Description
These Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts are lighter than your typical fried donuts and infused with tons of fresh apple cider and applesauce perfect for fall. They’re soft, fluffy, and complete with an irresistible cinnamon sugar coating. All you need is a few simple baking ingredients!
Ingredients
Batter
- 1 cup apple cider, reduced to ½ cup
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (105g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup melted vegan butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Coating
- ¼ cup melted vegan butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Donut pan
- Large bowls (2)
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Piping bag
- Wire cooling rack
- Shallow bowl
- Pastry brush
Instructions
- Reduce the apple cider. Add the apple cider to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 10-15 minutes.
- Measure out 1/2 cup of reduced cider. If you happen to have less than 1/2 cup, make up the difference with fresh cider. Set aside.
- Preheat and prep. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray or grease with vegetable oil.
- Combine the wet ingredients. To a large bowl, add the reduced apple cider, sugars, non-dairy milk, melted butter, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Whisk together until well combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Make the donut batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Pipe the batter into the donut pan. Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe it into each donut mold, filling each about 3/4 full. This recipe will make 10-12 donuts. Tap the donut pan on the counter to even everything out.
- Bake and cool. Place the donut pan in the oven and bake for 13-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the donuts comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs. Let the baked donuts cool in the donut pan for 10 minutes before carefully removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool for another 10 minutes.
- Make the cinnamon sugar coating. While the donuts cool, melt the remaining vegan butter and combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
- Coat the donuts. Brush each donut with the melted vegan butter on both sides, then coat in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat for all the donuts.
- Enjoy! Allow the donuts to sit for at least 10 more minutes to help the cinnamon sugar coating stick, then enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: These are best enjoyed fresh, but leftovers will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Refrigeration will make these donuts very, very dense.
- Piping bag: If you do not own a pastry bag or piping bag, you can transfer the batter to a large ziplock bag. Then snip off one of the corners and carefully pipe it into the donut molds.
- Spices: We used a blend of cinnamon, ground ginger, and nutmeg, but you can replace this with 1 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, if desired.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven