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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Donut Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Large Zipped-Top Bag | Cooling Rack
- Apple Pie Spice: If you don’t have access to store-bought apple pie spice, you can make your own with 4 parts cinnamon, 2 parts nutmeg, and 1 part cardamom.
- 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Made these this morning. They turned out really well. I read the comments and others had some issues with the butter aspect and donuts falling apart. You have to let the donuts cool enough to dunk them. You can’t leave them in the butter. You have to be really fast. A millisecond literally and quickly into the sugar. I did have to bake these for 14 minutes though. So, baking time was variable. That could be a reason people had issues too. They didn’t bake long enough and just followed directions. Sometimes you have to follow instincts and I felt they needed a couple extra minutes. I also did a couple of donuts without butter and the sugar stuck just fine. So, you can definitely leave it out if you want as long as they are still warm. If you are afraid of the butter you can brush it on instead. That’s my suggestion because it is a little much dunking both sides. You can taste a lot so it can be controlled better by brushing. They were delicious though. Plenty of apple flavor with the reduced cider and apple pie flavor. I used boxed apple cider mix because my store was out of the jug stuff. It worked really well!
What is the nutrition information?
Hi Trish, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
My first time making donuts and I made these. Someone told me that they were the best apple cider donuts they had ever had.
Sally! OMG! I made these for my friend’s birthday dessert tonight. She misses the apple cider donuts from back east. We topped the warm donuts with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled a little of your salted caramel sauce (it’s the BEST!) on top. A small squirt of whipped cream for garnish and we had the best apple cider donut sundaes ever! Thank you for making this occasion extra special. I will be enjoying one of these beauties, sans ice cream, with my coffee in the morning. Thank you! This is a keeper!
These were delicious and always a hit if they are kid approved and my kids approved!
After the first few soaked up the butter and became soggy I just dipped the remaining warm donuts in the sugar mixture. Came out perfect!!
I like this recipe so will keep using it. I did recently read about grounding up freeze dried apples to supplement part of the sugar coating. I imagine this would increase the apple flavor everyone is seeking.
They’re delicious, but the texture is all wrong for donuts, they soak up butter like a sponge and fall apart in your hands. They would be much better as muffins
Hi Danni, baked donuts are very much like muffins. Thank you for giving this recipe a try.
Have loved all Sally’s recipes but the baked apple donuts were really disappointing. Really no flavor at all. They look beautiful but I should have listened to other people who said the same thing. No apple flavor. Maybe pumpkin would have more flavor instead of using apple cider.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this recipe, Doreen. Here’s our pumpkin donuts recipe.
These are amazing! Thanks you!
Very good donuts. My batter was not very thick and the donuts turned out really soft, but very good. So soft that it was hard to get a few out of the pan without breaking.
Can I make the batter the night before and bake it in the morning?
Hi Carol, no, we don’t recommend refrigerating the batter overnight. The baking soda and baking powder are activated once mixed with the wet ingredients, and it’s best to bake the batter soon thereafter.
I have seen the comments about these not tasting like apple cider. I have some home made cinnamon applesauce and I’m wondering if adding some of this would make a difference? If so, do you think I would have to ommit the egg? Maybe I’ll just add 1/4 cup of applesauce and just see what happens!
Hi Joye, we haven’t tested replacing the egg with applesauce, but for best taste and texture, we recommend sticking with the recipe as written. The reduced apple cider provides lots of apple cider flavor!
Excellent Recipe! My family loved them and we all appreciated that they were baked, not fried!
Mine had great flavor but ate dry. I think it’s my fault for overbaking and filling the mini muffin cups too much. I think because they might have been too full, it took them too long to appear baked. My 8-9 minutes turned into more like 11. Next time!
I love Sally’s recipes, but I’ll be honest, this one fell flat for me. I followed the recipe, measuring everything, but I didn’t get that nostalgic apple cider taste. The spices weren’t even that strong either. It’s sweet and cinnamon-y, but that’s about it.
These were great, but mine absorbed twice as much butter as they were supposed to (the pot was empty after the first 6 donuts), which made them leave butter rings on the plates and napkins. I will probably try brushing instead of dipping next time. I don’t know why they were so thirsty, as they were certainly not dry!
Hi Sally,
Love all your recipes, and this one is no different. Was going to make it for the umpteenth time today or tomorrow, and wondered, if it can be baked in a regular sized Bundt pan? I don’t see that you have an actual recipe for that—or at least I have not found it.
Thank you so much!
Karren Richard
Hi Karren! We haven’t tried baking this batter in a Bundt pan so are unsure. You may like this recipe for a glazed apple Bundt cake instead!
I’m anxious to taste my bake because they f eel tender and smell great HOWEVER I did as the recipe said and dipped each side of the donut in butter not leaving it in even to soak it the butter. nightmare! I got smart and got out the pastry brush. Less calories and less stress. I dipped the buttered donuts in topping. Next time I will sift it on instead. As the batter goes, it was easy to do. I won’t rank until I taste.
What type of Apple cider that need to be used like the powdered mix or juice bottle how do I make apple cider liquid
Hi Carolyn! Fresh apple cider, usually purchased in a gallon or half gallon from the refrigerated section of your grocery store, is best. Here’s our recipe for homemade apple cider as well!
These are absolutely delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I will be making these again.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your website. I have tried many things. Our family favorite is coconut cream pie! Thank you!!!
I really love Sally’s recipes and I have made many of them with great success. I was so excited to try this one for apple cider donuts. The end result was tasty but it tasted like a spice donut rather than an apple cider donut. I reduced the fresh apple cider as directed and followed the recipe exactly. Next time I may try reducing 2 cups of apple cider and see if that gives more apple flavor.
I have made these donuts multiple times now and everyone loves them! I always make a double batch and they still beg me to make more. I like that they’re pretty simple to make and they stay fresh for a while, especially if you put them in the fridge. I’ve even had apple cider donuts elsewhere and they do not compare. Fantastic recipe, no notes!
These are tasty, but you can’t taste the apple cider at all. I followed the recipe very closely and used really good apple cider and reduced it just so. I’m from New England so maybe my expectations are just too high? Anyways, love Sally and her recipes and will continue to be a dedicated fan.
Can I refrigerate the batter overnight? I want the donuts to be fresh baked for a party, but I don’t have time to make and bake the donuts morning of. Thanks!
Mara, no, we don’t recommend refrigerating the batter overnight. The baking soda and baking powder are activated once mixed with the wet ingredients, and it’s best to bake the batter soon thereafter.
Mara it’s not I good idea to make the batter ahead of time but you can have all of your dry ingredients measured and ready to go. And also have your cider reduced the day before. Then you’re doing less of the prep work the day of.