If you enjoy all the fall things as much as I do, you’re going to love these high altitude baked apple cider doughnuts. They’re full of apple flavor, thanks to a concentrated apple cider reduction, perfectly spiced, so soft and fluffy, and coated in cinnamon sugar for a sweet and crunchy finish.
This post was originally published in 2020, and updated in 2024.
Looking for more high altitude recipes for fall? Don’t miss these apple spice crumb muffins, appledoodles, and apple cider pancakes.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfect for Fall. Is it fall until you’ve picked your perfect pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, filled a basket with sweet crunchy apples from your local apple orchard to bake a pie, jumped in a leaf pile and snuggled up in a blanket with a cup of hot apple cider and plate of apple cider donuts?
Quick and Easy. This is a simple recipe to make, especially if you’re starting with store bought apple cider concentrate. The batter comes together fast, and these apple cake donuts only need to bake for a few minutes before you can coat them in cinnamon sugar and enjoy them warm from the oven.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Apple Cider. Reducing apple cider down to a concentrated syrup adds wonderful flavor to these doughnuts. You can also buy apple cider concentrate.
- Apple Sauce. Keeps the doughnuts moist and fluffy.
- Unsalted Butter. Moisture and flavor.
- Egg. Adds structure and binds the batter together.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Dark Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- All-Purpose Flour. Gives the doughnuts strength and structure.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg complements the flavor of the apple cider.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Baking Soda. Leavens the doughnut batter so they rise.
Instructions
Homemade Apple Cider Concentrate or Reduction
The key to a strong apple flavor in baked goods is to use an apple cider reduction or boiled cider. Basically, you’ll just be simmering your apple cider on the stove to let some of the water evaporate, leaving behind a more concentrated liquid. For today’s recipe, you’ll be starting with 1 1/2 cups of cider, and reducing it to 1/2 cup, so it will be 1/3 of its original volume. If you were to use the apple cider without reducing it first, the apple cider donuts would still taste delicious, but the apple flavor won’t be nearly as prominent.
- Pour the apple cider into a saucepan. Over medium heat, let the cider simmer until it’s reduced to 1/2 cup. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes, or make it a day or two in advance.
- If you’re using store bought apple cider concentrate or boiled cider, you can skip this step, and just move straight to mixing up the donut batter.
Boiled Cider
You would use this same process to make boiled cider, which I use in my Appledoodles (apple cider cookies). Boiled cider, though, is far more concentrated, as the cider is reduced even longer to nearly 1/8 of its original volume, until it becomes a thick, sweet apple syrup.
I’ve made my own homemade boiled cider using King Arthur Baking’s method, but you can also buy bottled boiled cider to use in all sorts of baking recipes, or as a sweet sauce to drizzle over ice cream. Both an apple cider reduction and the boiled cider will work for today’s recipe.
Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 375F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray two standard doughnut pans (6 doughnuts each) with nonstick baking spray. If you only have one pan, you can just bake half the batter at a time.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cooled reduced cider with the applesauce, melted butter, egg, vanilla and brown sugar.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until combined.
- Either spoon the batter into the greased pans and then smooth it out with a small spatula, or fill a piping bag, snip off the end, and pipe the batter into the pans.
- Bake the doughnuts on the center oven rack until risen and cooked through, about 11-12 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 4-5 minutes, then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.
Cinnamon Sugar
- This last step is what makes the doughnuts look so beautiful. A sparkly coat of cinnamon and sugar just looks so pretty. To get the cinnamon sugar to stick to your baked apple cider doughnuts, you’ll need to use a little butter. Some recipes call for dunking the doughnuts into a bowl of melted butter, but I find that method allows the doughnuts to soak up way too much butter, resulting in a greasy, too-rich doughnut. A much better way is to dip a pastry brush in your melted butter and just lightly brush it onto your doughnuts. Then coat the doughnuts in your cinnamon sugar mixture.
- These doughnuts are best served warm, fresh from the oven. But if you have leftovers the next day, they’re still just as soft and flavorful.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
These doughnuts are best served warm and freshly baked. The leftover doughnuts are still fantastic, though, and should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
I have several different pans, including one Wilton pan and one Norpro pan, which are slightly different in size (Norpro is a little bigger), so I always end up with 6 donuts that are slightly smaller than the other six. If I were going to invest in a new pan, I’d definitely buy the USA Bakeware pan, because everything I have from them is fantastic for my baking. I also have several mini donut pans, including this Fox Run mini donut pan and something similar to this scalloped pan.
If you have a mini donut pan, the donuts will bake quickly, needing just 6-10 minutes in the oven.
