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, 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:
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- 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:Â 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.
I wanted to make these this morning but didn’t have any cider so I used my homemade applesauce they were delicious! They tasted just as good as with the cider! Now I have two options, but will probably make them with the applesauce since I very rarely have cider in the house.
Sally your recipes very rarely fail me, thank you for all your hard work and multiple testing, stay healthy!
These were tasty! Fun way of using apple cider. I will cover the donuts with less sugar next time.
Tried irst batch today – TASTY! But they were nowhere near done after 11 minutes, and never did quite bake through as I put them in and pulled them out a couple of times. I’m using silicone muffin pans which may make a difference?
Just caught your note that for muffins bake 18-20 minutes and will try that next time around. Perhaps 16. I’m new at baking.
Since we are all locked down, decided to make these for Easter. I used white whole wheat flour, freshly milled, so it only made 13 donuts, (which is fine). With the heavier batter it needed more baking time, (about 14-16mins), but they are amazing. Nutty and delish. No need for topping/coating at all.
Bake these donuts any time of the year! You won’t be disappointed. Sally’s right, they’re very moist. Pretty easy too. The coating is the best part.
I made them and my family LOVED them!
I have already made them for every family reunion!
people keep asking for your recipe!
They are truly delicious and easy to make however I had a bit of difficulty getting the batter into the donut pan as it was thick. They ended up looking like mini muffins! What did I do wrong ?
Nothing! This is a thick batter. If desired, use the bag trick I describe to easily transfer the batter.
The cider reduction definitely takes way longer than 20 minutes on low. Are you using gas rather than electric. Is that why the time is doubled when I tried. I set it medium and let it boil and I get 1 1/2 cups down to 1/2 in 20 minutes.
Hi Sheryl, It could be many different factors, such as the thickness of your pan, the heat of your stove, or even the water content of your cider! As long as you got it down to the 1/2 cup reduction you did it right. Enjoy the donuts!
I made these as mini-donuts today. The donuts are delicious without any coating. I dipped 6 in melted butter and the sugar/spice mixture, then decided it was too much. As another commenter noted, the texture was sandy. The donuts are very moist, so I eliminated the butter and simply rolled them in sugar/spice – that ended up being just right. I had tons of the sugar mixture left, so I’m saving it for the next batch.
This is a fabulous recipe! I made the mini donuts and followed the recipe exactly. So moist and delicious. I have never made a recipe from your blog that I didn’t love!
These came out fantastic! I made them today but would like to serve on Thanksgiving (which is 2 days away) what’s the best way to store so they will still be good? Would love to reheat them too if possible? Any suggestions?
Do you think the donuts can be frozen after they are made?
The flavor of the donuts was great. Similar to another post, it took closer to 40 minutes to reduce the Apple cider down to half a cup. The question I have is about the texture of the donuts. The day after baking the outside of the donuts were sticky both the ones with the sugar coating and ones without. What did I do wrong? Why did they sticky?
Hi Jillian– glad you enjoyed the donuts. The outsides may be extra sticky if you’re storing them in a humid environment. (They’re also going to be a little sticky regardless since they’re so moist.)
I also made this with the sugar, stevia blend, the best ever!!!!
Thank you Sally for sharing the recipe
This recipe is pure perfection! The donuts are easy to make and the taste is incredible! Thank you Sally for all of your incredible recipes 🙂 I first fell in love with your Christmas cookie recipes and now your website is my go to!!
Made these 5 or 6 times already, THE BEST EVER!!!!
I love donuts and have never tried apple cider before but I am a huge fan of Sally so I thought what the heck. I accidentally used to much butter because I read the topping part as the actual recipe. They still turned out so delicious just a little bit more crumbly! My husband even enjoyed them. Can’t wait to make these again.
I usually am terrible at baking but these were so easy and came out DELICIOUS. maybe even tasted better the next morning? can’t wait to make these again!
One of my favorite breakfast recipes of yours! We make on repeat in the fall. Can’t wait to try your new pumpkin ones.
These are excellent. I didn’t have apple pie spice or cardamom, so I used pumpkin pie spice instead. Perfection!
These donuts turned out great. My reduced apple cider never thickened up but I finally got it down to one-half cup after a good 45 minutes or more. I refrigerated it for 2 nights because of time constraints. I got 22 donuts out of the recipe possibly because my cider never thickened up? Any how, they tasted and looked fantastic. My 91-year old father absolutely loved them and said, “they just melt in your mouth”. My husband took the majority of them to his office like 3 days after I baked them and his co-workers still went crazy over them. I want to let you know that instead of using a snipped plastic bag to fill the donut pans, I used my Tovolo Cupcake Scoop and it worked fantastically! No mess and oh so easy. That little scoop is sold by Sur La Table and it only costs $8.95 and it is wonderful for cupcakes, muffins, these donut pans and any small cake pans to fill. I have given one to every one of my friends who like to bake and they love it as well. It filled the donut pans with ease and no mess whatsoever. Check it out – you will love it. Sally – thanks for another delicious and fun recipe to bake- you are the best!
I’m so glad you were able to make them work and that they were such a hit! I will definitely check out the cupcake scoop – thanks so much for the tip!
Made the apple cider donuts. Excellent highly recommend
These were fabulous. Apple cider doughnuts were a regular part of the move into fall and apple picking season when we lived on the East Coast. When we moved to WasHi from State, it is harder to find them and they just never had that apple cider flavor. These were amazing. I added an extra two table spoons flour and 1/2 cup of apple sauce and they are a little lighter. Yummy!
So delish. The reduced apple cider does make a big difference
My family’s favorite new recipe! The donuts themselves are moist & delicious, with a great apple cider flavor. I’m only giving this recipe four stars because I don’t like the sugar topping. It taste like they are coated in sand. My husband loved them plain with no topping. For aesthetic purposes I decided to try a powdered sugar glaze instead, using reduced apple cider in place of the milk or water to make the glaze. I liked the glaze much better than the sugar topping. I can see this being a recipe we will look forward to making every season from now on!
Awesome donuts! Made them today.
In the Phoenix, AZ area is rather difficult to find apple cider, so I used Target’s organic Honeycrisp apple juice (just under a half a cup). I did a powder sugar glaze vs the sugar coating and this is a terrific recipe you gave us.
I just cooked the apple cider for at least 45 minutes & it is finally down to 1/2 cup but mine does not look thick and syrupy like your picture. Mine is still very liquidy. I will not
make the donuts until Saturday morning so a day and a half from now. Will the reduced cider firm up in the fridge or get looser? Not sure why it is not getting thick. Also, do you have to re-warm it before adding it to the recipe if it has been refrigerated?
Hi Debbie! No worries if it’s not thickening– taste it and see if it is very flavor concentrated. You can use it right from the refrigerator or bring it to room temperature first.
Could I use a mini donut pan to bake these? I’m sure the bake time will be altered but would it possibly affect the texture?
Yes, you can certainly make mini donuts with a decreased bake time. Enjoy!
These look awesome! I’m going to make these next week for my daughter’s class Halloween party (4 yr old). Any reason why a mini doughnut maker machine wouldn’t work? Thanks!!
I don’t have a mini donut machine but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! I hope her class loves them!
These are amazing – better than the fried ones I bought on a vacation in New Hampshire! I used honeycrisp apple cider. Thank you, Sally! Delicious
I made these tonight- I have a 12 donut baking dish and I took your suggestion to use a bag to pipe it. It made 12 donuts PLUS 12 muffins (in muffin cups). They are absolutely delish! I can’t believe the depth of flavor and not too sweet- but sweet enough. Thanks for this great recipe! I used Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Cider to reduce…turned out GREAT!