One of my favorite things about fall is apple picking and eating warm apple cider donuts. Yesterday, the kids were all saying how they wished there was an orchard closer to us where we could get ourselves some cider donuts.
Since we live downtown we initially thought we were out of luck until we ran into Michaels to pick up some art supplies and we spotted a Donut Pan! A quick search on Pinterest pulled up hundreds of drool-worthy recipes.
We eliminated recipes based on time and amount of work, like the ones that required frying (too messy) and ones that called for peeled & grated apples (way too much work). We landed on this super easy recipe from Spoonful of Flavor that promised warm donuts in under 20 minutes. I can’t believe how easy they are to make, and it only requires one bowl. Sold!
The kids and I whipped up a batch and sat down for a cozy afternoon snack. We finished the whole dozen!! They begged me to make more for their breakfast this morning. I put the batter in the fridge last night and all I had to do was pop them in the oven for 10 minutes while they were getting dressed. When the donuts are done you just brush them with butter and dip them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Ingredients
Donuts:
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
½ cup apple cider
¼ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. butter, melted
Cinnamon-Sugar topping:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray donut pan with cooking spray.
To make the donuts, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. Add cider, milk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Mix until well blended.
Fill each donut cup about ¾ full (I used a large Ziploc bag with the corner snipped to do it neatly.) Bake for 10 minutes until donuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.
To make the cinnamon-sugar topping, mix together sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl until well combined. Brush each donut with melted butter then toss in cinnamon-sugar mixture until evenly coated.
