be a similar size. You can also make a ball with aluminum foil to place in the middle to give more of a classic donut shape.
Fresh donuts are the best, so I recommend eating them the same day. If there are leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. They’re best if you warm them up before eating.
Apple juice doesn’t have as much flavor, so I still recommend reducing it. You can add some apple pie spice to the apple juice to kick the flavor up a notch, too!
You could try using a gluten-free 1:1 flour. I expect the texture will be a bit denser, but they should still be delicious!
The difference is in the concentrated apple cider, which adds so much flavor to the batter.
More Fall Recipes from the Farmhouse
- One-Pan Pork Chops with Apples
- The Best Classic Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe
- Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
- Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli Recipe
- Best Ground Beef Chili
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider, reduced to 1/2 cup, 118 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Pour apple cider into a small saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until it has reduced to 1/2 cup of cider. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Stir the flour, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add the cooled cider, melted butter, vanilla extract, milk, and egg to a medium bowl. Whisk until well combined. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Mix well.
- Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit and grease the donut pan. Pour the donut batter into your prepared pans. You can also use gallon bags with the corner cut out to pipe the batter in.
- Bake for 12 – 13 minutes or until golden brown. To tell if they are done, gently press the donuts. They should spring back. Once baked, let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a shallow bowl or plate. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate shallow bowl or plate. Dip the donuts in the butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar until coated. Enjoy these delicious donuts right away.
Notes
- Reducing the cider gives the donuts a heightened cider flavor.
- Pipe the batter into the donut pans with a gallon bag or piping bag.
- Donuts are done when they are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Dip in butter and sugar while still slightly warm for the best results.
- Please double-check amounts when using the multiplying feature in the recipe card.
- If you are looking for gram measurements, toggle to the “metric” version in the recipe card.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yum! I used home-milled hard red whole wheat, and cut the sugar to 1/4th in the toppings. (And we always double cinnamon in any recipe). Whole family loved them. Thank you!
Family loved these. I reduced the Apple cider 1 day before making the recipe. Dunking the top in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture made these irresistible!
I just finished making my first batch of Apple cider donuts and I am thrilled with the result! My husband is a fan of yeast donuts but gave very high marks to this donut too. The recipe is easy to follow. I did find that it took more time and a higher heat to reduce the cider. Other than that, no surprises. I bought a donut pan at Walmart for under $10. I will likely buy another, as the batter thickened while waiting for the first batch to finish. 10/10 This recipe is a keeper.
My family all loved these! I actually lowered the sweetener content by replacing the brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and the white sugar, reducing it to 1/8 cup. I also used soft, white wheat, fresh milled flour. I added 1 more tsp of vanilla and a dash of nutmeg and allspice to help compensate for some of the sweetener I took out. They were terrific! Although it was a little bit more of a muffin texture, since I did switch up some ingredients. We didn’t mind – they were terrific!
Hi Lisa, I just ordered my donut pan from Amazon.
I am so excited to make donuts. My husband will not touch a donut as he is a health nut., but beings I can bake them and they will be made by me, it should work. Ty for all of your recipes, I love following you.
Pam
I made these in my muffin top pan. Added 2 minutes and waited 5 minutes to cool in pan. They are delicious. I’ll make them again for Thanksgiving morning. Thank you Lisa.
Making a double batch today so I can share at church tomorrow.
I have some apples I canned. How do you think I could sub them for the apple cider? Should I cook them down?
Would there be a way to make these sourdough doughnuts?
Here’s a recipe on how to turn any recipe into sourdough!
my kiddos made this recipe ( 14 & 15 yr olds) and it turned out fantastic! It’s simple and quick, so they can make it any time. Perfect for the Fall weather. We doubled the recipe so we could make enough for the cousins that were visiting- but then overfilled the donut pan, so they turned out more like muffins- but everyone loved them anyway.