Baked apple cider donuts with fancy sugar

A pile of baked apple cider donuts with one cut in half to show the texture

5 from 1 vote

Baked apple cider donuts with fancy sugar

Most apple cider don't taste like apples, but this recipe does. No need to boil the apple cider down either - it doesn't actually help.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Servings: donuts

Calories: 232kcal

Equipment

2 donut pans

Ingredients

Apple cider spices

2 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Donut batter: dry ingredients

2 cups All purpose flour 260 grams
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon apple cider spices
¼ teaspoon salt

Donut batter: wet ingredients

½ cup apple cider
½ cup milk see note
2 tablespoon butter melted
1 large egg
½ cup dark brown sugar (packed), 100 grams
¼ cup white sugar 50 grams
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or maple extract for fun!

Cinnamon & sugar coating

6 tablespoon butter melted
¼ cup apple cider optional, see note
½ cup white sugar or half white / half raw sugar (see note)
½ cup powdered apple chips or freeze dried apples 1 oz freeze dried or 2 ounces chips. see note.
2 teaspoon apple cider spices
⅛ teaspoon citric acid optional

Instructions

Make apple cider spice mix

Mix the spices together in a small bowl. Half is used for the batter, half for the sugar-coating.

Make apple cider donuts

Preheat oven to 350℉ (on bake, not convection). Grease donut pans (I use non stick spray). Get out two bowls: one large, and one medium.
Mix dry ingredients: Whisk together all dry ingredients in the large bowl.
Mix wet ingredients: Stir together all wet ingredients until combined.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix by hand until combined. No flour spots should be left, but don't overmix.
Scoop batter: You can scoop the batter into the pan with a spoon, clearing any extra batter from the center to preserve the donut's hole.
Piping: Alternatively, you can pipe the batter. Scoop batter into a piping bag or a plastic freezer bag (don't zip it shut or air pops out as you squeeze). Cut a hole in the tip and pipe into the donut pan. Fill each donut ring about ⅔ to ¾ full.

Bake the donuts at 350℉

Bake for 9-12 minutes. The internal temperature is between 200-210℉ on an instant read thermometer. If you don't have one, the donuts should look lightly browned and bounce back when poked.
Let cool: let the donuts cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove from pan to cool on a wire rack (you don't want the bottoms to steam and get soggy).

Make cinnamon-sugar coating

Make apple powder: Pour 2 ounces of apple chips or 1 ounce of freeze-dried apples into a food processor. Pulse until it's a smooth powder, which might take a full minute. For an ultra-smooth coating, you can sift out larger pieces, but it's not necessary.
Make sugar coating: In a small bowl (just slightly larger than the donuts), mix together the apple powder, sugar, and spices.

Dip & coat apple cider donuts

Melt butter. Warm the apple cider and add to the butter mixture in a bowl slightly larger than the donuts. (You want the mixture to be pretty warm for dipping the donuts. Apple cider from the fridge will cool it down, thickening the butter).
Dip donuts. One at a time, dip both sides of a donut in the butter, then immediately into the sugar mixture. Swirl the donut around until fully coated up the sides too. Set back on the wire rack. Repeat, then eat!

Store

Store at room temperature for 3-4 days in a sealed container or in the fridge for 5-7 days. If the outsides get a little moist, you can re-dip them in more sugar.

Notes

Milk: I've used buttermilk, buttermilk powder mixed with water, and whole milk. They all work well. I know some people have used skim milk or nut milks with success (but I haven't personally tested that).

Butter + apple cider mixture: I found that dipping the donuts in melted butter caused the donuts to have a noticeable buttery flavor (not all taste testers noticed, however). If that sounds delicious to you, use just plain melted butter and increase it to 6 tablespoon (per batch). Otherwise, add the extra apple cider to dilute it, which I personally preferred.

Apple chips & freeze dried apples: Buy them at any major grocery store, with as little additives as possible. The flavor is slightly different but taste testers didn't prefer one over the other.

Nutrition is calculated with 2 less tablespoons of butter for the dipping, because some is leftover. If you don't want that excluded, add 16 calories back in per donut.

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