Apple Cider Donuts

Nothing says fall like Apple Cider Donuts! Reduced apple cider and cinnamon give these donuts a rich apple cider flavor. These easy, fried cake donuts have a soft, tender, texture with a crispy cinnamon sugar outside.

When I think of fall, I think of a paper bag full of apple cider donuts to eat in the car after apple picking. The pastry chef in me is often disappointed that these donuts don’t actually taste like apple cider. Years ago in the restaurants, I took it upon myself to fix that! These apple cider donuts are full of that spiced apple flavor. They are light, airy cake donuts with a perfect crispy outside and are coated in cinnamon sugar! 

Once you have mastered the art of making and frying these donuts, don’t stop there! For another fall donut, try my pumpkin donut, or make my yeasted jelly donuts and fill them with caramel pudding! And for simple and delicious donuts that rival Dunkin Donuts, try my sour cream donuts or glazed chocolate donuts.

Professional Tips for Making Homemade Apple Cider Donuts

• Keep your dough cold. To keep these donuts tender, light, and airy, you want to keep the gluten from developing in the dough. So don’t overmix; work fast, and keep the dough cold.  
• Use neutral oil that is at the correct temperature. Use a neutral oil like canola, peanut, or sunflower oil. Any oil that has a high smoke point. And make sure the temperature is between 325°-330°F for optimal donuts. Any lower than that, your donuts will become very oily, and any higher, the donuts will burn before they cook fully. 
• Make sure to cut the hole in the center of the donut. The hole in the center of a cake donut is a MUST. Without the hole in the center the donut will not cook correctly. The center will be under-cooked or raw, and the outside will be burned. 
• Use quality apple cider. If you can get apple cider from a farmers’ market or while out apple picking, these ciders have a more concentrated and full flavor, which will be transferred to your donuts.

Ingredients

• Granulated Sugar: Sugar is here for sweetness and leavening when beating with egg yolks. It helps create a soft, tender, light texture. You can use brown sugar but I find that it mutes the apple flavor.
• Butter
• Egg Yolks: The egg yolks are here to add fat, moisture, and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and shortens some of the gluten strands to keep the donuts cakey and tender. 
• Sour Cream: I use full fat sour cream but you could also use low fat sour cream. 
• Apple Cider: Reducing the apple cider helps concentrate the flavor and evaporates some water from the cider. This adds more flavor without making the dough too wet. Do not use apple cider vinegar. 
• All-purpose flour: I prefer all-purpose flour in most of my donut recipes because it has the perfect amount of gluten for developing a strong network but remains tender and soft.
• Baking Powder: Double-acting baking powder as the leavening agent reacts instantly when mixed with an acid, which is sour cream, and then again when heated. Baking soda will not leaven these as well, especially if making the dough a day or two in advance. It will react once and won’t have much left once it hits the oil. 
• Kosher Salt
• Cinnamon
• Canola Oil: I use canola oil for frying, but another neutral flavored oil with a high smoke point will do like Crisco.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

• Change the spice. Try switching the cinnamon for apple pie spice or pumpkin spice. You could also add cardamom, ginger, or nutmeg. You could also infuse the sugar with a spent vanilla bean for a hit of vanilla in the donuts. You could use the different spices in the dough and the sugar mixture you dip the donuts in. 
• Add a glaze. Make a caramel, donut glaze with vanilla extract, or spiced glaze for the donuts. Allow the fried donuts to sit on the cooling rack to let the excess oil drip off. And just like with my krispy kreme donut recipe, dip them into the glaze while they are still warm! 
• Make different sizes. You can make smaller donuts or just make all the donut holes. I wouldn’t go much bigger because they will take longer to fry, leading to more oil in the donut.

How to Make this Apple Cider Donut Recipe

Use these instructions to make a perfect apple cider donut every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the Donut Dough: 

Step 1: In a small saucepan reduce the apple cider in half to 166g or a scant ⅔ cup. Allow it to cool at room temperature, or make it ahead and store it in the refrigerator. 

Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream and apple cider reduction. 

Step 3: Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and then dust the surface of the plastic wrap generously with flour. 

Step 4: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until a sandy mixture forms. Slowly add the yolks and beat on high speed until pale yellow and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Step 5: With the stand mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the wet ingredients (sour cream mixture) to the bowl in several additions. Stop the mixer when the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. 

Step 6: Transfer the dough to the flour-dusted plastic wrap, dust more flour over the top of the dough, and fold the edges of the plastic over the top to cover. I press the dough out into a flattened circle about 2 inches thick to help it chill faster. Refrigerate for 60 minutes. 

Cut the donuts: 

Step 7: Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick spray, and set aside. 

Step 8: Generously dust a work surface with flour. While the dough is still on the plastic wrap, dust the top of the dough with flour. Turn the dough out onto your floured surface, floured side down. Lightly dust the top with more flour.

Step 9: Working quickly to keep the dough cool, roll out the dough to ½ inch thick and brush any excess flour from the top of the dough. Use a 3-inch and 1 ¼ – inch ring cutters, round cookie cutters or a glass to cut the donuts and holes. Lightly tap the cookie cutter in flour before cutting each donut. Place the donuts and donut holes on the prepared sheet pan. 

Step 10: Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap, but do not let the plastic touch the top of the donuts. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. At this step, I let mine chill overnight. 

Frying the apple cider donuts:

Step 11: Before frying, set up your frying station! Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet or over paper towels. Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove the donuts from the oil, and whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar coating. 

Step 12: Pour oil into a fryer or a Dutch oven, making sure the oil is at least 2 inches deep. Heat the oil to 325° F. Adjust the heat to keep the temperature between 325° and 330°F while frying.

Step 13: Gently place three donuts in the fryer, keeping the remaining donuts in the fridge. Once they rise to the surface, cook for 30 seconds and flip them with a slotted spoon. Fry until the bottom develops a nice golden brown color, about 80 seconds. Flip it again and then fry for another 80 seconds or until the color is a nice, even golden brown. 

Step 14: Transfer to a wire rack set over a sheet pan or paper towels. 

Step 15: Once the donut is barely cool enough to handle, dip the donut in the cinnamon sugar and place it back on the wire rack. Dipping a hot donut will ensure that the sugar sticks! If they are cool and dry, then the coating will just fall off.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef created recipe. Check out all our donut recipes or dive into all the Fall flavors with the 25 Best Pumpkin Recipes for Fall, these 10 Easy Pumpkin Recipes or peruse all our pumpkin recipes!