I loved going to our local apple orchard in the fall and getting a basket of apples. And of course, fresh out of the fryer, still warm- apple cider donuts!
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.
Fall is such a great time of year for this apple donuts recipe! So easy to make with simple ingredients. They taste just like ones from apple orchards in the fall! Super moist, full of apple and cinnamon-spice flavor!
I remember my mom frying old-fashioned cake donuts in our kitchen. And how the dog would wait, patiently under her feet- just waiting for a donut hole to fall to the floor. And the whole house smelled like donuts!
Why this recipe works:
- Easy to make cake donuts that are fluffy and coated in cinnamon sugar.
- Made with simple ingredients, readily available in your local grocery store.
- Prep ahead of time – Make these apple donuts the night before. Place on half sheet pans lined with parchment paper, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Ingredients for this recipe:
- Apples – Use Granny Smith, Macoun, or McIntosh. These varieties have great apple flavor. Grate the apple or chop finely before mixing into the batter.
- Apple Cider – Locate at your local apple orchard or in the produce section at your local grocery store. Boil down to concentrate and cool completely before adding to your donut batter.
- Buttermilk – This helps make your donuts moist and flavorful. Can’t find it in the store? Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg – Warm spice of cinnamon and nutmeg adds plenty of fall spice to your donuts.
Do you remember fair food and delicious homemade apple cider donuts from a local apple orchard? Oh so good!
My apple cider donuts are flavored with concentrated apple cider. Place apple cider in a saucepan, put on the stove over low heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. It’s reduced down and thickened with even more flavor.
Don’t have time to boil down apple cider? You can order apple cider concentrate!
These cider 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 this apple donut recipe 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, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the cooled reduced apple cider, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, mixing to combine. Add the dry ingredients and combine. Gently fold the grated apples into the batter.
Step 3: 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 donuts. Flour the dough well.
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 vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons whole milk
You’ll need a rolling pin and a doughnut cutter. Order a donut cutter on Amazon. Unless you have a small, independently owned kitchen store, a donut 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 donut cutter and use it to cut out the donuts, 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 how good do these apple cider donuts look?! They make such a great fall treat!
And, there’s nothing like a freshly fried donut with a cup of coffee!
Recipe FAQs
Cider donuts are a harvest tradition in autumn originated in the northeastern United States and are sometimes sold at cider mills. Often paired with apple cider and rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture.
Carefully place donuts into 375 degree F canola oil. Fry for 2-3 minutes until they are golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the donuts from the oil allowing excess oil to drip back into the pan.
Cider donuts are a cake donut made with butter, concentrated cider, sugar, flour, eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, soda, and vanilla extract.
More Apple and Pumpkin Recipes:
To properly test the temperature of the oil or grilling meat, I use a ThermoWorks thermometer with a probe.
Don’t forget to order this donut cutter. They are the perfect size. I like to have a few, so I always have a clean one ready to go!
More Donut Recipes:
I find it easy to place warm donuts into a cinnamon sugar mixture in a disposable aluminum foil pan. This makes it easy to toss homemade donuts in cinnamon sugar and helps make clean up easy.
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Apple Cider Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Cider Donuts
- 1 cup apple cider
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and grated Macoun or Macintosh
- canola oil for frying
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 ½ 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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Malia says
Could I make this using a different milk then buttermilk?
Jessica Robinson says
Malia,
You could use sour cream, plain or vanilla Greek yogurt or add 1 teaspoon to milk to create buttermilk.
Deb Sether says
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.
Jessica Robinson says
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.
Taylor says
Just made these and they turned out delicious! Definitely a sticky dough but was able to roll it out pretty well.
Jessica Robinson says
So happy to hear that you loved the doughnuts Taylor!
Ananya Narayan says
Hi Jessica,
What should I do if my batter is too liqiudy and is not converting into a dough?
Jessica Robinson says
Hi Ananya,
You should be able to just add a little extra flour to make it become a dough you can handle.
Linda says
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!
Jessica Robinson says
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.
Joanne says
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.
Jessica Robinson says
Joanne,
Such a sweet thing you did to share these with her!! Glad you both loved them! Thanks for letting me know!
Laura says
Cider donuts are the best! I love all the spices with a hot cup of tea!
Michele says
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!
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks so much Michele!! I love all of your recipes too!
Jenn Pereira says
I’ve been looking for this recipe. Thanks for sharing this looks delicious.
Jessica Robinson says
Jenn,
These are a family favorite!
Christiana acha says
I haven’t tried this but it sounds like a delicious meal. I would definitely love to try it out sometime.
Jessica says
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 Robinson says
Jessica,
I have fond memories too of my mom making homemade doughnuts! Thanks for stopping by!
Berlin says
I honestly havent tried that and I am so curious of the taste. But I bet this is one at least somehow healthy doughnut.
Jessica Robinson says
Berlin,
They are so good! Hope you love them as much as we do!
Terri Beavers says
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.
Jessica Robinson says
Terri,
I hope your new mixer is nice! You’re gonna love these doughnuts!
LavandaMichelle says
What a wonderful post! These look so tasty, I’d totally want some. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Tara says
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!
Jessica Robinson says
Tara!
I love fair food too! Especially doughnuts! Hope you love them!