Homemade Apple Cider Donuts are a cake doughnut rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture. These homemade cake donuts are simple to make and can be prepped ahead of time.
Apple Cider Donuts Recipe
Do you remember fair food and delicious homemade Apple Cider Donuts from a local apple orchard?
These homemade cake donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar mixture will remind you of days spent at an country fair or the local apple orchard. The wonderful addition of small pieces of apples makes these fried apple donuts moist and full of apple flavor!
How to make homemade Apple Cider Donuts:
Step 1: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a medium bowl and set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl, use a stand mixer to cream together the butter granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix until incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the cooled reduced apple cider, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, mixing to combine. Add the flour mixture and combine. Gently fold the grated apples into the batter.
Step 3: Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 4: Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. This dough will be sticky. Use a plastic bench scraper to fold the dough over and flour before cutting doughnuts. Flour the doughnut dough well.
Don’t have time to boil down apple cider? You can order apple cider concentrate!
While they are still warm, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture or dip in a thin glaze.
Donut Glaze Recipe: (2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, 2-3 tablespoons whole milk, whisked together)
You’ll need a rolling pin and a doughnut cutter. Order a doughnut cutter on Amazon. Unless you have a small, independently owned kitchen store, a doughnut cutter is a bit hard to find.
Step 5: Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1⁄ 2 inch thickness. Lightly flour a doughnut cutter and use it to cut out the doughnuts, then place them onto the prepared baking sheet.
If you love these homemade donuts, you’ll love Jelly Donuts, Pumpkin Donuts, Apple Fritters, Red Velvet Donuts, Glazed Donuts, and Blueberry Cake Donuts.
Make these old fashioned apple cider donuts the night before, place them on half sheet pans lined with parchment paper and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Place the sheet pans in the fridge until the next morning and you can fry them up fresh. This helps keep your work to a minimum.
And, there’s nothing like a freshly fried doughnut with a cup of coffee! For more great apple and pumpkin recipes, try Caramel Apples, Pumpkin Bread, Homemade Apple Pie, Apple Hand Pies, and Apple Crisp.
Fry the doughnuts in canola oil heated to 375 degrees F.
To properly test the temperature of the oil. I use a Thermoworks thermometer with a probe.
Don’t forget to order this doughnut cutter. They are the perfect size. I like to have a few, so I always have a clean one ready to go!
For more great donut recipes, check out Pumpkin Donuts, Blueberry Cake Donuts, Glazed Donuts, and Red Velvet Donuts.
I find it easy to place warm doughnuts into a cinnamon sugar mixture in a disposable aluminum foil pan. This makes it easy to toss homemade doughnuts in cinnamon sugar and helps make clean up easy.
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Homemade Apple Cider Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Cider Donuts
- 1 cup apple cider
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and grated Macoun or Macintosh
- canola oil for frying
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Apple Cider Donuts
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, reduce the apple cider to about 3⁄4 cup, about 30 minutes. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, use a stand mixer to cream together the butter granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix until incorporated. Use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the reserved reduced apple cider, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, mixing to combine. Add the flour mixture and combine. Gently fold the chopped apples into the batter.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. This dough can be sticky. Use a plastic bench scraper to fold the dough over and flour before cutting doughnuts.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1⁄ 2 inch thickness. Lightly flour a doughnut cutter and use it to cut out the doughnuts, then place them onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Line a baking sheet with several layers of paper towels and set aside.
- In a large heavy-duty pot, add about 3-inches of canola oil. Heat to a temperature of 375 degrees F. Drop about 4 to 5 doughnuts into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly golden brown.
- Remove the doughnuts from the oil and allow to drain on the paper towels. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar; mix well. While the doughnuts are still warm, sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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I most definitely want to be able to reach through the screen and try one of these right now. I bet they are at there most delicious when they are still warm yum!
These sound so delicious. Homemade always taste so good and these need to be made.
Omg, I love apple cider doughnuts! This post just made me really excited for the fall, I’ll have to try to make these then!
Ally,
It’s been SO hot lately, we’re all ready for fall. You’re gonna love these delicious doughnuts!
i havent had donuts! the sound and look of this got me into craving mood. and plus i havent tried this flavor before!
