Description
Baked apple cider doughnuts make the best fall treat! Perfectly spiced and fluffy, you’ll love these easy cake doughnuts for breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 cups cake flour (see note below)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Reduce apple cider: Add apple cider to a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 425°F and spray a standard donut pan with nonstick spray.
- Make doughnuts: Whisk together cake flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Combine buttermilk, cooled apple cider, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture and fold in just until incorporated. Spoon batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and fill each doughnut cup 3/4 full.
- Bake doughnuts for 8 to 9 minutes, until golden brown and the tops spring back when touched. Turn doughnuts out on a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter, allowing pan to cool completely and spraying with nonstick spray in between batches.
- Coat in cinnamon sugar: Set rack with cooled doughnuts over a piece of waxed paper. Heat butter in a microwave-safe bowl until melted. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Dip doughnut tops lightly in melted butter, and dunk in cinnamon sugar; repeat with other side. If you have extra cinnamon sugar, dunk tops again.
- Doughnuts taste best the first day – store leftover doughnuts at room temperature and warm briefly before serving or wrap well and freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
Homemade Apple Cider: Combine 2 cups pure apple juice with 1 apple (cut into 1/2-inch wedges) and 4 teaspoons of mulling spices in a heavy saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain into a glass bowl or measuring cup. Return 1 cup apple cider to the saucepan and reduce as directed in step 1.
To make your own cake flour: Place 2 tablespoons cornstarch in an empty 1-cup measure, then top up with all-purpose flour. Sift the mixture several times to evenly distribute the cornstarch.
Spices: For ease, you can also use apple pie spice.
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