Baked Apple Cider Glazed Donuts
Soft, tender cake-style donuts packed with concentrated apple cider and cozy fall spices, finished with a smooth cider glaze. Baking them in a donut pan delivers all the classic apple cider donut flavor without frying or dealing with hot oil.
Equipment
- Standard 6-cavity or 12-cavity donut pan (or mini muffin tin)
- Small saucepan (for simmering the cider reduction)
- Large and medium mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Rubber spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Piping bag or zip-top bag
- Wire cooling rack
- Small bowl (for whisking glaze)
Ingredients
- Cider Reduction:
- 1 ½ cups fresh unfiltered apple cider (simmered down to ½ cup)
- Donut Batter:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted butter melted
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Milk or buttermilk / unsweetened plant milk
- Pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- Apple Cider Glaze:
- Powdered sugar
- Concentrated apple cider
- Pinch of ground cinnamon optional
- Optional Cinnamon-Sugar Alternative:
- Melted butter for brushing
- Granulated sugar and ground cinnamon for tossing
Instructions
- Reduce the Cider: Pour 1 ½ cups fresh apple cider into a small saucepan. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until reduced by two-thirds (yielding roughly ½ cup). Let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat & Whisk Dry Ingredients: Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease your donut pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, vanilla extract, egg, and cooled reduced cider until smooth.
- Mix the Batter: Gently stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until no dry flour streaks remain. Avoid overmixing to keep the crumb tender.
- Fill the Pan: Transfer batter into a piping bag (or zip-top bag with the corner cut) and pipe evenly into the pan cavities, filling each about ½ to ⅔ full.
- Bake & Cool: Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Glaze: Whisk powdered sugar with reserved reduced cider until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Dip or brush onto slightly warm donuts and allow the glaze to set.
Notes
Nutrition Facts:
- Calories: ~180–230 kcal per donut
- Carbohydrates: 25–35 g
- Protein: 3–5 g
- Fat: 7–10 g
- Fiber: 1–3 g (higher if using whole-wheat flour)