Apple Cider Doughnuts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes apple cider donuts different? ›

For starters, the TEXTURE. They're so soft and pillowy but remain really moist and tender. This is due to the fact that these donuts are made with oil instead of butter. Apple sauce is also added to further that moist texture.

It is not “wrapped in a blanket of seasonal deception,” as Crowley says, as if it were something like eggnog. While it could be a good doughnut anytime, the apple cider doughnut is humble — it's simply a good doughnut for now.

From doughnut shops to orchards, family homes to cornfield mazes, apple cider doughnuts became a tradition in the Midwest and East Coast – even finding their way into other stretches of the country and larger current chains like Dunkin Donuts.

CIDER DONUTS have become nearly as synonymous with a New England fall as apples and foliage. Every orchard's cider donuts are different, and every orchard's are the best, according to its devotees, who are often passionate on the subject. Like apples and the orchards that make them, no two cider donuts are alike.

There's something almost magical about being at an orchard or fall fair (or even your favorite doughnut shop) and taking that first bite of an apple cider doughnut. A good one is tender yet cakey, has a delicate crust, and is lightly spiced, with an apple-y tang. And it's best eaten warm.

Cider donuts originated with the American colonialists. With fall as the butchering season, there was a surplus of leftover fat from the animals. To use it up, colonial cooks would mix the seasonal apples with fry dough, and eventually, cider donuts became a homespun Halloween treat.

Apple fritters are among the unhealthiest doughnuts. Just because a doughnut has fruit it it doesn't mean it is a good choice.

The Honey Dew Coconut Jelly Stick is the most calorie and sugar-heavy donut on our list with 590 calories and 40 grams of sugar per stick. Not only that, but it has a whopping 680 milligrams of sodium, which is almost a third of the recommended daily limit.

The classic sugared donut is also the most nutritious donut on the menu. It has 240 calories, 11g fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 33g carbohydrates, 4g protein, 13g sugars, and 270mg sodium. If you love donuts, you've got plenty of varieties to choose from.

Cider doughnuts are cake doughnuts that get their flavor from cinnamon, nutmeg and apple cider used in the batter. They are a harvest tradition in autumn in the northeastern United States and are sometimes sold at cider mills.

What do Americans call apple cider? ›

Although the term "cider" is used for the fermented alcoholic drink in much of the world, it often refers to fresh "apple cider" in North America; hard cider is used there instead when referring to the alcoholic drink.

Cider donuts classically pair with a good scoop of our Country Store & Bakery's soft-serve vanilla ice cream, but if you're enjoying your treat at home, you might want to try another flavor. Caramel, cranberry, or chocolate ice cream sandwiched by a cider donut create a flavor combination you'll have to have a bite of.

In America, cider is a drink that's made from the juice of apples. In the UK that's called Apple juice and the term cider only refers to Apple juice that has been fermented and scrumped into an adult beverage version of Apple juice that now contains alcohol.

I liked the flavor but thought the texture was a little dry.

The doughnuts had a sweet but not overpowering apple-cider flavor. In my opinion, the texture inside was soft but a little too dry. The next time I have one, I'll pair it with hot apple cider or dunk it in coffee.

Apple Fritters vs Apple Donuts

Many apple cider doughnut recipes are cake-based, not yeast-based. And most apple fritters don't have cider in the dough, they just rely on the apple chunks to provide flavor.

Apple cider doughnuts are very similar to traditional cake or buttermilk doughnuts but have the additional ingredient of cider or apple juice. The doughnuts are likely associated with fall because of the harvest of apples and farm animals. (The slaughter usually meant extra fat with which to fry.)

Homemade apple cider donuts! This easy recipe includes brown butter, apple butter, and apple pie spices making it the ultimate cider donut. It's packed with flavor, the texture is cakey but decisively donuty as they are fried and coated in spiced sugar.

Cider Donuts are to be eaten with cider, that's where the name comes from. So if you grew up in rural New England, as I did, you have indelible memories of the smell of cider donuts at Apple Orchards this time of year.