Homemade apple cider donuts are cakey, dense, and intensely flavored. Baked, not fried, these fall treats come together quickly and easily—a convenient recipe with no mixer required. The trick for big flavor is to use concentrated apple cider. Make the morning less hectic by reducing the apple cider the night before. Read on for all the tips you need to make this Fall favorite!
I love those delicious donuts that you get at the bakery…they’re rich, dense, and smell absolutely amazing. If you’ve ever tried my chai spice donuts, pumpkin donuts, or cinnamon sugar donuts, you know that those bakery beauties definitely inspired my donut recipes. They are somewhat dense and very muffin-like. These baked apple cider donuts are no exception, though they are a little heavier with a more substantial and moister crumb.
Tell Me About these Apple Cider Donuts
- Texture: If you like cakey, moist, and dense donuts with a crumbly cinnamon-sugar coating, then look no further than this recipe.
- Flavor: Flavor-wise, they’re APPLE and CINNAMON and SPICE all over. They taste like they’re straight from the bakery!
- Ease: A simple mix of wet and dry ingredients plus the apple cider concentrate makes these a snap to prepare for crisp fall mornings. No mixer, rolling pin, or donut cutter required! Simply add the batter to a donut pan—I use and love this one. If you only have 1 pan, just bake a batch at a time.
- Time: In less than an hour, you’ll have an entire plate stacked high with homemade apple cider donuts.
This Trick Changes Everything
The trick to apple cider donuts is to flavor them with concentrated apple cider. Apple cider that has been reduced down on the stove is thick and potent, adding big flavor without excess liquid. Apple cider, either store-bought or this homemade apple cider, is certainly delicious to drink but it won’t add enough flavor to baked goods. Taking 20 minutes to reduce the cider down transforms regular donuts into amazing apple cider donuts. If you like to keep things simple in the morning, reduce the cider the night before. That will save you cooling time, too, because the cider must cool for a few minutes before you add it to the batter.
To reduce your apple cider, simply follow these simple steps:
- Pour 1½ cups apple cider into a small saucepan. We will reduce this to ½ cup.
- Place on low heat and set a timer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Begin checking at 10 minutes, and then every 3-5 minutes after that until you have ½ cup of cider reduction (approximately 20 minutes).
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before using in the batter.
It’s that easy! If you have leftover apple cider, use it in my honeycrisp apple sangria or apple cider sangria—or drink it plain.
Here’s my reduced down apple cider:
Choosing the Right Ingredients: Melted Butter & Apple Pie Spice
- Melted butter. The crown jewel of these donuts is the dip in melted butter, then a dunk in granulated sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice. Not only is it delicious, but the melted butter helps the sweet coating stick to the donut.
- Apple pie spice. If you don’t have access to store-bought apple pie spice, you can make your own with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.
By the way, if you’re a fall baking fanatic like me and love pumpkin treats, you might try making your own pumpkin pie spice blend, too! Use it in pumpkin-inspired favorites like pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bars, mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee creamer, and of course, pumpkin pie.
Overview: How to Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
These couldn’t be easier to make—no mixer required. Leave yourself enough time (at least a half hour) to reduce down the apple cider before beginning. I like to do this step the night before so it’s ready to go in the morning.
- Reduce the apple cider. In a small saucepan over low heat, simmer the apple cider until you’re left with about 1/2 cup. Begin checking at 10 minutes, then every 3-5 minutes after that until you have 1/2 cup of cider reduction. Mine takes about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes (or complete this step ahead of time).
- Combine the dry ingredients together.
- Combine the wet ingredients together, except for the apple cider.
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Add the apple cider. Whisk everything together until smooth and combined. You’ll notice the batter will be slightly thick. We want thick batter for cakey and dense donuts.
- Fill the donut pan. Fill each donut cup about halfway. My trick for this? Use a zipped-top bag. Add the batter to the bag, cut off a corner, and pipe it into the donut pan filling only about halfway. This trick makes transferring the batter neat, quick, and easy.
- Bake. Only about 10 minutes of bake time—told you they were quick. To test doneness, poke your finger into the top of the donut. If the donut bounces back, they’re done. Once they are out of the oven, let them cool for 2 minutes, then invert the pan to release the donuts. You can then re-grease the donut pan and bake the remaining donut batter. (If you have 2 donut pans, go ahead and bake both trays at once.)
- Coat the donuts. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice together in a medium bowl. Once cool enough to handle, dunk both sides of each donut in the melted butter, then coat generously in the apple spice topping.