I have always wanted to try making doughnuts. These look SO good! I will definitely give them a try.
Cynthia,
Homemade doughnuts are easy to make! Thanks for stopping by!
I loveeee apple cider donuts! They’re especially perfect in the fall. Yours look so yummy!
xoxo
Annie
Wow! It looks yummy and delicious. Now, this is very creative loved this apple cider doughnuts. Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Apple cider works so well in this recipe! Thanks Emma!
I give this article and recipe 5 stars! This is one that we will have so much fun making at home. One of our favorites in my house, now you have shared with us how to make it. Thank you!
Valerie,
They are simple to make and delicious. Thanks for visiting!
I’m apple cider obsessed! I’ll have to try these in the fall
Lauren,
We love apple cider too! They’re the perfect fall treat.
This looks so good! I never though to try this kind of recipe out before but I’ll have to give it a try this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Yum! These are one of the best fall treats. I’ll have to make some after I visit the apple orchard in autumn this year 🙂
These look delicious! We’ll add it to our recipe list!
Thanks so much! Hope you love them!
It is raining hard today. And I think this will be perfectly paired to a cup of hot cocoa. Yummy!
Oh yes! They would be delicious with a hot cup of cocoa!
I’ve only made doughnuts once and they did not look as good as these do! I would love to make these for my family someday.
Oh my goodness, I always buy these from my like orchard! They’re so good but I thought they’d be too hard to make. I might have to give this recipe a whirl.
Kim,
They are so easy to make. Everyone in your family will love them!
I love donuts from the fair. I would definitely get way off track of my diet to be able to make them myself at home. Still can’t wait to try the recipe!
Tara!
I love fair food too! Especially doughnuts! Hope you love them!
What a wonderful post! These look so tasty, I’d totally want some. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I’m on a hunt for the best donut recipes I can find and this looks like a great one to save. I just bought a new mixer and want to try donuts this weekend.
Terri,
I hope your new mixer is nice! You’re gonna love these doughnuts!
I honestly havent tried that and I am so curious of the taste. But I bet this is one at least somehow healthy doughnut.
Berlin,
They are so good! Hope you love them as much as we do!
Oh, yum! My favorite childhood memories are made of these yummy doughnuts. My Great Grandma would make them homemade, every time we visited her!
Jessica,
I have fond memories too of my mom making homemade doughnuts! Thanks for stopping by!
I haven’t tried this but it sounds like a delicious meal. I would definitely love to try it out sometime.
I’ve been looking for this recipe. Thanks for sharing this looks delicious.
Jenn,
These are a family favorite!
Jessica, these doughnuts are ALL about Fall to me! They sound so delicious. Thank you for allowing me to include them in my apple round-up! Have a wonderful day!
Thanks so much Michele!! I love all of your recipes too!
Cider donuts are the best! I love all the spices with a hot cup of tea!
Just made these apple cider doughnuts for a friend who is restricted for 14 days after an exposure to the covid virus, working as a nurse. Sadly we could not sit and share them together, but she went nuts over them!!! Delicious.
Joanne,
Such a sweet thing you did to share these with her!! Glad you both loved them! Thanks for letting me know!
Would you be able to bake these in a donut pan? Also, if we can’t find apple cider this time of year, any chance apple juice would work? Thanks for posting!
Linda,
While I’ve never baked this doughnut recipe, you might be able to pipe the batter into a doughnut pan. I would skip the rolling them out and try and pipe the dough into your donut pan.
Hi Jessica,
What should I do if my batter is too liqiudy and is not converting into a dough?
Hi Ananya,
You should be able to just add a little extra flour to make it become a dough you can handle.
Just made these and they turned out delicious! Definitely a sticky dough but was able to roll it out pretty well.
So happy to hear that you loved the doughnuts Taylor!
I’ looking forward to making these. However, I live alone and don’t really need to make a full batch. Could the extra dough be stored in the fridge and used as needed? I do this with my sourdough baking. Actually now that I think about it, I might try to adapt this to sourdough.
Deb,
These are a cake style donut. NOT a yeast donut. So sourdough would not be good with this donut.
You can certainly freeze donuts after they are cooked. Or, you can make a smaller batch.