Prep: 30 min
Bake: 20 min
Yield: 16 doughnuts
Swans Down® Cake Flour and buttermilk make these scrumptious little spiced donuts pillowy soft. Dunk these baked treats in coffee or tea or pack them up for lunch, a picnic or a potluck.
DONUTS
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups sifted Swans Down®️ Cake Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
CINNAMON SUGAR
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- MAKE DONUTS: Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease 2 donut pans. Cook and stir apple cider over medium-high heat, reducing liquid to 3/4 cup. Let cool.
- WHISK egg, sugar, brown sugar, butter, buttermilk and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Set aside. Whisk sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a separate bowl. Pour flour mixture into bowl with wet ingredients. Add reduced apple cider. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- PLACE dough in piping bag and fill donut pan rings half full. Bake for 10 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly.
- MAKE CINNAMON SUGAR: Mix sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Toss slightly cooled donuts in cinnamon sugar.
I don’t have apple cider but I do have apple juice. Can I use the juice instead?
Hi Marcy, You can certainly use apple juice in place of the apple cider though the end product will be a bit sweeter. Happy baking!
Hi,
A friend of mine wanted me to make old fashioned donuts. I’ve never made them before. Will this donut recipe be considered an old fashioned donut?
Hi AJ, These donuts are light and spongy with a cake like texture that has a wonder apple cinnamon flavor. It may not be quite as dense as an authentic old fashion donut. Come back and let us know if you try them. Happy Baking!
Avid long time fan of Swans Down cake flour. It is by far the best to use. I’ll be make these Baked Apple Cider Donuts for my family at Halloween.
The only kosher salt I have is the coarse type. Will this cause any issues? I am not that familiar with kosher salt.
Hi Debbie, You can use regular table salt if you have it on hand. Course salt may not provide the same result. Happy Baking!
I’d like to make a cake using a Bundt pan. Will this same recipe work?
Hi Ramona, Word back from The Kitchen is that this recipe will likely work well with a mini Bundt pan but was not too sure it will work in a full size Bundt pan. The batter may be too dense. They are going to test it for us and I will come back and post the results. Happy Baking!
Hi Ramona, The Kitchen conducted a few trials on pans sizes for the Baked Apple Cider Donuts recipe. We are happy to say that the recipe baked really well in both a full size and the mini bundt (6-count) pans. At 350℉, bake time for each was about 25 minutes and came out light and spongy. Come back and let us know if you try it. Happy Baking!
What can you use instead of donut pans?
Hi Shirley, You can use muffin tins in place of donut pans. Prepare the pan as instructed. To make the donut hole you can tightly wad a 1″ ball of parchment paper, flatten it on one side and place it in the center of the muffin tin. Then pipe fill the tins as you would a donut pan.
I don’t have doughnut pans and can’t afford them at the moment. Is there any other pans you could substitute? I mainly have muffin tins, would they work?
Lori, Yes you can use muffin tins. Prepare the pan as instructed. To make the donut hole you can tightly wad a 1″ ball of parchment paper, flatten it on one side and place it in the center of the muffin tin. Then pipe fill the tins as you would a donut pan.
These sound delicious and easy to make. Swans Down is the best cake flour ever.
These are delicious! Thanks for being a loyal Swans Down user.
Smell so good baking and cooling. Taste is spectacular with the spices.
Thanks for the great compliment! These are definitely delicious.
This recipe sounds really good!. I’ll have to try it soon!
These are definitely delicious! Let us know if you try it.