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Welcoming the weekend with Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze. Made with boiled-down spiced cider, apple butter, and cinnamon. Then baked and dipped in a sweet brown butter glaze flavored with coffee and cinnamon. There’s really nothing not to love about these cute (and sweet) autumn spiced doughnuts. The true secret? Boiling the apple cider down to really concentrate its flavor. The perfect way to celebrate the autumn apple season!
The first apple recipe of the season and I could not be more excited. Every fall I’m so excited, but this year even more so than ever before. I think it’s because the world is in what feels like a very unsettled place, turning on any news source usually leaves you feeling frustrated.
Because of this, I am really embracing the things I love the most. I’m focusing on all the good that the world does have to offer. My goal this fall is to really go all out. I’m 100% grabbing more pumpkins than I need, making pumpkin spice lattes, and come October 1 – decorating for Halloween. I’m already plotting out my “spooky” desserts and cocktails for October.
Embracing all the good things and leaving the rest behind, you know?
And today that means we’re focusing on September apples and making some of the best baked doughnuts.
The Inspiration
Do any of you remember last year’s cinnamon spiced apple fritters? Well, those were the initial inspo for this recipe. I just loved those so much, especially the vanilla coffee glaze. I planned to remake them at least once this month, but the frying part really gets me. It’s just messy and not my favorite task.
That got me thinking about new recipes I could make that highlighted the same flavors but didn’t involve any frying.
And that’s where these baked doughnuts come in. They’re a cross between a really delicious apple cider doughnut and a sweet apple fritter. Totally delicious in every way possible.
On to the details – start with the doughnuts
If you love a classic apple cider doughnut, these are for you. If you can make a basic cupcake or muffin, you can certainly make these. There’s nothing fancy about them.
The key to these doughnuts? It’s all in the cider. I recommend finding the best spiced cider with no added sugars. If you can, pick up some fresh apple cider from your local farmers’ market. Or even better, go apple picking and pick some up! Nothing quite beats a really good apple cider. It’s always so flavorful this time of year.
To help intensify the apple cider flavor throughout the doughnuts, I decided to boil down the cider on the stove until reduced. Boiling the cider will concentrate the flavors and make the cider that much more flavorful. It’s an extra step, but one that I think is worth it.
Once you’ve boiled the cider, the rest is quick. Just mix the cider with apple butter, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, plus dark brown sugar. Then add in all the dry ingredients and stir in a chopped Honeycrisp apple. Adding the apple makes them kind of like apple fritter doughnuts.
Divide the batter between doughnut pans (or just a cupcake pan). As the doughnuts bake, the kitchen will start to smell like your favorite autumn candle, it’s perfection.
Make the glaze
I took inspiration from my Cinnamon Spiced Sugar Cookies and apple fritters, and decided on a buttery maple glaze with cinnamon and a touch of coffee throughout. It’s just some browned butter, maple, powdered sugar, instant coffee, and cinnamon.
Not too strong, not too sweet, but just right. Especially when spread on top of a warm doughnut.
Delicious!
And with that, here’s my recommendation for the coming weekend…apple picking and doughnut baking – of course!
And if not this weekend, sometime soon. I promise you guys, these doughnuts are so good and such a great fall treat.
Looking for September apple recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Salted Maple Apple Tarte Tatin with Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds
Cinnamon Spiced Apple Fritters with Vanilla Coffee Glaze
Lastly, if you make these Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Servings: 14 doughnuts
Calories Per Serving: 251 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup apple butter
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 honeycrisp apple, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar
Brown Butter Cinnamon Maple Glaze
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 3/4-1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 6-cup doughnut pan or 12-cup muffin pan with melted butter2. Bring the apple cider to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer 10-15 minutes or until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove from the heat. Let cool.3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together 1/2 cup boiled cider, melted butter, eggs, apple butter, vanilla, and brown sugar until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt, mix until just combined. Toss the apples with the cinnamon sugar mix, then stir the apples into the batter.4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pan, filling 1/2-2/3 the way full. Bake 12-13 minutes, until just set. Remove and let cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to release and invert the pan. 5. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add the butter to a small pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown slightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup, powdered sugar, instant coffee, and cinnamon. Dip or drizzle the doughnuts into the glaze. Highly recommend eating a few of these warm.
Just made these in muffin form. Only alteration I made was chopping a gala apple instead of honeycrisp. Baked for 19-20 minutes. Delicious!
