Best Baked Apple Cider Donuts
What’s better in the winter than a mug of warm apple cider? Why, a stack of baked apple cider donuts of course! Find out why these will be the best baked apple cider donuts ever in this quick and easy to follow recipe. Using the least amount of effort and time, you can quickly have a huge plate of yummy donuts that will disappear just as fast!
Starting in the fall and all throughout the cold winter months, I crave these melt-in-your-mouth apple cider donuts. The warmth of the oven plus the enticing smell of cinnamon permeating the air brings on the comfy and cozy vibes. A plate of these plus a mug of either mulled cider or hot cocoa? Hello, perfect afternoon! Whenever I make these for family, friends, and co-workers, they all rave how these are better than the fried ones you can get at the apple orchard. Plus, because these are baked and not fried, they’re less messy to make, take less time to complete, and are amazing whether they’re warm out of the oven or eaten over the next few days.
What you will need to make the best apple cider donuts
This recipe for the best baked apple cider donuts uses only a few, easy to find ingredients, most of which you will already have in your pantry. We recommend you use a fresh apple cider that is cold-pressed and unfiltered. Apple juice will not bring the intense, concentrated apple flavor that these donuts need. Our favorite is the Red Jacket brand that we can order from Whole Foods through Amazon Prime.
For these baked apple cider donuts, you need:
- Apple Cider
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Sea Salt
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Non-stick cooking spray
In terms of baking supplies, you need minimal tools:
- Glass measuring cup
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Spatula
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Optional, but recommended: a piping bag or a large resealable plastic bag with a corner snipped off to make a half-inch opening.
- Donut pan (but these can also be made as muffins in a pinch!)
Tips for making the best baked donuts
- Use room temperature eggs and butter. Your batter will come together more evenly and quickly.
- Do not overmix. Mix the batter just until it becomes light and fluffy. Do not overmix because working the gluten will make these too dense.
- Do not overfill your donut pan. As tempting as it is to fill the pans full of batter to the top, the batter rises quite a lot. If the pans are filled too much, your batter will overflow and your donuts will look more like tiny bundt cakes. They’ll still be cute, though!
- If using a silicone donut pan, place the pan on top of a baking sheet before filling. Silicone donut pans are super floppy and harder to move once the batter’s in them. The baking sheet also catches batter that may overflow if you filled them too much.
- Pipe the batter into your donut pan– it’s so much faster and easier to gauge how much you’ve placed in the pan. However, I’ve placed batter into my donut pan in a multitude of ways–with two spoons, and with spatulas and a butter knife– and the donuts have always come out successfully!
Other fun recipes to try:
Easy Mini Biscoff Ube Cheesecakes
Double Chocolate Ube Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
Better Than Bakery Ube Pandesal
Let us know how this recipe turned out. You can comment below or contact us on Instagram or Facebook! We’d love to hear from you. Use #casacreatures and tag us in your creations!
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Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
Donut Batter
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon divided
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 10 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar divided
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup apple cider
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 6 Tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Spray your 6-cavity donut pan with non-stick spray and set aside. If using a silicone donut pan, place on a baking sheet and set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a bowl or stand mixer, cream your butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, and scrape the bowl after each addition to incorporate evenly. Add vanilla and beat together.
- Add flour mixture on low speed. If using a hand mixer, add all of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Add apple cider in a slow and steady stream while mixing on low speed. Batter will look fluffy and light colored. Scrape bowl to make sure there aren't any pockets of flour. If there are, use a spatula and fold batter together to combine.
- Pipe or spoon batter into your donut pan until cavities are 2/3 filled, about 1/4" away from the top of the cavity.
- Bake for 6 minutes then rotate. Bake for another 6 minutes or until golden brown. Toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion should come out clean.
- In a bowl, combine the cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Let donuts cool upside down in the pans for 5 minutes on top of a cooling rack, and then unmold your donuts carefully. Liberally brush melted butter on top. Dredge each donut in your bowl of cinnamon sugar while they're still warm. Enjoy immediately or place in an air tight container once they're cooled down to room temperature.