Easy Baked Apple Cider Donuts

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I know it’s early, but I’m already deep in fall mode, and these baked apple cider donuts are exactly what I wanted to make to kick off fall. Fall is honestly my favorite time of year for food, and here’s what makes them ridiculous: you pour real apple cider straight into the batter, so you get that cozy apple flavor baked right in, then you roll the warm donuts in a cinnamon apple spice sugar. No frying, no oil splatter, just soft cake donuts that taste like they came straight out of a bakery. If you’ve got a donut pan and about 25 minutes, you’re basically there!

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What Makes These Baked Apple Cider Donuts So Good

I’m telling you, it’s the double hit of apple. The cider goes into the batter and you’re also leaning on warm cinnamon and apple pie spice, so every bite tastes like a crisp fall afternoon. The texture is that classic soft, tender cake-donut crumb, and then you get this sweet, spiced sugar coating on the outside that clings to the warm donut. It’s that bakery-case feeling without leaving the house.

The best part is how low effort it is. You whisk two bowls together, pipe the batter, and bake. That’s all there is to it. If you love a good sugar-coated donut but want to skip the deep fryer, this is the move. And if you’re a fry-them person too, my chapssal donuts are the chewy Korean sweet rice kind, rolled in sugar and fried until the outside crisps up.

Do You Bake or Fry Apple Cider Donuts?

Classic apple cider donuts from an orchard or a cider mill are almost always fried cake donuts, which is where they get that craggy, slightly crisp edge. This version is baked instead, and for a home kitchen I think that just makes more sense. Baking means no pot of hot oil, no thermometer, and no messy cleanup, and you still get a soft, tender donut that soaks up the cinnamon sugar coating beautifully. You lose a tiny bit of the fried-edge crunch, but you gain a recipe you’ll actually make on a random Tuesday. Me, I’ll take that trade every time.

Can You Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts Without a Donut Pan?

Yes, and you’ve got a couple of options. A donut pan gives you the classic ring shape, but if you don’t own one, you can pipe the batter into a muffin tin and make apple cider donut muffins instead, just watch them since they bake a little longer. You can also make a foil ring: shape a little log of foil into a circle and set it in the center of each muffin cup so the batter bakes around it. Taste of Home walks through a few no-pan methods if you want the full breakdown. The flavor is identical no matter what shape you land on.

Tips for Making Baked Apple Cider Donuts

1. Go easy on the sugar coating

This is the tip I’d stress the most. Don’t overdo the sugar coating! If you roll the donuts around too much, that outer layer gets thick and all you taste is sugar instead of that warm apple spice. A quick dunk on each side is all you need. It’s the same cinnamon sugar move I love on my churro rice krispie treats, where two light hits of cinnamon beat one heavy one every time.

2. Coat them while they’re still warm

Warm donuts grab the butter and sugar way better than cool ones. Let them rest just long enough to handle, then brush with melted butter and coat. Wait too long and the sugar won’t stick.

3. Don’t overmix the batter

Whisk the wet and dry together until they just come together and no dry streaks are left. Overmixing develops gluten and gives you tough, dense donuts instead of that light cake crumb you want.

4. Fill the molds halfway

These puff up as they bake, so resist the urge to overfill. Halfway full gives you a clean donut shape with a defined hole. A piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped makes this SO easy.

Storage & Leftovers

Apple cider donuts are best the day you make them, when the coating is fresh and the crumb is soft. If you’ve got leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The sugar coating softens over time as it draws moisture from the donut, so if you know you want to save some, I’d coat only what you plan to eat that day and sugar the rest right before serving.

You can also freeze the uncoated baked donuts for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temp, warm them for a few seconds, then brush with butter and coat in the cinnamon sugar fresh. They taste almost like new that way!

Equipment

• Donut pan
• Mixing bowls
• Whisk
• Piping bag
• Wire rack

Ingredients

Here’s everything you need for 6 donuts, plus the cinnamon apple spice sugar coating.

• 3/4 cup apple cider
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
• 1 egg (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

You’ll also want a quick coating of 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp apple pie spice, and 3 tbsp melted unsalted butter.

Substitutions and Swaps

A few easy swaps depending on what you’ve got in the kitchen:

• Apple pie spice. This is doing a lot of the fall flavor here, so I wouldn’t skip it. If you don’t have any, make your own with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and a little ginger. The Kitchn has a simple apple pie spice blend you can stir together in a minute.
• Apple cider. Use real apple cider, not apple cider vinegar (very different thing!). If you only have apple juice it’ll work in a pinch, but cider is less sweet and more concentrated in apple flavor, so the donuts taste noticeably more like fall with the real stuff.
• Whole milk. Swap in 2 percent, oat, or almond milk and the donuts still bake up fine, just a touch less rich.
• Light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar works too and adds a deeper, more molasses-y note, which is really great in a fall donut.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, and vanilla. Pour in the dry ingredients, add the apple cider, and whisk just until smooth and combined.
4. Pipe the batter into the donut molds using a piping bag or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped off. Fill each mold halfway.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges and tops are lightly browned. Cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
6. Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, mix the coating sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a bowl. Dunk each donut in the melted butter, then in the spiced sugar. Go light so the coating stays thin.
7. Serve warm and enjoy!

These are one of those recipes I keep coming back to every fall, and they couldn’t be easier to pull off. They’re perfect with a hot coffee on a crisp morning, and they make the whole kitchen smell incredible while they bake. If you want to keep the cozy apple thing going, my King’s Hawaiian apple pie cinnamon rolls lean all the way into that warm apple-pie territory with a semi-homemade shortcut.

Would you try these? If you make them, leave a star rating on the recipe card below and drop a comment to let me know how they turned out. It really helps other readers find the recipe too! 🍂

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