Apple Cider Donuts
There’s nothing truly better than biting into a warm, fresh donut coated in cinnamon sugar. It melts in your mouth with every bite!
So are you a eat-the-entire-donut person or more of a donut-hole person?
Because I’m more of the latter.
I mean, there’s less guilt eating the donut holes.
Even though I think I probably have more donut volume in donut hole form than the actual donuts.
But it doesn’t matter here.
Whole donuts. Or donut holes.
It’s all the same.
They get deep fried and coated/smothered/tossed in cinnamon sugar.
So whole donuts vs. donut holes. It doesn’t matter. Because we’ll still eat them all.
Apple Cider Donuts
There's nothing truly better than biting into a warm, fresh donut coated in cinnamon sugar. It melts in your mouth with every bite!
Ingredients
- 3 cups apple cider
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat apple cider in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.
- In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together butter, eggs and apple cider.
- Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist; cover and place into the refrigerator until chilled, about 1 hour. Divide dough in half.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, roll dough into 1/2-inch thick rounds; cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.
- Working in batches, add donuts to the Dutch oven and cook until evenly golden and crispy, 1 minute per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate for 30 seconds; then roll warm donuts in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
- Serve warm.
Did you make this recipe?
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Is it possible to bake these in an air fryer?
Thanks
I’ve made these as written and they are delicious! I want to make them again for our homeschool group next week but it’s in the morning so I’m wondering if I can make the batter up the day before and fry them the day of? I’d love them to be fresh but if it’s a problem to all plot the recipe between days I’ll have to just make them the night before
I wish I had read the comments before attempting this recipe. 375° was too hot for me. The donuts burned before the inside cooked. 350° was perfect. I used a timer to do exactly one minute on each side, and regularly monitored the oil temp with a thermometer, and got consistently beautiful results once I worked out the oil temp, and also the amount of oil. There is no way two cups of oil in a large Dutch oven is enough to keep these off the bottom of the pan. I poured it into a smaller pan and doubled the oil and it made a big difference. Otherwise, the recipe was delicious!
Last night for Halloween, we had a bonfire and cocoa and hot donuts for trick or treaters in our driveway. I made these along with raised yeast donuts and everyone loved them! I even had a tall teenage ghoul come back and ask for the recipe, which I gladly shared with him along with the minor changes I made. My only changes were I browned the butter, added some additional spices, and added 1/4 flour and slightly reduced the brown sugar in the batter. I learned on my test batch that there was enough sugar on the outside for the taste and they were browning too quickly. Since it was for a crowd, I only made donut holes and I also found it was very important that I made them pretty thin or they would burn before they were cooked through the middle. Very successful and thank you for sharing this recipe.
Delicious! Didn’t read the number of servings, and needed more, so I chose to make donut holes. Used a tomato paste can to cut them out, so they were bigger than donut holes. Next time I’m going to find a way to make these in to mini donuts. Turned out great!
I would prefer not to rate because of how much I changed the recipe, but it seems to be required. After I started reducing the apple cider, I realized I didn’t have enough flour to make a whole batch of donuts, so I decided to make a half recipe. I just reduced the apple cider down to about 1/2 a cup instead, figuring the extra apple flavor would be welcome.
The dough was quite wet, but I didn’t realize how much of a problem that would be until I started trying to fry the donuts. They just completely disintegrated in the oil. Now, I don’t have a working kitchen thermometer, so I was just using some advice from another donut recipe about how to tell when the oil was hot enough. However, it didn’t seem to matter how hot the oil was – the dough was just too wet to hold together regardless of whether they were frying fast or slow.
I had to re-knead all the dough with extra flour. The second time I just shaped the donuts by hand instead of rolling and cutting – MUCH easier.
At the end, I ended up with some small donuts that tasted good and even had a little kick of apple flavor. However, I probably wasted about 1/3 of the original dough in the process, as well as a lot of time rolling and cutting out donut shapes that I just ended up kneading back together again.
I don’t have a lot of experience with frying things, but now I have a little more idea about what kind of dough consistency is needed for donuts. So I guess I learned something.
I would also like to mention that those who are stating the recipe worked for them exactly as written – with 1 cup of reduced cider – may be totally right, as well as those who stated that it was too wet. I live in an area with high humidity and find that totally affects how much liquid I need for baked recipes. I should have thought of that to begin with.
I followed this recipe except that I did *not* chill the dough and I BAKED these in a donut pan instead of fried. Those wondering if these bake well, the answer is YES! I baked them at 400 for 8 minutes.
