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Baked apple cider donuts are the first thing I make the second the mornings turn cool. They’re soft, they’re spiced, and they get brushed in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon cardamom sugar while they’re still warm. No hot oil, no thermometer, no standing over a pot. Just a donut pan and about an hour.
If you love a baked donut, you’ll also want to try my baked pumpkin donuts, banana donuts, the blueberry donuts my kids ask for on repeat, and my red velvet donuts for something a little more festive. And if it’s officially fall at your house, my whole collection of apple recipes and fall desserts is right this way.
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What Makes These Baked Apple Cider Donuts So Good
I’ve made a lot of cider donuts. What makes this one mine is the cardamom and the orange zest. Cardamom is warm and a little floral, orange zest wakes everything up, and together they taste like the donut you got at the orchard except better. Most recipes stop at cinnamon and nutmeg. This one doesn’t.
- No reducing the cider. Most recipes make you simmer cider down for twenty minutes first. Mine skips it.
- Baked, not fried. No oil, no mess, no thermometer.
- Soft and moist, thanks to buttermilk and real butter.
- Under an hour from start to first bite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Made your donuts today and they came out amazing! My family enjoyed it and wanted me to make another batch again. Thank you for the lovely recipe.”
— Natasha
Baked Apple Cider Donuts Ingredients
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
All-Purpose Flour – I use King Arthur. Spoon it into the cup and level it off so you don’t pack in too much.
Baking Powder – This is what gives the donuts their lift. Baking powder, not baking soda. They’re not interchangeable here.
Salt – A full teaspoon. It sounds like a lot next to all that sugar, and that’s exactly the point.
Cinnamon and Nutmeg – The base of the warm spice flavor in the batter.
Brown Sugar – Brings a little molasses depth.
Granulated Sugar – Sweetens the batter, and does the work in the dipping sugar too.
Orange Zest – One tablespoon, and please don’t skip it. It’s subtle and it makes the whole thing taste brighter.
Apple Cider – Use real apple cider, the cloudy kind, not apple juice. There’s no need to reduce it. If you’re near an orchard this fall, grab the fresh pressed stuff. Any left over goes straight into my apple cider slushie.
Buttermilk – Just a quarter cup, and it’s what keeps these so tender.
Vanilla Extract – Pure, always.
Unsalted Butter – Room temperature for the batter, melted for the dip.
Eggs – Two large, room temperature.
Ground Cardamom – This goes in the dipping sugar, not the batter. It’s the ingredient that separates these from every other cider donut, so please don’t leave it out.
How to Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat and prep. Heat the oven to 350°F and butter your donut pan well.
- Combine the wet. Stir the buttermilk, apple cider, and vanilla together in a measuring cup.
- Whisk the dry. Flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and orange zest in a bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugars with the paddle attachment until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each.
- Alternate. With the mixer on low, add the wet and dry mixtures in alternating additions until just combined. Scrape the bowl.
- Pipe. Spoon half the batter into a piping bag or a zip-top bag, snip about a half inch off the corner, and pipe into the pan. Fill each well about two thirds.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Check at 15. They’re done when they spring back.
- Butter, then sugar. Brush both sides with melted butter while they’re warm, then dip in the cinnamon cardamom sugar.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts Without Reducing the Cider
Almost every cider donut recipe online tells you to simmer your cider down to a syrup first. It does concentrate the flavor. It also adds twenty-five minutes and a pot to wash, and it’s the step that makes people close the tab.
I built this recipe to work without it. The cider goes in as is, and the flavor comes from a full cup of it plus buttermilk, brown sugar, and that cardamom orange sugar on the outside. These taste like fall.
That said, if you want a deeper, more concentrated apple flavor and you don’t mind the extra step, simmer 2 cups of cider down to 1 cup, let it cool completely, and use that. Same measurement, bigger punch. Both ways work. I just don’t think you need to.
Eden’s Tips
Butter the pan properly. Actual soft butter and a pastry brush, into every groove. Spray works, but butter works better and these release cleanly every time.
Don’t fill past two thirds. Overfilled wells bake over the center hole and you lose the donut shape.
Dip them warm. The butter soaks in and the sugar clings. Cold donuts don’t hold the coating nearly as well.
Do them one at a time. Butter one, sugar it, move on. If you butter the whole batch first, the butter absorbs and the sugar slides off.
Make the batter the night before. Cover it and refrigerate. Fresh donuts before anyone’s fully awake, which is my favorite kind of brunch trick.
Serve them warm with something good. Coffee is the obvious one. But an apple cider Moscow mule or an apple cider spritz turns a plate of donuts into an actual fall party.
