Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Nov 7

Nov 7 Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

I’m so glad that I hopped onto the Apple Cider Doughnut bandwagon this fall! This baked doughnut version have that sweet/tart thing going on - tart from boiled apple cider balanced by a classic crunchy sweet cinnamon sugar coating. Tender and satisfying, they’re best when warm straight from the oven. Yum.

This is essentially the recipe from NYT Cooking. I’ve just slightly rewritten it by dividing the ingredients into clear batter and topping sections to make errors less likely. If you don’t read through their recipe carefully you’ll end up with way too much sugar and butter in the batter like many of their reviewers. The only tweak I made was to use boiled apple cider vs regular apple cider for a more concentrated tart apple flavor. The recipe works with either.

One other thing before we get to the recipe: I normally transfer my doughnut batter to a measuring cup and pour it into the doughnut wells, but the batter in this recipe is very thick so I do recommend using a piping bag - or freezer bag with a corner cut off - to fill the pan.

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Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts Recipe:

Yield:
8-12 doughnuts, depending on how you fill the pans

Difficulty:
Easy

Special equipment:
Doughnut baking pan

I use this one from King Arthur Flour, or this is a highly rated pan from Amazon.

Ingredients

For the doughnuts:

225 grams (1 ¾ cup) all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp fine sea salt or table salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
140 grams (10 TBSP) unsalted butter (1 & ¼ sticks), room temperature
165 grams (¾ cup packed) light brown sugar
50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (120 ml) apple cider or boiled apple cider for stronger flavor / tartness

For the topping:

84 grams (6 TBSP) unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease 2 6-cavity doughnut pans (or a 12-cup muffin tin).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a separate bowl or your stand mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until blended, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour mixture mixing until no dry spots of flour are visible. With the mixer running, slowly add the apple cider and mix to combine, scraping down the bowl as needed to ensure all ingredients are well blended.

Spoon the batter into prepared doughnut pans, filling them about 2/3 of the way full. Bake until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Muffins may need an extra 2-5 minutes.

While the doughnuts bake, prepare the topping. Whisk the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and melt the butter. Let the doughnuts cool for 5 minutes after baking, then turn out onto a cooling rack. You may need to give them a tap or two to loosen them.One at a time, brush the doughnuts with melted butter then dredge them in the cinnamon sugar while they are still warm.

They’re best when warm from the oven, but if you don’t finish them all in one day, you can wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel and pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and they’re almost as good as new. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.