Just one typo note on these delicious donuts: Step 2 Reads”…1 tablespoon cinnamon…” s/be “teaspoon”
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons. Hope that helps, Lisa!
Oh yes, that’s right! My apologies while I go produce some more delicious donuts precisely as written this time. 🙂
Fantastic donuts! I noticed too that it took longer than 20 minutes to boil down the cider. One suggestion is when letting the cider cool back down, put the butter into it and let it melt in, then when it’s cool add the eggs
These were delicious, and the perfect way to use up leftover cider. However, the recipe made twice as many donuts as you claimed (using the size cutter you recommended), and the dough was so incredibly sticky even after 2 hours of chill time that I ultimately had to fold in an extra quarter cup flour just to cut them into rounds. But now that they’re fried, I can barely resist them! Thanks for sharing.
These were excellent I made over 20 donuts due to rolling out the dough less then 1/2 inch. They were better the next day. I put a cinnamon stick in apple cider (homemade) with old fashion press. Heated oil to 350 feeling accomplished!
Fantastic recipe! I made these exactly as outlined and they turned out beautifully– crisp outer shell, pillowy interior, and full of flavor! I do not have donut cutters, so I used a 28oz crushed tomato can and a 6oz tomato paste can to cut out the donuts. My donut holes were, therefore, a little too big and didn’t quite cook through in 2 minutes. I suspect holes cut to the correct size would have been perfect!
Definitely make these!
Try these cutters. The 1″ makes perfect holes. I find the 3″ ring make a better-sized donut.
Incredibly delicious! Like another reviewer I had better luck frying at 350 than 375. I love these doughnuts but didn’t find them super apple cider-y. I did reduce the cider but wonder if it was the cider itself. Is there a lot of variation cider to cider? Any tips on enhancing the apple flavor?
The apple taste did not come through. I was just chewing on a cinnamon sugar donut – disappointing.
Can this be put into a bunt pan? I made these and they were AMAZING!
These are great and true to their promise! I cut the batch in half and actually cooked down 3 cups of cider to 1/2 cup. Was syrupy and flavorful. Cut only doughnut holes (using smallest biscuit cutter)…the first batch burned as the oil temperature kept climbing after I put the dough in – at 375 they burn before cooked. Next batch I monitored the temp more carefully at 350 and cooked for 4 minutes, then rolled in sugar. They are great!
Love it, this is the second time I am making it!!
These are excellent! Perfect most interiors and pleasantly craggy and crisp exteriors. I reduced the cider with a cinnamon stick as other suggested, and used some browned butter. A half batch of dough yielded seven donuts and a few extra holes
Hi there—-could you tell me how/when you used the brown butter? Thanks so much.
Ok these are amazing. I did the browned butter thing too-just melt down the butter on stovetop and, keeping a watchful eye, let to boil a bit just til you start to see brown flecks come up. It helps to stir, remove from heat immediately and transfer to a bowl to cool and voila! You have this nutty lovely butter.
These were so tasty and easy to make!
Delicious! My only comment is that it takes much longer than 20 min to reduce the apple cider by one third. Even at higher temp than a simmer it took closer to 40 min. It’s worth the extra time though!! These were so so good.
Yes agreed, took a LOT longer than the time the recipe says to reduce the cider.
Great recipe!
I’ve mad this before and loved it, and I’m wondering can I use apple juice instead of apple cider?
I have used apple juice concentrate instead of cider for this recipe and they turned out great! Also faster because it didn’t require the time it takes to reduce apple cider on the stove.
These were much easier than I expected and they puff up to a wonderful cake texture, don’t feel sad if they look sad before you fey them! A minute on each side is good, don’t worry if they come out looking very dark brown, they are crispy and not at all burnt. Would suggest sprinkling them in cinnamon sugar rather than rolling, they pick up a lot. This recipe was very easy to cut in half, six donuts and six holes was more than enough for three people. I also found it much easier to divide the dough into six pieces, roll them out individually and cut the holes, rather than trying to roll a sheet and having to reshape it every other donut.
Can these be piped into a donut pan and BAKED? Thank you.
It’s the first time I ever made apple cider donuts. These are right up there with the best I’ve ever bought at farmers markets . They are crisp but not greasy. Recipe made 2 dozen plus holes. The holes are way too easy to pop in your mouth!! I made one dozen and am freezing the second dozen raw. The only part I had trouble with was getting the oil to the proper temperature. I found 350 to be better than 375. Good luck everyone. It’s all worth the time and patience.