How to Store Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Room temperature: Airtight container for 1 to 2 days. Out of direct sun.
Refrigerator: Up to 5 days, sealed tight. Ten seconds in the microwave brings them right back.
Freezer: Wrap in plastic, then into an airtight container for up to 2 months. Freeze them already coated. Thaw overnight or warm them straight from frozen.
Baked Apple Cider Donuts FAQs
A donut pan is the easiest way, and I’d get one; they’re inexpensive, and you’ll use it constantly. But you have options. Fill a greased 12-cup muffin tin two-thirds full and bake at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes. Or use a mini muffin tin and bake for about 8 minutes.
In a pinch, yes, but use unsweetened. Sweetened apple juice throws the whole thing off. If sweetened is all you have, pull back the granulated sugar in the batter a little. Real cider is cloudier, tarter, and tastes like actual apples, so it’s worth seeking out.
Usually too much flour or too long in the oven. Spoon and level your flour instead of scooping, and start checking at 15 minutes.
A 1:1 gluten free baking blend works well here. The texture is a touch more delicate, so let them cool a full two minutes in the pan before turning them out.
Absolutely. Whisk a cup of powdered sugar with two or three tablespoons of apple cider and dip the tops. You lose the cinnamon sugar crunch but you gain a pretty finish.
Lime zest or lemon zest both work. Orange is my favorite with cardamom, but use what you have.
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Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Equipment
- 1 Donut Pan
- 1 Piping Bag
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Pastry Brush
Ingredients
Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
Dipping
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a donut pan well, getting into every groove.
- In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, apple cider, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and orange zest.
- In a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars until light and combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Spoon half the batter into a piping bag, or a zip-top bag with about 1/2 inch snipped off the corner. Pipe into the prepared pan, filling each well about two thirds full.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, checking at 15. The donuts are done when they spring back to the touch.
- Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom in a shallow bowl. Melt the butter in another.
- While the donuts are still warm, brush the top and bottom of one donut with melted butter, then dip both sides in the cinnamon cardamom sugar. Repeat one at a time with the rest.
- Then, dip both sides in the sugar and spice mixture.
Notes
- Please don’t leave out the cardamom in the dipping sugar. It’s what makes these different from every other cider donut recipe.
- Dip the donuts one at a time. If you butter the whole batch first, the butter soaks in, and the sugar won’t stick.
- No donut pan? Use a greased 12-cup muffin tin, filled two-thirds, at 350°F for 15 to 18 minutes. For donut holes, use a mini muffin tin and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Want a stronger apple flavor? Simmer 2 cups of apple cider down to 1 cup, cool completely, and use that in place of the unreduced cider.
- Apple juice works in a pinch, but use unsweetened. If yours is sweetened, reduce the granulated sugar in the batter slightly.
- Make the batter the night before and refrigerate for fresh donuts in the morning.
- To freeze, coat the donuts first, then wrap in plastic and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- More apple recipes and fall desserts here.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sounds delicious, but I am a little confused about the 10 hours and 21 minutes the recipe card says will be the total time. Am I missing something?
Yes! That was a typo in the card, it’s fixed now. Thank you!
I just made these and they are so delicious! I love how all of the flavours come through. They’re so light and moist. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
So glad you loved them, Stephanie!
I made these and had so many compliments on them. I found them so yummy. I however didn’t use the cardamom and I still tasted the apple cider.
That is so wonderful Tammy! I am so glad you loved them!
Instruction Number 2 has the cinnamon and nutmeg left off.
Fixed, thank you!
How long should I bake them for if I’m using a mini donut tray? Thanks!
I would cut the time in half and then see if they need more.
Hi! I love any recipe with cardomom in it. Can’t wait to try your recipe but I was wondering if can be cut in half?
This recipe looks delicious. Id using sweetened apple juice, how much would the sugar get reduced? Thanks!
Hi Cathy! For this recipe, we don’t reduce the apple cider.
In the recipe notes it says: “If sweetened apple juice is all you have, reduce how much sugar you add to the mixture.” I’d be using apple juice, not cider, and would like to know how much the sugar would be reduced. Thanks.
Hi! If the apple cider is pure, no sugar added (only sweetened from the apples) then you don’t need to adjust. If there is added sugar (there usually is not) then you can leave out 1/4 cup sugar. We have not tested that though. We use Martinelli’s Apple Cider in this recipe and there is no added sugar. It works great.
Made your donuts today and they came out amazing! My family enjoyed it and wanted me to make another batch again. Thank you for the lovely recipe.
The best fall flavors! I would love one of these with my morning coffee!! SO GOOD!
All the flavors that remind me of fall!! We eat donuts all fall/winter long & these are at the top! Soft & sweet!