Yes, even with the nonstick coating on the pans, baked donuts tend to stick, so be sure to grease them with nonstick baking spray.
I use this brand of spiced apple cider concentrate or boiled cider. This will have a much more intense, concentrated flavor than the homemade apple cider reduction used in today’s recipe. If using purchased boiled cider, you may want to decrease it by several tablespoons and increase the applesauce by the same amount, so that the flavor of the concentrate isn’t too strong.
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High Altitude Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 2 Doughnut Pan (12 molds)
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 1 ½ cups apple cider, reduced to 1/2 cup (or 1/2 cup apple cider concentrate or boiled cider)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Coating
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Apple Cider Concentrate
- Pour the apple cider into a saucepan. Over medium heat, let the cider simmer until it's reduced to 1/2 cup. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes, or make it a day or two in advance.
- If you're using store bought apple cider concentrate or boiled cider, you can skip this step, and just move straight to mixing up the donut batter. SEE RECIPE NOTES
Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 375F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray two standard doughnut pans (6 doughnuts each) with nonstick baking spray. If you only have one pan, you can just bake half the batter at a time.
- In a bowl, whisk together the cooled reduced cider with the applesauce, melted butter, egg, vanilla and brown sugar.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until combined.
- Either spoon the batter into the greased pans and then smooth it out with a small spatula, or fill a piping bag, snip off the end, and pipe the batter into the pans.
- Bake the doughnuts on the center oven rack until risen and cooked through, about 11-12 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 4-5 minutes, then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.
Cinnamon Sugar
- To coat the doughnuts, dip a pastry brush in the melted butter and lightly brush the warm doughnuts with the butter.
- Coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- These doughnuts are best served warm and freshly baked.
- The leftover doughnuts are still fantastic, though, and should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- I use this brand of spiced apple cider concentrate or boiled cider. This will have a much more intense, concentrated flavor than the homemade apple cider reduction used in today’s recipe. If using purchased boiled cider, you may want to decrease it by several tablespoons and increase the applesauce by the same amount, so that the flavor of the concentrate isn’t too strong.
Hey there Heather! Is it okay to make the batter the bught before, then pipe it into the donut pans the next morning,
Pat,
I haven’t tried doing that, but my guess is that it wouldn’t work well. I’m afraid you would risk the baking soda losing its leavening power if the batter sat all night, and that the doughnuts wouldn’t rise well. If you make the reduced cider the day before, though, that saves a lot of time, and it only takes a few minutes to whisk together the batter right before baking. I will often measure all my ingredients out the night before and have them ready to go, so that the next morning, all I have to do is combine it all and whisk together, and not have to think about what I’m doing.
I’ve done this numerous times with this recipe! (I make a half dozen one night and the next day I make the second half) no issues at all
Wanting to try this recipe. Instead of doughnut pans, do you think piping the dough into metal cookie cutter shapes on a baking sheet will bake effectively? Id like to shape the Doughnuts int o fall shapes if possible.
Daniel,
I think that would probably work. Baked doughnuts are very cake-like, so they should bake just fine inside a mold like a cookie cutter. Be sure to spray the insides of the cutters with non-stick baking spray, and fill them about halfway. You could also bake this batter in mini bundt pans with fall designs, or small silicone molds.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Heather! I like how this one included applesauce along with the reduced cider. I made mini muffins instead of donuts– quite tasty! I would just recommend, since the recipe already calls for 7 tablespoons of butter, why not finish off the stick by greasing whatever pan/tray/tin you’re using with it, instead of using a non-stick spray? It may even add a flavor benefit.
Hi Heather,
If we are using boiled cider instead of reduced cider, should we use less than 1/2 cup?
Thanks,
Laura
No, you should use 1/2 cup. The recipe says to reduce 1 1/2 cups cider down to 1/2 cup, or just use 1/2 cup boiled cider, which is already reduced.
Did I not cook these long enough? The bottom side looks great! But the top isn’t crunchy
Baked donuts are soft and cakey, because they’re essentially cake batter baked in a molded pan. The cinnamon sugar coating adds the crunchy finish.
Made this every year since 2020 – they are always a hit! This recipe always turns out great
This recipe turned out fantastic! The kids and I gobbled them up! Thank you so much!
About how long does it take to reduce the cider? And is there an easy way to tell that it’s close to 1/2 cup without pouring it out of the saucepan several times to measure?
It just depends on how fast you have it boiling. Unless you have a saucepan that has volume markings up the sides of the pan, then yes, you have to pour it into a liquid measuring cup to measure how much it’s reduced.