These were fantastic … I cheated a bit and used pre reduced cider from King Arthur Baking which made things a lot easier. Tender, crisp, and flavorful. I made them for a friend group who are mostly vegans so I can also second the other reviewer who mentioned veganizing these with aquafaba in place of eggs and earth balance for butter.
Can someone help me understand what this means: roll dough into 1/2-inch thick rounds. I can’t seem to visualize this. Is it just roll the dough out to 1/2” thick and then just cut out donuts? I think I’m getting hung up on the wording… rounds? Thank you!
You roll the dough out into disks (like you are making a pie crust) and cut the doughnuts from these “rounds”
These donuts were fantastic! Crispy, light and delectable. I didn’t find the dough difficult to work with. Just make sure your surface, rolling pin, and hands are well floured. My only (very small) complaint is that I could have used a bit more apple cider flavor. I may consider reducing 4 cups of cider and augmenting the amount of sugar in the dough next time. Other than that, we had a perfect fall morning without going to the orchard store, haha. Thank you for this recipe!
these donuts were great!! not as crispy as the ones from my local apple orchard but the flavor was spot on and overall really delicious. The recipe is super easy – I wonder if frying them in Crisco would make the difference? – also good to note we had some left over and they were equally delicious the next day!
…the “crispy trick” from when I worked at a VT apple farm + bakery…
after the first fry, keep the oil going and pop a few of them back in for just a FLASH— 15/20/30 secs MAX, take out and drain. the second fry makes the crispy bits. try 1-2 at first, to test time and determine desired texture.
Fantastic recipe! I accidentally over-reduced the apple cider by a smidge, so I added a tablespoon or two of apple butter, but I think it was unnecessary. The apple flavor was really great. The dough was very sticky, but having plenty of flour on hand and keeping the dough cold helped with rolling out and shaping. For getting the doughnuts into the fryer without messing up the shape, I used a trick I saw on the King Arthur Flour website and put each cut out on a square of parchment paper and lowered them into the oil with a slotted spoon. The only thing I would change next time would be to fry them in Crisco or other lard, which I’ve heard makes them not quite as soggy/oily and is better for frying. It wasn’t a problem when they were fresh the day of frying, but after a day or two you could definitely taste the vegetable oil.
This was a nice recipe. I followed the instructions for the first batch and found that 375 for the oil was too hot – the donuts fried very quickly but had a slightly burned taste and were dry. For the second batch I rolled the dough to 3/4”, used a larger cutter (3.5”) and fried them at 350 and they came out perfectly. I used both an infrared and instant read thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil.
We are big apple cider doughnut fans but have been reluctant to go get them due to COVID. This recipe is terrific! I followed it to the T, including step one (reducing the cider). They came out perfectly! I have eaten a lot of apple cider doughnuts in my time, but these may be better than the ones at the farmstands. Thank you for a great recipe.
Outstanding recipe! I also added a cinnamon stick (& nutmeg) to the cider as it reduced. After it cooled I added a couple dashes of Angustora bitters for some depth. As others have noted, the dough is sticky but nothing a well-floured surface and rolling pin couldn’t handle. We used our deep-fryer and they came out gorgeous and tasted fantastic. We will keep this recipe for next autumn! Thank you!
Thanks for a good recipe! I halved the recipe. After reading reviews, I was worried about soft dough, but it was sturdier than my normal cake doughnut dough and super easy to work with. The only riff I made was adding some spices to the cider while reducing.
This is an excellent recipe! They are delicious. I hoped they would taste as good as the donuts we had near Lake George. They are even better. I followed the recipe as listed, the only difference is I refrigerated overnight.
SO DELICIOUS, They were much easier to make than I thought they would be.
I added a cinnamon stick to the cider as it boiled down
This recipe was incredible, and just what I needed! I veganized it by using earth balance and chickpea-based egg replacer (Nice egg), and everything was a simple 1:1 swap. The timings were perfect so the donuts didn’t come out too greasy. The only item I had to buy in preparation was a thermometer so I didn’t have to mess around with super hot oil. I’ve already recommended this to friends!
Are these supposed to be cake like? or light and fluffy like doughnuts? Mine are kind of thick and dense- they did not rise in the fridge either, should they have?
Awesome , easy , and tasted great
TJ, these are cake donuts. There is no yeast in them so they will not rise. The texture will be more dense than your traditional yeasted donut.
Question; you said to chill dough, am I able to chill the dough for a couple days?
I have been looking for an apple cider donut recipe that didn’t require a donut baking pan because who needs clutter? And this was absolutely perfect! I halved the recipe since it’s just me and my husband and o.m.g! Suffice to say, my craving has been satieted. Definitely will be making this every Fall. Thank you!
