Baked Apple Cider Donuts (Soft, Cozy & Rolled in Cinnamon Sugar!)
If there’s one recipe that tastes like fall in every bite, it’s these baked apple cider donuts.
My daughter has been asking me to make apple cider donuts for weeks, so we finally rolled up our sleeves and tried them — and oh my goodness. These are dangerously good. They’re soft and cakey in the center, perfectly spiced, and coated in a crackly cinnamon-sugar shell that makes them impossible to eat just one.
The best part? No frying. No oil. No mess. Just mix, bake, dip, and devour.
Reducing the apple cider is the secret — it concentrates all that cozy fall flavor so the donuts actually taste like apple cider, not just cinnamon. After baking, we dunk them in melted butter mixed with more cider (yes, please) and roll them in cinnamon sugar. Fluffy donut meets churro coating. Heaven.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- ✅ Baked, not fried — no grease, no splatter, no hassle
- ✅ Ready in under 30 minutes
- ✅ Real apple cider flavor — no extracts or shortcuts
- ✅ Kid-approved & perfect for cozy mornings
- ✅ Make-ahead friendly — they’re still soft the next day!
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 2 cups apple cider
- 6 tbsp salted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 pinches ground nutmeg
- 2 pinches ground cloves
- 2 pinches salt (optional — I usually skip since the butter is salted)
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 6 tbsp salted butter, melted
- ~4 tbsp reserved reduced cider
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease your donut pans.
- Reduce the cider: Simmer (or microwave) 2 cups of apple cider until it reduces to 1 cup. Stir in 6 tbsp salted butter until melted. Let cool slightly and reserve 4 tbsp for the topping.
- Mix the wet ingredients: Whisk the remaining cider-butter mixture with sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Add the dry: In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to the wet and stir until just combined.
- Bake: Pipe or spoon into greased donut pans and bake 9–11 minutes, or until set and springy.
- Coat: Dip warm donuts in the butter + cider mixture, then roll in cinnamon sugar. Fully coat for maximum goodness!
Tips & Variations
- Want even more cider flavor? Add 1 tbsp of cider to your cinnamon sugar mixture before rolling.
- No donut pan? Use a mini muffin pan and make apple cider donut holes!
- Make ahead: These stay soft for 1–2 days in a covered container. Reheat in the microwave for 8 seconds to revive that fresh-baked taste.
Apple Cider Donuts = Fall Happiness 🍁
I’m officially declaring this our new fall tradition. Whether you make them for Saturday mornings, Thanksgiving brunch, or just because the house needs to smell like cinnamon — you have to try these at least once.
Let me know if you make them — I love seeing photos!
Baked Apple Cider Donuts (Soft, Cozy & Rolled in Cinnamon Sugar!)
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease donut pans.
- Reduce the cider: Simmer or microwave 2 cups of apple cider until reduced to 1 cup. Stir in 6 tbsp salted butter until melted. Let cool slightly. Reserve 4 tbsp for topping.
- Mix wet ingredients: Whisk remaining cider/butter mixture with sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Combine dry ingredients: In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Bake 9–11 minutes until set.
- Coat: Dip warm donuts in the melted butter + reserved cider, then roll in cinnamon sugar until fully covered.
