There are a few things that just say fall to me… barbecue for tailgating, regardless of which sport you support, corn mazes, and of course, apple cider donuts. A hot apple cider donut, freshly fried, with a warm cup of apple cider, is just something that screams autumn to me. I couldn’t resist making them at home.
To make an apple cider donut, you need to start out with some apple cider, of course. I picked some from a local cider mill, but you can get any apple cider you’d like (local is always delicious). Now, true apple cider isn’t going to allow for you to see the bottom of the pan– it should be thicker and cloudier than your standard apple juice. Be sure to shake the container really well before you use it to get the pulp and all the good stuff mixed throughout.
You’re going to want to reduce your apple cider on the stove– you’ll start with a cup and a half and reduce it to about half a cup. This will make the cider pack a punch of apple flavor without a ton of liquid being added to the recipe. Bring your cider to a boil, and then boil it, stirring occasionally, until it’s reduced.
Fully cool off your apple cider reduction– it needs to be totally cooled off before you use it– and while you’re waiting, prep your dry mixture. You’ll need 1 cup of the flour (saving the rest for later), plus sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix them together in a bowl and set it aside.
Once the cider has cooled off, you can get started on your wet mixture and your dough. For the wet mixture, you’ll mix your eggs, egg yolk, melted butter, cider, and a little bit of maple extract (this just gives it an extra POP of fall flavor, but if you don’t have maple on hand, substituting vanilla extract will work just fine!)
Mix your wet ingredients together, then mix them into the dry mixture. Next, slowly add flour half a cup at a time until it’s all incorporated. Chill the dough for half an hour– it’ll be a little sticky!
Once you’ve chilled the dough, you can roll it out– you’ll want it to be about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut it using donut cutters, your favorite circle cutters, or even just round objects you have around the house, dropping it into oil you’ve heated to 375 degrees.
After each batch of donuts you fry, be sure to let the oil fully heat back up to 375 so your donuts will cook evenly. Cook them until they float up to the top, turn them, and cook them just a bit longer until they’re golden and done on both sides.
Apple cider donuts traditionally have a cinnamon sugar coating on them, and there’s a couple of ways to do this. I start by mixing my sugar, my cinnamon, and a tiny bit of pumpkin pie spice (just because the added spices really help develop the flavor) on a plate, just swishing the fried donuts in the mixture right out of the oil, and then turning and swishing them again. Others shake the donuts gently in a bag with the cinnamon sugar mixture, so it’s totally your call.
Don’t forget to fry up the donut holes, also, for a quick poppable treat.
Naturally, you’ll want to serve these up with hot apple cider!
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 3 3/4 cups flour, divided
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 C butter, melted
- 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp maple extract (or substitute vanilla extract)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Reduce apple cider by bringing it to a boil and boiling, stirring occasionally, until you only have 1/2 cup of cider remaining. Set aside to cool fully.
- Combine 1 cup of flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix cider, eggs and egg yolk, butter, and extract.
- Slowly incorporate wet mixture into dry mixture. Then, add remaining flour into the dough slowly, about half a cup at a time. Once combined, chill dough for 30 minutes.
- Bring oil to 375 degrees. Roll dough out to 1/4" and cut into donuts.
- Drop donuts, a few at a time, into oil. When they float to the top, turn them
- Using a slotted spoon, remove donuts from oil, then place on cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
It would be really handy if you included the amount of sugar needed for the doughnuts…
Hi, Liza, I apologize for the error. That should be half a cup of sugar in the donut mixture itself, then an additional cup to roll the donuts in. Hope that helps!