Look at this beautiful caramel-colored batter! So much apple flavor hiding in here:
More Apple Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Scones
- Baked Apple Cider French Toast
- Apple Bundt Cake & Apple Cake
- Apple Cinnamon Crumb Muffins
- Apple Turnovers with Salted Caramel
And apple pie, of course!
Print
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12-14 donuts
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baked, cakey, and delicious apple cider donuts are made with apple cider reduction to intensify its flavor. Warm and dipped in cinnamon sugar and apple pie spices, this fall treat will become your new favorite too.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) apple cider
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, at room temperature*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice*
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Reduce the apple cider: Stirring occasionally, simmer the apple cider in a small saucepan over low heat until you’re left with about 1/2 cup. Start checking at 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc until you have 1/2 cup (120ml). Mine takes about 20 minutes. If there are any spices or solids on top of your reduced apple cider, leave them. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Make the donuts: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, and vanilla extract together. Pour into the dry ingredients, add the reduced apple cider, and whisk everything together until smooth and combined. Batter will be slightly thick.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavities—for ease, I highly recommend using a large zipped-top bag. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling about halfway.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes or until the edges and tops are lightly browned. To test, poke your finger into the top of the donut. If the donut bounces back, they’re done. Cool donuts for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Re-grease the pan and bake the remaining donut batter.
- Coat the donuts: Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice together in a medium bowl. Once cool enough to handle, dunk both sides of each donut in the melted butter, then generously in the apple spice topping.
- Donuts are best served immediately. Leftovers keep well covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can freeze the donuts, coated or not coated in the toppings, for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up to your liking in the microwave. I usually just zap ’em for a couple seconds.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Donut Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Large Zipped-Top Bag | Cooling Rack
- Apple Pie Spice: Do you have apple pie spice where you live? It’s pretty standard here in the US. If you don’t have access to store-bought apple pie spice, you can make your own with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.
- Milk: I usually use buttermilk, but I’ve found that any milk (dairy or nondairy) works pretty well. For a denser crumb, you can use 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream instead.
- No Donut Pan? Make donut muffins in your standard 12-cup muffin pan. Grease your pan or use muffin liners, fill each 3/4 full, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes about 10-12 apple cider donut muffins.
- Minis: Want to make mini donuts or mini apple cider donut holes in a mini muffin pan? Grease your pan, add the batter to the pan only about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for about 8-9 minutes.
My family cannot get enough of these donuts! As soon as I make a batch they are gone. I text them a picture and they are over in a few minutes. They freeze well too. I have served them to guests and have been asked where I bought them.
The donuts were so moist and just the right spice! They rose so beautifully and are delicious! I just made another double batch and will share with neighbors!!
I made these donuts and they were a big hit. Excellent! Thank you for the recipe!
This is a very good donut recipe. I was just wondering how I could convert it to a layer cake. I attempted to make it,with aa apple cider cream cheese frosting. I must say it tasted good, however it was drier than the Sahara desert in July. How could I remedy that. Thank you.
Hi Jeff, you might like this apple cake instead!
Made these today. I think I overfilled the pan, and also slightly overbaked them. The taste is good regardless. Will definitely try again in the future.
I am curious to know if you double the recipe are you supposed to double the amount of apple cider? I am confused because every recipe says reduce to half a cup? I’ve tried to double it but was unsure if I was suppose to have more cider reduced down,
I’ve made this recipe already 3 times this fall and I’m making again today. Since making them, I’ve been to orchards in New England that have bakeries within and their apple cider donuts don’t come close to these. I’ve been using Sally’s recipes for years and love to recommend her recipes to my friends and family. Will come back to this year after year!
I didn’t have buttermilk but you can make your own by using 1 tab to cup of milk and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes or more.
I absolutely love this recipe, so delicious in a donut pan and a muffin pan. My only complaint is they are a little bit time consuming and labor intensive. I was wondering if I could make it in a loaf pan and swirl the cinnamon sugar in how your cinnamon swirl quick bread is to make an apple cider version and to make it a little easier?
Hi Casey, we haven’t tested this recipe as a quick bread loaf, but we imagine that should work just fine. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it will be quite a bit longer than the donuts. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Let us know how it goes for you!
I made it in a loaf pan, and it was fantastic! I used applesauce instead of butter, pumpkin pie spice instead of apple pie spice, and reduced the sugar in the topping to 100g, then followed the swirl directions in your cinnamon sugar quick bread recipe. Baked for 60 minutes. Topped it with vanilla glaze. Very good, might be the way I make it from now on. And much easier without having to do all the dipping.
