Baked Apple Cider Donuts. These Cider donuts have amazing spiced flavor with concentrated cider. Perfect for fall. Vegan Soyfree Recipe. Nutfree Refined Sugar-Free Oilfree Glutenfree option Jump to Recipe
These Apple Cider Donuts are perfect for fall or any time of the year for that matter. The key to all the fall flavor is reducing the cider! Apple Cider gets cooked for a bit to concentrate all that amazing flavor of apples and spices. Concentrated cider, flour, more spices all baked into a flavorful spiced donut! Toss in cinnamon sugar or drizzle icing of choice. These will be a hit with everyone. 15 mins of Active time, no refined sugar!
The donut batter does not use yeast, so it can also be baked into regular size muffins or mini muffins as well. Add some finely chopped apples to the batter, top with a streusel and they are ready for to go breakfast. Lets make these!
More Donuts and Muffins
- Pumpkin Donuts – yeasted
- Spiced Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Cinnamon sugar SF
- Gluten-free Lemon Donuts
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Classic Donuts.
- Banana Bread Donuts
The batter also makes fantastic muffins. The concentrated cider adds a ton more flavor than regular cider. It also makes the donuts slightly dense, which means even more packed flavor!
Baked Apple Cider Donuts Vegan
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups (354 ml) apple cider
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar (coconut sugar, date sugar, regular or use maple syrup), 1/3 cup for sweeter
- 1 cup (125 g) flour (I use a mix of 1/4 cup whole wheat and 3/4 cup all purpose), see note for gluten-free
- 1 tbsp almond flour , or use more flour
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) cardamom or nutmeg
- dash of black pepper
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) baking soda
- 1 tbsp oil or applesauce (or both for extra moisture when using whole grain flours)
Cinnamon sugar topping:
- 1 tbsp cane sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F(180 C). Grease a donut pan or line muffin pan. Cook the cider and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat for 20 to 25 mins to reduce to a scant 1 cup. Cool the cider to room temp. (cooling will reduce the cider further to about 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
- In a bowl, mix the rest the dry ingredients. Add the concentrated cider and oil/applesauce. Mix well to combine. If the batter is too thick, mix in non dairy milk 1 tbsp at a time until it is just a bit flowy to be able to spoon it in. If the batter is too thin, add in 1-2 tbsp flour
- Immediately spoon the batter into the donut pan or muffin pan. Even out the batter for even shape for donuts.
- Bake for 11-12 mins for donuts or mini muffins, 20-22 mins for regular muffins. Cool for 5 mins, then release from the pan.
- Mix the cinnamon sugar into a ziplock.(or add to a shallow bowl)
- Cool the donuts for another 5 mins. Brush donuts with the non dairy milk or cider, or use oil/melted vegan butter. Add to the ziplock and shake, or dip in the sugar mixture.
Zuzana says
November 3, 2018 at 2:07 amHello Richa, this looks absolutely fabulous, but I cannot get apple cider in my country. Can I use apple juice instead? Ir anything else?
Richa says
November 3, 2018 at 11:54 amYes use apple juice. Cook it to concentrate similarly. Cider generally has spices added, so just add a bit more of the spices listed to the flour
Trish says
November 3, 2018 at 9:24 amCan these be made using all whole wheat pastry flour or is it best to use a mix?
Richa says
November 3, 2018 at 11:54 amFor baking its best to use a mix as they will get a bit too dense with the limited fat and sugar. You can use a mix of spelt flour and wheat flour. Spelt is whole grain but bakes up lighter than wheat. You can use an icing to help keep them more moist.
Joanne says
November 3, 2018 at 5:57 pmHow many doughnuts does this make?
Richa says
November 3, 2018 at 8:21 pm6
Kathleen says
November 3, 2018 at 7:07 pmMade this tonight as mini muffins and they didn’t last long! Loved the dense texture and bright fresh apple cider tartness. Excellent, easy recipe thanks!
Richa says
November 3, 2018 at 8:19 pmawesome!
lisa says
November 3, 2018 at 9:37 pmhow is the texture of these different from cupcakes?
Richa says
November 4, 2018 at 10:01 amthese are denser. You can use use the batter for cupcakes if you add 2 to 3 tbsp oil for a softer crumb.
