Apple Cider Donuts
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There’s nothing truly better than biting into a warm, fresh donut coated in cinnamon sugar. It melts in your mouth with every bite!
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Definitely make these!
Are you a eat-the-entire-donut person or more of a donut hole person? I’m probably more of the latter since there’s generally an overall sense of less guilt consuming donut holes.
Although I think I probably consume more donut volume in donut holes. But it really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. They all get deep fried and coated, smothered and tossed in homemade cinnamon sugar while still piping hot.
So whole donuts vs. donut holes. We’re all winning and thriving here.
what Are apple cider donuts?
Apple cider donuts are an American treat, full of warm Fall spices, apple cider, and often times topped or coated in cinnamon sugar. They are typically sold at apple orchards, cider mills and farm stands.
why i love this recipe
- Bakery-quality. Although completely homemade, these warm cinnamon-sugar coated donuts taste just like the ones fresh from an apple orchard, if not even better.
- Mixer not required. The apple cider dough does not require any kind of hand mixer or kneading.
- Strong apple flavors. By using reduced apple cider and all of its concentrated syrupy goodness (the secret ingredient), we’re talking big apple flavors here.
tips and tricks for success
- Apple cider versus apple juice. Apple cider is not the same as apple juice. At times, apple juice can be substituted for apple cider but in a recipe like this where the apple cider is really the main hero, it is best not to substitute with apple juice.
- Use reduced apple cider. Reducing the apple cider will create more complex, concentrated, potent flavors. With its syrup-like consistency, this will help achieve that strong apple flavor.
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution for the hot oil.
- Use a candy thermometer for the most accurate results. The ideal temperature of the oil should be between 350° and 375°F.
- Fry in batches. If too many donuts are added at once, the oil temperature will drop and the donuts will absorb too much oil, resulting in soggy donuts.
- Reheat in the oven. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the oven at 325°F, covered in aluminum foil, until warmed through – we want crispy on the outside, warm on the inside.
Apple Cider Donuts: Frequently Asked Questions
As apple cider is the main ingredient, we do not recommend substituting with apple juice.
Reducing the apple cider will result in concentrated flavors, adding big, prominent apple flavors to the donuts.
Yes! The apple cider can be reduced and stored in the fridge 1-2 days in advance.
Apple cider donuts are best eaten the same day but they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, reheating at 325°F wrapped in aluminum foil until warmed through.
Apple Cider Donuts
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
Equipment
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 reduced 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 350 to 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.
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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.