Apple Cider Donuts

updated Aug 21, 2024
halloween
Apple cider donuts with one bitten.
Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

A step-by-step guide to making warm, cinnamon sugar-dusted apple cider donuts.

Serves12 to 16

Makes12 donuts and holes

Prep10 minutes

Cook55 minutes

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Apple cider donuts with one bitten.
Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

Should we all just agree that we really go apple picking for the warm cider donuts and freshly pressed apple cider? Eating those fried donuts is one of my fondest food memories from the two years I lived on the East Coast, but unfortunately they’re harder to find now that I’m back in California. The best solution was to head into my kitchen and make a batch myself.

I’m a firm believer that deep-frying is only worth doing at home if you can get restaurant-quality results, and trust me, this recipe is worth it. Plus, the apple-flavored dough requires no mixer or kneading, so you just might find yourself making these donuts often (save and reuse the fry oil!) as we inch our way into cooler months. I’m certain the people in your household who get to eat the crisp, cinnamon-scented beauties won’t complain.

Why You’ll Love It

  • They’re big on apple flavor. For these apple cider donuts, we reduce the apple cider until syrupy, which concentrates its flavor. Applesauce adds both moisture and an extra boost of apple flavor, too.
  • They’re crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Frying the donuts give them a perfectly crisp exterior. The buttermilk in the dough keeps them tender.
Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

What Are Apple Cider Donuts?

Apple cider donuts are a New England treat — one of the symbols of fall as the spectacular foliage turns autumnal and the weather starts to feel crisp. They’re made with a base of boiled-down apple cider, which turns into a syrup that’s sweet and deeply apple-y. The dough is a nutmeg-laced cake dough that uses baking powder as a leavener, and the donuts fry up craggly and crisp on the outside, and the crowning glory is the generous dusting of cinnamon sugar that clings to the outside. These donuts always seem to taste best while you’re standing in an apple orchard with a steaming mug of apple cider or coffee.

Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

Key Ingredients in Apple Cider Donuts

  • Apple cider, NOT apple juice: The most important ingredient for these donuts is the apple cider — it gives them that signature apple flavor, so get the best you can find. Fresh apple cider can be a bit hard to find outside of New England, so unfiltered apple juice will also work as a substitute. Just be sure not to buy the clear, sparkling, or hard stuff.
  • Applesauce: The dough needs to be quite wet in order for the donuts not to fry up dry and floury, so applesauce adds both moisture and an extra boost of apple flavor. Get unsweetened applesauce (stealing one from your kid’s lunch box or baby’s pouch stash is just fine).
  • Buttermilk: Tangy buttermilk or kefir (a fermented milk drink) makes these donuts sing, and a full-fat one is amazing if you can find it (although low-fat will certainly work too).
Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

How to Make Apple Cider Donuts

  1. Reduce the apple cider. Bring the apple cider to a boil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup and syrupy. Remove from the heat, add the butter, then whisk until melted and combined. Add the brown sugar and whisk until melted. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients. Add the applesauce, buttermilk, and eggs to the bowl with the apple cider mixture. Whisk until smooth.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients. Place the all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, kosher salt, baking soda, and ground nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Scrape the cider mixture into the flour mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula until a sticky dough forms. Do not overmix.
  5. Chill the dough and make the cinnamon sugar. Cover the bowl and refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, place the remaining ground cinnamon and granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate and stir to combine.
  6. Roll out the dough and cut out donuts. Roll the dough out until 1/2-inch thick. Cut donuts out with a floured donut cutter.
  7. Fry the donuts. Fry in batches of 4 donuts. Gently place the donuts in the oil and fry, flipping once, until puffed and golden brown. Drain off the excess oil and place on the wire rack.
  8. Roll the donuts in cinnamon sugar. Immediately place the donuts one at a time in the reserved cinnamon sugar and toss until well-coated, sprinkling some of the sugar over the donut and making sure the sides are well coated. Return to the wire rack.
  9. Fry the donut holes. Fry the donut holes in 2 batches and coat in cinnamon sugar.
Credit: Photo: Ghazalle Badiozamani | Food Stylist: Jesse Szewczyk

Make-Ahead, Storage Tips, and Reheating Tips

If you want to be the hero at tomorrow’s breakfast, you can make the donut dough today and let it chill overnight in the fridge, then roll it out and fry the donuts in the morning. In this case, you’ll just need to double the amount of baking powder in the dry ingredients.