Hey Meagan! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Weekend 🙂 xTieghan
Just made these. So very delicious! I reduced the flour by 1/4 c., omitted apple butter (didn’t have any on hand) and added 1/2 c. sourdough discard. I had to bake them a few minutes longer in my silicon donut pans for them to firm up nice and they turned out great. Moist and delicious. That glaze….is magic. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
Hi there! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I hope you enjoyed it! 🙂 xTieghan
How do you make donut rings if using a muffin tin? Thanks 🙂
That’s my question too! Lol
I believe she meant we could use a muffin pan to make them as muffins instead of donuts. I’m trying it tomorrow!
Yes, that’s correct! Hope you love them 🙂 xTieghan
I made these for a friend using KAF gluten free measure for measure flour. Wonderful! The glaze… Oh my! Made 12 using donut ring pans. Cooked 10 minutes. Perfect! Wish I could post a photo.
I made these per the recipe with the exception of using a muffin pan instead of a donut pan. They were so dry that I threw most of them away and only ate the glazed tops of the rest. The glazed is fantastic so I’ll look to use it with another apple donut/muffin recipe.
Hello. How would you store these after making and how long do you think they will keep for?
Cant wait to try these!
These sound amazing. How would you store these after making and how long do you think they will keep for?
Cant wait to try these!
Hi there! I would store them in the fridge as a few people have said they got soggy just on the counter! xTieghan
Made this recipe today and the doughnuts turned out great! They were delicious!
I tried to make these as donuts without a donut pan using a hack I found where you put tin foil in the middle of giant muffin tins. It didn’t nooot work haha but I think it’s best to get donut pans or muffin tins.
They were delicious anyway! I also used toffee flavoured instant coffee and that added a delicious extra element too. Another winner from Half Baked Harvest!
One more thing – I didn’t have applesauce, so I used buttermilk instead and they still tasted great.
I made them! they are amazing!!!!!
didn’t have apple butter so I used apple sauce,
I doubled the batch and had apple cider left over, which I really wanted to use in the glaze! but I did not 😉
Hi there! So sorry they didn’t work out the way you planned but so glad that it was still yummy! xTieghan
Hello! I am confused by step 3. It says to mix all of the ingredients for the batter, but then to toss the apples in cinnamon sugar before adding it to the mixed batter. Can you please clarify? Thanks!
Whoops! I now see that the additional sugar is at the bottom of the recipe, and not included in the cinnamon/brown sugar in the batter! Got it!
Hi Tieghan!
Two questions, can these be made as muffins instead? Would that change anything with cooking time?
And second question, can espresso be used in place of instant coffee??
Looking forward to trying these!!
Hi there! You could definitely make these as muffins! I would bake for 20 mins and keep an eye on them! I haven’t ever tried the recipe with espresso so I am not sure, but if you just use a bit it should be just fine! xTieghan
Made muffins instead. I used applesauce instead of apple butter and instant espresso instead of coffee. Turned out great!! I was worried they would be super sweet with the glaze, but the added coffee really helps balance out all the sugar. Will definitely make again!
Thanks so much for trying out this recipe! Sounds like it turned out delish! 🙂 xTieghan
Haha! Just posted about those two changes you made and didn’t see your post until now! Glad they still turned out great!!
Absolutely phenomenal! Cant wait for my co workers to try these in the morning. My glaze came out darker but still tastes amazing.
Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. xTieghan
Hey:) I would love to bake this, unfortunately I don’t have Access to Apple Butter- what would you recommend as a substitute ?
Love from Germany!
I used applesauce as a substitute and it came out great
I finally got around to making these and they are the perfect fall treat! This was my first attempt at making donuts and I was so happy with how they turned out. Cannot wait to make these again. 🙂
These are absolutely delicious!! I made them with Bobs Redmill GF Flour and it worked perfectly. They are soooo good. Thank you for the perfect fall recipe.
Hi there! So glad you were able to adapt them to be GF free and they were still yummy! Have a great day. xTieghan
Paige which Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free Flour did you use?
1:1 baking flour (blue package) works the best and tastes the best! I wouldn’t get the red packaged bobs red mill
Holy moly!!! These are the best donuts I’ve ever had!! Followed the recipe exactly except used gluten free flour. These are PHENOMENAL!!!
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and it worked well with gluten free flour! Have a great day xTieghan
I baked 12 at once and took it out once set but it was under cooked. Any tips.
Bake it longer