Yogitha says
November 3, 2018 at 11:54 pmReally amazing recipe… My mom just loved it… And I love all of your cooking ideas… Keep sharing and lao support me
Teri says
November 5, 2018 at 1:23 pmIs that 1 1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar?
Richa says
November 5, 2018 at 1:36 pmno just cider. vinegar would be insanely vinegary 🙂 .
You an also use just apple juice. You can buy cider from the store or make your own, use sweetener or not , eg https://divascancook.com/easy-homemade-apple-cider-recipe/
Carol says
November 5, 2018 at 4:06 pmHi Richa. Made these today and they’re delicious! Just a couple questions. Should it be TBS instead of tsps of cider reduction to reserve for brushing the finished donuts? I forgot to do that, so I mixed some cider and maple syrup to brush them with. Used way more than 2 tsps.
Also, my batter wasn’t pourable at all, but it looked the same consistency as yours. I doubled the recipe so maybe that’s why? I spooned the batter into the donut pans and it worked ok. Just not as pretty as yours. I was tempted to pipe the batter in but wasn’t sure if it would wreck the batter.
Thanks. Great recipe. I’ll be making it again. I’ll try the gf version with some cream cheese frosting, I think.
Richa says
November 5, 2018 at 4:12 pmawesome! yes the batter can thicken as flours absorb moisture differently.
I used less than a tbsp of the cider mix to brush as i was brushing very lightly. thats a great idea to to just use cider + maple as much as you like later!
I also used a spoon as I dont have the patience to pipe :). Once you put the batter in, you can use a fresh spoon, lightly coat it in oil and use that to oven out the top. or a small spatula. Even the thicker batter should even out.
When doubling in baking, you often will need slightly less than double the flour/dry. So start with 1.75 times the flour and see if the batter needs any more and then add more. My batter looks thick but its pretty fluffy inside with the baking powder starting to react already.
Carol says
November 5, 2018 at 5:50 pmThanks. I thought it was cool that the batter was fluffing up so fast. I was afraid of “deflating” it with my slow pan filling skills! I’m a pretty good cook, but baking is another story. They still came out great
Sue says
November 8, 2018 at 6:15 amRicha, these are delicious as muffins. I’m wondering if next time (yes, there will definitely be a next time), if I can put the topping on before baking the muffins. They smell and taste so good. Thanks for another winning recipe!!!
Richa says
November 8, 2018 at 9:55 amyes you can put cinnamon sugar on before baking just like my cinnamon swirl cake
Rita says
November 11, 2018 at 5:55 amWonderful tasty recipe! I love that it is lower in oil. It only yielded 5 donuts for us. We skipped dusting it with sugar or cinnamon and it still tasted perfect. Didn’t read the recipe closely enough the night before so the time required to reduce the cider caught us off guard while we were still foggy from waking up. The prep or cook time should take the reduction time into account. Will definitely make this again, probably reducing the cider the night before so we can have fresh warm donuts for breakfast. Another winning recipe from Richa!
Richa says
November 11, 2018 at 10:48 amawesome! yes, i thought i noted it, but must have forgotten. added it to the times.
haya says
November 12, 2018 at 8:21 amVery delicious of the most successful recipes I have made Thank you I have baked a cupcake
Natalie says
November 13, 2018 at 9:52 pmThese donuts look so delicious! So unique and perfect for this season!
Sue says
December 3, 2018 at 8:13 amDelicious 😋
They did not last!
Thank you for helping me learn healthier ways of cooking
Richa says
December 3, 2018 at 10:21 amyay!
Leemor says
July 29, 2019 at 8:02 pmThese turned out great!
Obsessed with all your recipes. Haven’t been disappointed by any yet.
Richa says
July 30, 2019 at 3:13 pm❤️❤️
Nic says
August 29, 2019 at 7:48 amDelicious donuts! Thank you for the great recipe. I have tried my fair share of baked vegan donuts recipes and they have never gone over well. But my family loved these. We ate them all last night right away! I had to make more this morning.
Richa says
August 29, 2019 at 10:35 amawesome!
Amy D says
September 22, 2019 at 8:54 amThank you so much for this recipe, my husband called at least 8 apple places near us asking if they had vegan apple cider donuts and they sadly ALL had dairy and eggs.