  • Make ahead: The dough can be made and chilled overnight before rolling out and frying.
  • Storage: The donuts are best eaten the day they are made. Once cooled, they can also be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
  • To reheat: Rewarm in a 325ºF oven for about 8 minutes.

More Apple Cider Donut Desserts to Try

Apple Cider Donuts Recipe

A step-by-step guide to making warm, cinnamon sugar-dusted apple cider donuts.

Prep time 10 minutes

Cook time 55 minutes

Makes 12 donuts and holes

Serves 12 to 16

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups

    apple cider or unfiltered apple juice

  • 6 tablespoons

    unsalted butter

  • 3 1/2 cups

    all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

  • 3 teaspoons

    ground cinnamon, divided

  • 2 or 4 teaspoons

    baking powder (see Recipe Instructions)

  • 1 teaspoon

    kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon

    ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated

  • 1/2 cup

    packed light or dark brown sugar

  • 1/2 cup

    unsweetened applesauce

  • 1/3 cup

    cold buttermilk or kefir

  • 2

    cold large eggs

  • 1 cup

    granulated sugar

  • 2 quarts

    vegetable, canola, or peanut oil, for deep frying

Instructions

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  1. Bring 2 1/2 cups apple cider to a boil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup and syrupy, about 10 minutes. (If you reduce it by too much, just add enough water to get back to 1/3 cup.) Meanwhile, cut 6 tablespoons unsalted butter into 6 pieces.

  2. When the cider is ready, remove the pan from the heat. Add the butter and whisk until melted and combined. Add 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and whisk until melted. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl.

  3. Add 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/3 cup cold buttermilk or kefir, and 2 cold large eggs to the bowl with the apple cider mixture. Whisk until smooth.

  4. Place 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons baking powder (4 teaspoons if you plan to let the dough chill overnight), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

  5. Scrape the cider mixture into the flour mixture.

  6. Stir with a rubber spatula until a sticky dough forms. Do not overmix.

  7. Cover the bowl and refrigerate 1 hour (or overnight if you used 4 teaspoons baking powder). Meanwhile, place the remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 cup granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate and stir to combine.

  8. Fill a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot with 2 quarts vegetable oil (at least 1 1/2 inches of oil) and clip on a deep-fry thermometer. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until 350ºF. Meanwhile, fit a wire rack onto a baking sheet. Dust a second baking sheet lightly with flour. Cut out the donuts.

  9. Generously flour a work surface, then transfer the dough (it will not be smooth) onto it. Generously dust the top of the dough and a rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough out until 1/2-inch thick (about a 12-inch wide round).

  10. Cut donuts out with a floured donuts cutter (or use 2 round cutters about 3 and 1-inch in diameter). The dough may be a little sticky, and it’s okay to twist the cutters as you push them in to get a clean cut.

  11. Transfer the donuts and donut holes to the floured baking sheet. Gather the scraps and form them into a ball, then roll out again until 1/2-inch thick. Repeat cutting until you have at least 12 donuts and 12 donut holes. If the oil is not ready yet, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator.

  12. Fry in batches of 4 donuts. Gently place the donuts in the oil and fry, flipping once, until puffed and golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Use tongs or chopsticks to gently remove the donuts from the hot oil, hold them over the pot for a few seconds to drain off the excess oil, and place on the wire rack.

  13. Immediately place the donuts one at a time in the reserved cinnamon sugar and toss until well-coated, sprinkling some of the sugar over the donut and making sure the sides are well coated. Return to the wire rack.

  14. Repeat with frying the remaining donuts, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain an oil temperature of 350ºF and tossing each batch in the cinnamon sugar immediately after they are fried. Fry the donut holes in 2 batches, about 1 minute per side, and coat in cinnamon sugar.

Recipe Notes

Make ahead: The dough can be made and chilled overnight before rolling out and frying.

Storage: The donuts are best eaten the day they are made. Once cooled, they can also be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days. Rewarm in a 325ºF oven for about 8 minutes.