These are absolutely perfect! One of my big gripes with many fried donut recipes is the dough is too dry, which results in a dense interior. Not so with this recipe. Yes the dough is a bit sticky, but a good dusting of flour on your hands or rolling pin and it is manageable. And the finished donuts are great – crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside. I will definitely make again!
I made a double batch of these yesterday and topped them with a browned butter glaze. They were universally declared to be the best donuts on the planet by everyone lucky enough to get one. The dough was a little sticky, so I recommend using a lot of flour on the rolling pin and cutter etc. (my surface was definitely not lightly dusted!) but it’s totally worth it. Like fall in a donut. Great texture and taste. Donut making has been my pandemic hobby but I think I better make salads my pandemic hobby for a bit…
The dough was way too wet. On top of that, the flavor was just okay. I would give this recipe a zero.
Also, I did reduce it to 1 cup.
So 100 people that loved them and gave them 5 stars must be wrong…couldnt be your technique. I give you a double zero.
This recipe is really super delicious! Although, I did find that there wasn’t much apple flavor coming through as other reviewers have mentioned. So I decided to make a glaze with some of the extra reduced apple cider and speed the donuts before rolling in cinnamon sugar. This really made the apple flavor pop and took it to a whole other level!
This was delicious and surprisingly easy! I looked at other reviews and a lot of them mentioned sticky dough, but the dough isn’t overly sticky if you reduce the apple cider like you’re supposed to. I had to play around with the length of frying a bit since I have never fried anything but 1 minute each side is a good place to start. I’ll definitely make this again!
I have yet to make these fantastic looking donuts but I had a question whether I can use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar?
they are delicious. I didn’t find the dough difficult to work with at all. I made sure the apple cider was boiled down and the dough was chilled. BUT, I need lessons on how to fry them! They burned on the outside without cooking on the inside 🙁 My oil was at 375 but I don’t think my pot was big enough. Any tips for the actual frying would be appreciated.
Same happened to me. I turned the temperature down to 350; that helped. If anyone else has suggestions, I hope they post.
Apple cider donuts: What do you recommend using in lieu of eggs d/t allergy. Flaxx eggs?
It was just amazing. Fun to make and easy.
This looks amazing and I would love to make these. It is the perfect dessert to make to get you and the people you share with get in the fall mood!
My Husband loves them !!
So my first attempt they were sticky so I added more flower when i dusted them. They were difficult to work with but I managed and they were fanstatic.
Update! I just made another batch .I did 4 cups of flour added a little more nutmeg and cinnamon to the dry ingredients. made sure i mesaured out the cider to exacly 1cup. After combining everything it was more to a dough consistency then a sloppy sticky mess. Just a little tweaking is all.
Thank you for sharing your recipe
I was thinking about making these and adding some small apple chunks to the batter. Have you tried that by chance? Any thoughts on if it would turn out okay?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
I made this recipe originally to deep fry the donuts, which turned out amazing. The dough was sticky, but I just used a little flour on my hands and counter, patted out the dough, and had no problem getting really nice donuts. I also purchased donut pans after reading about them in other recipes. I had some of this dough left over so figured I would try out the new pans. I piped the dough into the pans, baked the donuts at 350 for 10-12 minutes, then rolled the donuts in butter, then cinnamon anf sugar. Oh my!! My whole family and a large group of guests at an apple cider pressing get together declared the donuts excellent! This is my go-to appke cider donut recipe, whether baked or fried!
Intrested to know if your baked donuts tasted like the fried ones? Were they tender like the fried ones?
The baked tasted more light and flufffy, but both versions were so delicious.
I have made these before. Delicious! Can you make dough and freeze it?
There is a comment listed below where you mention beginning with 3 cups of apple cider, but that it is then reduced to one cup. I do not see this step mentioned anywhere in the recipe that is currently posted, only that you need 1 cup of apple cider. I tried looking up similar recipes online where they reduce the apple cider first, but the one that I found starts with one cup of cider and reduces it to 1/4 cup for a similar amount of flour. Would it be possible to have this step clarified? I would like to make this recipe for my family, as we really enjoy apple cider donuts, but I want to make sure that the proportions and method are correct first. Has the recipe been modified to just use 1 cup of cider and omit the reduction step?
Yes, that is correct, Michelle. There have been some confusion with the reduction step, resulting in using 3 cups of apple cider and having a very sticky dough. You can, of course, use 3 cups of apple cider to begin with and reduce to 1 cup for the best results possible. Good luck!
I found the dough to be very sticky and so it was difficult to get round donuts. Is it supposed to be sticky?
These are so good! I was looking for a recipe to dupe the ones my local orchard makes. I went vegan and can’t eat them anymore, I subbed the eggs for a vegan egg alternative and they taste just like the ones I was hoping to dupe. Thanks so much!
Hello!
Do you used unsalted butter?
Thank you
Yes. 🙂
Please don’t wast your time or homemade apple cider on this recipe. The author has her ratios of dry to wet ingredients way off. You will end up with a big sticky mess that no amount of added flour will fix. It is probably supposed to read 2 1/2 cups of apple cider and not 3 1/2, but why waste your time trying to figure out the mistake. There are plenty of other very good recipes available. I will make sure and read the reviews next time as it appears I am not the only one that had this problem and then took the time to write a review.
Jarom, it sounds like you didn’t read the instructions in its entirety. Yes, you begin with 3 cups apple cider but if you read step #1, the apple cider is reduced to 1 cup. Please make sure to read the recipe at least twice from start to finish before proceeding with a recipe – it will be very helpful to avoid mistakes like this. 🙂
I see that now. I skipped step one because I already had a reduced apple cider I made. I just read the ingredients and off I ran. Sorry for the bad review as it is obviously my poor ability to follow instructions and not your recipe. I’ll give it another try. Thanks for your polite reply as I am sure it was difficult to not call me an idiot.
Totally understandable, Jarom! 🙂
I realize that this interaction was two years ago, but I just can’t help but stop and marvel to see a polite interaction on the internet! I am so impressed, you guys!
Its now 4 years later… I am now admiring the polite and civilized exchange. We need more of this! Well done both of you!
It’s nearly 6 years later and I just read this exchange.
What an incredible and wonderful meeting of the minds.
I can’t wait to try these! Although I only have a larger donut cutter (3.5 inches). Will that affect the cook time? Thanks! 🙂
Yes, it may take a little longer to cook through. 🙂
Post-baking follow up – these were absolutely amazing. I’m already planning to them again!! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s so great! Thanks so much for the update!
I can add buttermilk? 1/2 vip.
I do not recommend adding buttermilk.
If I want to make holes instead, what should I do?
Asha, you can cut out smaller rounds for donut holes.
I made these tonight. They were delicious. The dough was A little sticky. How do I fix this? Also how long will the dough stay if refrigerated? Thank you for the recipe!
Working on a lightly floured surface should help! I wouldn’t keep the dough inside the refrigerator for longer than 1-2 hours. Hope that helps!
In the recipe where you can combine the flour and sugar in the large bowl is that the brown sugar or some of the granulated sugar?
Brown sugar. 🙂
I had a really hard time with this recipe.
Super sticky, couldn’t make rings. Also couldn’t get them to cook properly. 375° was way to hot. Burned outside a doughy inside.
Same! I kept adding flour and still sticky.I gave up and threw out the rest of the batter 🙁
I didn’t want this year to pass away without telling the great comfort I found in your kind spirit and in trying out your wonderful recipes. Thank you, Terri Holmes
Omg those look so good! I have never attempted to make donuts. Apple cider donuts sound good. I think I will have to try and make some for Christmas. You have some of the best recipes! Thank you for sharing them!!
These look delicious! Could you make the dough the night before and fry in the morning?
I do not recommend making this ahead of time. It is truly best to make the dough no more than an hour or two before cooking – the fresher the better!
Wow! Looks and sounds amazing!! I am both a cider and donut fan 😉
Chungah,
Would this recipe still work if I were to use donut pans and bake instead of frying?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help to you!
No worries!! I’ll try it baked first and if it doesn’t work, DEF fry!! Your recipes have kept my little family of 3 (myself, husband and 5yo son) VERY satisfied these 2017 dinner night’s (some times lunches too 😉 Thank you for all you do, you.are.AWESOME!!!
I dont mean to be so donut ignorant but what do you mean by “roll dough into 1/2-inch thick rounds; cut out rounds with a 2 1/2-inch cutter.” Rounds? how do I cut out the donut hole?
The recipe requires a 2 1/2-inch donut cutter. 🙂
I just want to thank you for all the delicious recipes that I have tried and all the ones that I will try. Have a very Merry Christmas and all the best to you and yours in 2018.
I love apple cider donuts! And every year I think I will make them, but I just “cannot” bring myself to do the whole deep fry thing…(and I know they’d be delicious!) I just know myself, and I would not be able to just stop at one. Thanks for giving me my morning drool though!