So I searched for a recipe like this one! Delicious!!
I followed the recipe exact using all purpose flour and oil but it only yielded 4 donuts and the batter was very thick. Any suggestions for next time?
Thanks in advance, awesome website!!!
Richa says
September 22, 2019 at 1:26 pmthe cider may have thickened and reduced more. You can add in some non dairy milk a tbsp at a time to make it less thick (like a slightly thick pancake batter consistncy), and then drop into the donut pan and bake.What flour did you use?/ the flour may have absorbed more moisture as well.
Jessica says
September 24, 2019 at 1:26 amHi Richa! Looks absolutely delicious but I can feel my blood sugar rising just reading about it! I will try it with half the amount of coconut sugar.
Concetta says
September 24, 2019 at 5:46 amThese look delicious! I was thinking of adding some grated apple. Would I need to change any other amounts to do this?
Richa says
September 24, 2019 at 9:58 amadd about a half cup grated apple and if the batter is not thick, then add a few tbsp more flour.
Tiffany Tisdale says
September 24, 2019 at 2:55 pmI just made them and they barely filled up three donut holes?? Wondering if I did something wrong or if it’s supposed to make only 3 donuts??
Richa says
September 29, 2019 at 2:16 pmI usually get 6 or 5 if i fill the pan a bit more per donut. I think the cider might have reduced too much (was the batter too thick? ) or maybe the donut pan. Even with the regular size donuts, i’ve noticed that some pans have deeper holes than others, which may affect the amount of batter needed.
Kelly says
October 19, 2019 at 11:26 amHello I would love to make these but I was wondering if you think I could use oat flour.. I can’t have almond flour so if you would know how to make these gluten free hopefully using oat flour that would be amazing… thank you so much!!
Richa says
October 19, 2019 at 12:12 pmYou can use a mix of oat flour and starch.Oat flour tends to dry out on baking, so add a generous icing (sugar and non dairy milk and dip or drizzle all over)
Kelly says
October 19, 2019 at 1:32 pmThank you so much….i will dip them in apple cider…. Can’t wait to make them🍎❤️
Brittany says
October 25, 2019 at 12:46 pmAre these supposed to be very dense and almost gummy inside or did I mess up? They’re a very different texture than most dairy/egg free baked goods.
Richa says
October 25, 2019 at 2:34 pmno they should be cakey like donuts. What flour did you use?
Sapna says
November 7, 2019 at 10:31 amDo you think using 1:1 Gluten free flour will work okay?
Richa says
November 9, 2019 at 9:33 pmit usually doesnt work for me.
Sapna says
November 10, 2019 at 10:50 amThank you so much! I made these as the recipe suggested and they were a hit! Thank you for your amazing recipes.
Richa says
November 10, 2019 at 12:22 pmyay!
Kristen says
November 23, 2019 at 5:41 amHi! I want to make these gluten free but I I can’t find rice flour, what brand and which one would you recommend or could I just omit and use all almond flour? I also found a flour with white and brown rice and the potato starch in it would that work too? Also I have a mini donut try how long would you think is a good time for that tray?
Richa says
November 23, 2019 at 12:35 pmYes use all almond flour or use the blend to sub the rice flour. For mini donuts, check at 7-8 mins
Valerie Scrafford says
November 28, 2019 at 7:16 amExcellent! Yum!!!
Richa says
November 28, 2019 at 10:30 amThanks!
diane says
November 28, 2019 at 2:09 pmDo you store these in the fridge or on the counter?
Richa says
November 28, 2019 at 5:15 pmon the counter for the day, refrigerate for longer
Adi says
January 12, 2020 at 6:55 amReally good!
Mariela says
January 25, 2020 at 7:54 pmThese are so good and it’s easy to make. Had to make a new batch the following day…
Richa says
January 26, 2020 at 11:27 amyay!
Karla Schlosser says
July 20, 2020 at 6:20 amApple cider is obtained by the fermentation of apple cider or apple must which is made from crushed organic apples. Just for your information, fermentation means an act of conversion. Organic apples have some kind of bacteria and yeast on their skins. So when they are crushed, you get pure apple juice with a mixture of bacteria and yeast.