When you close your eyes and take a bite out of one of these old fashioned apple cider donuts, you’ll wake up wearing a cozy sweater, standing in the middle of an apple orchard, with golden leaves all around you. Yes, they’re that good. Made with an apple cider cake dough and covered in an apple cider glaze & cinnamon sugar coating, these donuts truly are the essence of fall!
This recipe is from my debut cookbook, Donut Love! As an essential fall donut, it couldn't not be featured on the blog! If you love this recipe (and donuts in general!), be sure to snag a copy of the book!
For more donut recipes, try Cinnamon Sugar Brioche Donuts, Maple Glazed Brioche Donuts, and Double Chocolate Glazed Donuts.
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Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour: These old fashioned donuts are made with cake flour to achieve the softest crumb possible, despite being worked a moderate amount from rolling out, cutting, and rolling out again. A high quality and common brand for cake flour is Swan’s Down. Alternatively, you can make a DIY version by using all-purpose flour, taking out 2 tablespoon and adding in 2 tablespoon cornstarch.
- Apple Cider Concentrate: This is the most important ingredient, so it's important that the flavor comes through! Regular apple cider just doesn't cut it in my opinion, so I highly recommend using apple cider concentrate!
- Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for optimum flavor and overall result. I recommend Kerrygold.
- Applesauce: Be sure to use unsweetened applesauce. This will also make the apple flavor more pronounced, as well as add moisture!
- Sour Cream: Full fat sour cream adds moisture and a lovely dense texture to these donuts. If you do not have sour cream on hand, you can use whole milk Greek yogurt.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this old fashioned apple cider doughnuts! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
STEP 2: Melt apple cider concentrate & butter. In a small saucepan, place the apple cider concentrate and butter over low-medium heat until the butter is fully melted. Remove the pan from heat.
STEP 3: Whisk in brown sugar. Vigorously whisk in the brown sugar until fully dissolved, then pour the mixture into a large bowl.
STEP 4: Whisk in egg & vanilla. Quickly whisk in the egg and vanilla.
STEP 5: Alternate dry & wet ingredients. Then, mix in half of the dry ingredients until barely combined, followed by the applesauce and sour cream. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.
STEP 6: Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and place the batter in the fridge to chill for at least one hour or overnight.
STEP 7: Cut out the donuts. Roll the dough out between two pieces of well floured parchment paper to ½-inch in thickness. Use well floured 3-inch and 1-inch round cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible and place each on a parchment square. Re-roll the dough and cut out more donuts as needed.
STEP 8: Fry & coat. Fry the donuts for 3 minutes on the first side, then flip over and fry for an additional 2 minutes. Transfer the donuts to the wire rack. Once the donuts have cooled just enough to handle, brush the butter cider mixture on the top of each donut. Then, toss them in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
Expert Baking Tips
- Chill the dough for at least one hour. This is a very soft dough, so be sure to chill it long enough to firm up to the right consistency.
- Wait for the oil to temp to rise again before frying more donuts. When frying, be sure to wait a couple minutes in between each set of donuts for the oil temperature to come back up to 350 degrees F.
Recipe FAQs
This dough is meant to be very soft! Do not be afraid to add a lot flour to your work surface and the top of the dough - the flour can always be brushed away before frying. I also recommend rolling the dough out between two very well-floured pieces of parchment paper.
You can use any neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable oil.
To ensure that your donuts do not turn out too oily, do not fry them in oil less than 350 degrees F. If the oil is not hot enough, the dough will absorb the oil and make your donuts too oily. Keep an eye on the temperature of your oil before and after you fry the donuts!
Frying oil cannot be poured down the sink drain. The best way to dispose of oil is to let it cool completely in the pot, then pour back into its container and throw it away in the trash.
These donuts are best eaten the day that they are made. If stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag and kept at room temperature, they will last a day or two. I recommend warming them up in the microwave for a few seconds before eating. You can also store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other fall recipes to try
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 360 g (3 cups) cake flour
- 6 g (1 ½ teaspoon) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 140 g (⅓ cup) apple cider concentrate
- 56 g (4 tablespoon) unsalted butter
- 106 g (½ cup) dark brown sugar
- 1 egg, cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 63 g (¼ cup) unsweetened applesauce
- 56 g (¼ cup) sour cream
For frying:
- 1 ½ -2 quarts (48-64 oz) vegetable oil
For the coating:
- 28 g (2 tablespoon) unsalted butter
- 35 g (1 ½ tablespoon) apple cider concentrate
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 3 g (1 ½ teaspoon) cinnamon
Instructions
For the dough:
- In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, place the apple cider concentrate and butter over low-medium heat until the butter is fully melted. Remove the pan from heat.
- Vigorously whisk in the brown sugar until fully dissolved, then pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- Quickly whisk in the egg and vanilla. Then, mix in half of the dry ingredients until barely combined, followed by the applesauce and sour cream. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill for at least one hour or overnight.
To fry the donuts:
- Just before rolling out the dough, fill a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot with enough vegetable oil to cover 2” (5 cm). Heat the oil over low-medium heat and bring to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Place a wire rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet. On a separate baking sheet, cut out 13 4” (10 cm) parchment squares for the donuts.
- Meanwhile, make the coating. In a small bowl, melt the butter and stir in the apple cider concentrate. Set aside. In another medium bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll the dough out between two pieces of well floured parchment paper to ½” (1.25 cm) in thickness. Brush away any excess flour.
- Use well floured 3” (7.5 cm) and 1” (2.5 cm) round cutters to cut out as many donuts as possible and place each on a parchment square. Re-roll the dough and cut out more donuts as needed.
- Use the parchment squares to gently lower 2-3 donuts into the hot oil. Fry the donuts for 3 minutes on the first side, then flip over and fry for an additional 2 minutes.
- Transfer the donuts to the wire rack. Wait a couple minutes for the oil to come back up to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C), then continue frying the donuts.
- Once the donuts have cooled just enough to handle, brush the butter cider mixture on the top of each donut. Then, toss them in the bowl of cinnamon sugar to coat.
Notes
- Chill the dough for at least one hour. This is a very soft dough, so be sure to chill it long enough to firm up to the right consistency.
- Wait for the oil to temp to rise again before frying more donuts. When frying, be sure to wait a couple minutes in between each set of donuts for the oil temperature to come back up to 350 degrees F.
Adrienne L. says
These donuts are so easy to make and really delicious! The apple cider concentrate really makes all the difference and gives these donuts the best flavor. Definitely excited to make these again!
Ellen says
My new favorite donut recipe!! This recipe was so easy to follow and I was surprised at how simple the process was. Also the apple cider concentrate is key! The flavor came through really well. I’ll probably never go back to reducing my own apple cider. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe, and can’t wait for your cookbook!
Sarah says
I had never made old fashioned donuts from scratch before and was skeptical that they would be better than donuts from a bakery, but boy was I wrong! The recipe was very well-written and easy to follow and the donuts were one of the best I’ve ever had. They came out with a crisp exterior, soft interior, and the apple cider flavor definitely comes through! Thank you for this recipe!
April says
These turned out so delicious! Apple cider donuts are one of my favorite fall baked goods, and these did not disappoint!