The best ever Pumpkin Apple Cider Baked Donuts - an apple cider infused pumpkin cake donut dipped in melted butter and yummy cinnamon sugar. They're easy to make and taste amazing! These are the best donuts to eat during the Fall season. So moist they melt in your mouth and they remind me of all of the fun Fall activities!
Bonus: These donuts can be made either gluten free or regular. See full recipe below.
If you are a fan favorite of these delicious donuts, try out my Cinnamon Spice Pumpkin Mini Muffins or Homemade Caramel Apple Donuts for a more apple flavor.
WHY I LOVE THESE BAKED PUMPKIN APPLE CIDER DONUTS
• I've always been a fan of cake-like donuts and these do not disappoint. Pumpkin Apple Cider Baked Donuts are tender on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside with the addition of a buttery cinnamon sugar topping.
• These Baked Apple Cider Donuts are the best to eat during the Fall season. So moist they melt in your mouth and they remind me of all of the fun Fall activities!
• One of the best Fall treats to bring to a Halloween party or Thanksgiving!
• Perfect paired with some hot apple cider or a cup of coffee.
• I love that you can make these soft donuts either gluten free or regular. Either way, it's a delicious treat. One of my favorite donut recipes!
What you need
INGREDIENT NOTES:
Flour: You can use either regular all purpose flour or all purpose gluten free flour. We used King Arthur’s gluten free all purpose flour for this recipe. If you do use regular flour, omit the xanthan gum.
Sugar: If you want a less sugary Baked Apple Cider donut, use coconut sugar (natural sweetener). However, if you are like me and don’t mind, using brown sugar is great too! If you don’t want to use white sugar for the cinnamon sugar coating, you can use the coconut sugar or brown sugar instead.
Wet Ingredients: Make sure your apple cider and large eggs are at room temperature. And that your butter is softened. For vanilla, you can use any vanilla extract from your local grocery store or you can use homemade vanilla.
Pumpkin pie spice: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own. Here's the recipe: To make 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, use 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon allspice and ½ teaspoon ground cloves.
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:
- The first step is to mix all your dry ingredients (all purpose gluten free flour (or regular all purpose flour), xanthan gum, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.) together in a medium sized bowl. Then in a separate large bowl add your large eggs, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. After combining, alternate your dry ingredients and your apple cider into your wet mixture.
- After you sprayed your donut pan with nonstick cooking spray, pour your batter into a large ziplock bag. Seal and cut a corner of the bag. Then pipe your batter into your greased pan.
- After the Baked Pumpkin Donuts are out of the oven and cooled, dip your delicious donut into the melted unsalted butter. Then you'll need a separate bowl of cinnamon sugar.
- After dipping it into the melted butter, then dip and coat the Apple Cider Donut with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve and enjoy!
EXPERT TIPS:
Room temperature tips: To make your eggs room temperature, in a bowl, run them under warm water. Make sure the water isn’t too hot, you don’t want to cook them! To soften butter, you can either put the butter in the microwave (still wrapped) and flip every 3 seconds (maximum 12-15 seconds max, you don’t want to turn it into liquid either!) until it is perfectly softened. Or you could fill a glass with hot water and after pouring the water out, place you glass over your butter for a minute or until softened.
Piping the batter: For the best results, do not skip this step. Using a large ziplock bag to pipe them into the donut pan makes them come out better and gives them a nice shape. You can also use a disposable piping bag if you don’t have a large ziplock bag. Using a ziplock bag makes it way less messy as well.
How to store leftover Apple Cider Donuts: Either store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or up to a week in a refrigerator.
Dairy free Baked Apple Cider Donuts: Substitute vegetable shortening for the butter or use dairy free butter.
Muffins: If you don’t have a donut pan, try turning these into pumpkin muffins instead by using a muffin pan! Or if you have extra batter use it to make one or two muffins or 6-8 mini muffins.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
• What type of pan do I need? I used the Wilton 6 Cavity Doughnut pan. You can order this from amazon or get it at your local Walmart, Joanns, or Kroger.
• Does the gluten free flour make them dry? No not at all, still makes them very moist. If you make them gluten free, you can’t even tell the difference from regular flour!
• What is coconut sugar? Coconut sugar is from the sap of the stem from the coconut palm. It is a natural sugar with no added sugar.
• Can I use stevia for this recipe? I would not recommend it. If you don’t want to use any refined white sugar in this recipe, I would use coconut sugar for the baking and the cinnamon sugar coating.
• What is the easiest way to pour my batter into the large ziplock bag? Put you ziplock bag into a large cup and open from the sides so you can easily pour or scoop your batter (with an ice cream scooper) into the bag.
Related Recipes
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Pumpkin Apple Cider Baked Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 2 cups gluten free flour we used King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum omit this if using all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup apple cider
- ½ cup canned pumpkin
For the cinnamon sugar topping
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Instructions
For the donuts
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease two donut pans (6 donuts per pan) with non-stick cooking spray or butter. Set aside.
- Place the first 5 dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter an sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Mix until combined. With mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and apple cider. Then turn mixer up to medium and beat for about 30 seconds.
- Pour batter into large ziptop bag or pastry bag, seal and cut off one of the corners. Pipe the batter into the prepared pans. You should have enough dough for about 10 donuts. Bake for 16-20 minutes. (Check them at 16 minutes.) Let cool.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium bowl. Set aside. Mix sugar and cinnamon together in another medium bowl. Dip cooled donuts in the butter, then the sugar mixture. They're ready to eat. Store leftover donuts (if you have any) in an airtight container for 2 days at room temperature or up to a week in the refrigerator.
Linda says
Can I leave out the pumpkin in the dough recipe?.
Lise Ode says
I have not tried it without the pumpkin so I would not recommend that.
Elle says
Very pleased with this recipe. I misread the amount of salt and added 3/4 teaspoon. I also used 240 grams or 2 C. of King Arthur AP flour. The donuts turned out great. Not too salty at all. So good, I didn’t bother with topping. I’ve never had much success with baked donuts as they usually end up like stodgy muffins. These on the other hand are light and fluffy. True cake donuts. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Lise Ode says
Hi Elle, I'm so glad you liked them! xo, Lise
Robin Chadwell says
The recipes are great if you can get past the ads. They are overwhelming.
Maria says
How would the nutritional facts (specifically calories) differ if we made these donuts without the gluten-free alternatives?
Lise Ode says
In general, gluten free flour has about the same amount of calories as regular flour.
Carri says
Am I meant to use the full GF flour mix you provide? Or measure 2cups of it?
Lise Ode says
Hi Carri,
You would measure the amount needed for this recipe. The GF flour mix recipe makes a bigger batch than you actually need for the donuts. You will have extra.