There’s no apple flavor at all 🙁
Hi Baking in Seattle, we’re sorry to hear you were disappointed in these donuts. Did you make any ingredient substitutions by chance? Make sure you are using apple cider and not apple juice. If you wish to try them again, some readers have found that added shredded apple (about 1 cup) to the batter helps bring out the apple flavor. If doing so, reduce the milk down to 1/4 cup.
Can you share what might happen if you fry the donuts instead of bake? Recommended temp?
Hi Hannah, this recipe is best baked and won’t work for frying—it won’t hold its shape. You might enjoy these homemade glazed doughnuts instead, which are fried.
Yum!!
Hi! I’m planning to make these Friday for events on Friday & Saturday. Would you recommend keeping the Saturday donuts uncoated until the morning of? Would this prevent them from getting soggy?
Hi Gabrielle, you can leave the donuts for Saturday uncoated and coat the morning of. That should help combat the sogginess a bit. Hope they’re a hit!
I did not have apple pie spice or cardamom on hand so instead I reduced the cider and added a Chai tea bag while it cooled to add some extra flavor then added the called-for dry spices minus cardamom and added cloves. Fantastic spiciness without being overwhelming.
Hi! This is the best recipe! Can it be doubled?
Hi Jen, for best taste and texture, we recommend making separate batches. Working with extra batter risks over or under-mixing, which could ruin the texture of the baked donuts.
I am trying to double this recipe so I started with 3 cups apple cider but accidentally reduced the full 3 cups all the way down to just 1/2 cup of reduced cider. Can I make up for simmering off too much of the liquid by adding 1/2 cup of unreduced cider to get to the correct volume of 1 cup liquid? Or will this mess up the chemistry somehow? Thanks so much– looking forward to making these.
Hi Chrissy, you’ll lose a lot of flavor without using the reduced cider. We’d recommend reducing down more cider to yield the 1 cup needed for 2 of these recipes.
I just made the apple cider donuts…Oh my goodness, they are delicious!
Can I add diced apple pieces to these donuts? If so, do I need to alter anything else in the recipe to account for the extra moisture?
Hi Nicole, Some readers have found that added shredded apple (about 1 cup) to the batter helps bring out the apple flavor. If doing so, reduce the milk down to 1/4 cup.
* Please reply to my post this time as it was skipped earlier this month. * I have been making this recipe for several years but recently moved to the mountains and need help to tweak this for higher elevation. It has been hard being a good baker for 30 plus years and now find my old favorites, like this recipe, aren’t the same. I still gave it 5 stars for the countless times I’ve made it at lower elevation and was incredible. Any tips are sincerely appreciated.
Hi New Mountain Princess, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html Perhaps another reader who has experience baking at high altitude can chime in as well. And if you do find any modifications that work, please do let us know!
I just moved to 7200 ft myself. I got Pie In the Sky baking book to help. No doughnut recipe but some helpful tips for altering recipes. The effects of elevation aren’t really linear as most traditional charts suggest.
I was craving these and I’m gluten free so going to the store isn’t an option. I used my gf 1:1 ratio baking flour. Me and my boys gobbled these up! Will definitely make again
I used silicone baking pans and a few things happened as a result:
1) I got 18 donuts instead of 12-14. They were the perfect shape, though.
2) They took 21 minutes to fully bake instead of 10-11, even though they were supposedly smaller – I don’t know if it was because of the silicone pan, but that’s how long muffins in a metal pan take to bake for me, too, so it seems like 10-11 minutes is just not enough time to bake something of that size all the way through? At 11 minutes they were completely wet still.
3) I greased the silicone pan but they still stuck pretty badly.
So, are there different instructions for using silicone donut pans? These taste so wonderful but the baking part was quite different for me.
Hi Leslie! We don’t have much experience baking with silicone pans. Metal does conduct heat faster, we’ve never had an issue with under baked donuts in a metal pan. Usually silicone pans do not need to be greased, but we really don’t have the inside scoop to offer much advice. Let us know if you give them another try!
Thank you for responding! I am sure it’s easier with metal. For silicone users: I had to let these cool a little longer, till almost completely cooled, to pop them out more easily – they still stuck a little but held together enough, so I think silicone doesn’t play nice with wetter batter, as well as takes longer for things to bake. It may be time to ask for some metal donut pans for Christmas! These really are the most delicious donuts and the family loves them, so I do want to make them FREQUENTLY. Ha! 🙂
It’s been a fall tradition for me for the past 3 years! I hype these up to everyone and make them for any fall event. A coworker actually brought these into a potluck and she shared this recipe (I only had it pinned at the time)! She won the best dessert!