The tree colors are really starting to change here in Denver and I love it! Part of me will always love summer, but fall and then winter is nice too (for a week 😁). These baked apple cider donuts are warm, soft, and coated in a butter and cinnamon sugar sprinkle. Best enjoyed warm right after tossing in sugar. If these donuts donut have fall written all over them, I don’t know what does! Haha, get it…

Sometimes I feel like pumpkin can really take over fall desserts and no hate to it, I’m a huge pumpkin fan, but I want other goodies too. It’s been a while since I made my last donuts and these honestly might be the best yet, right next to my Old Fashioned Chai Spiced Donuts.

Donuts and ice cream are probably on the top of my dessert list, but some of the time I really just don’t want to fry or deal with oil. These baked apple cider donuts are tender, and still soft like a fried donut but with no grease.

This year I’m really in the fall mood and ready to make as many fall desserts as possible! This weeks focus is apple cider and pumpkin (coming soon). I’m a big a donut lover and once I tried these, it was hard to resist. Plus, I consider them healthier because they’re not fried in oil, but maybe I’m slightly crazy.

If you’re a donut lover, apple cider lover, cake or cupcake lover, these are for you! Trust me, if you can make a basic cupcake mix, these are just as easy.

on to the details

The best part of these donuts is hands down the warm apple cider flavor or apple cider cinnamon sugar. For this recipe, I decided to go with a powdered apple cider pack that you mix with water, but you could definitely buy fresh jarred apple cider or make some yourself.

Once you mix the apple cider, simmering it over the stove will concentrate the flavors and create more apple cider flavors. It does seem like an extra step, but a couple minutes of your time are worth the flavor!

The rest of the steps are easy as a cake mix. Whisk your butter, egg, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla extract, and milk together. Lastly, whisk in your apple cider to the wet ingredients. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter and evenly add the batter to your donut pans. If you don’t have a donut pan, you can bake them in a cupcake tin, similar to donut holes. Pour the batter in with a measuring cup or go the extra mile and pipe it in with a piping bag.

While the donuts bake, it will smell like you just walked into Williams-Sonoma. Warm and spicy scents that are better than any pumpkin spice candle.

sugar toss

After the soft donuts are baked, pop them out of the pan and dunk in some melted butter, then shake in the apple cider cinnamon sugar. I decided to boost the apple cider flavor by adding some extra apple cider powder to the cinnamon sugar.

Warm and sweet, with a little bit of tartness from the apple cider powder. Instead of a glaze, I went with cinnamon sugar, but a browned butter or spiced icing would be delish!

Reccomendation for the week- make your own apple cider, pick apples, or make 5 batches of donuts and indulge for days. I promise, they’re as good as they look!

takeaway tips

I decided to go with a little different format for today’s blog post, but if you’re here for the tips, look below!

• The donuts are best enjoyed the day of or the next morning.
• Store them in a sealed tupperware or plastic bag.
• Make sure to grease your donut pan before baking, otherwise the donuts will stick!
• Don’t bake too long, otherwise the donuts won’t be as soft and moist like they’re supposed to.
• Don’t let the donuts cool before adding the cinnamon sugar, oherwise it won’t stick.

If you made this amazing recipe, let me know below in the comments or on instagram @tuesday.treats. I love seeing your pictures and bakes!

Whether you’re team donut or doughnut, you definitely need to make these baked apple cider donuts. So warm, sweet sugary topping, and as easy as cake mix.