Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts
Fluffy and cakey, these Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts are a fall bake that will make your house smell amazing this weekend! These easy baked donuts with sparkling apple cider are a quick bake that allows you to make them the morning of your brunch!
If you love brunch as much as I do, check out fall breakfast recipes like Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard, Eggless Apple Cinnamon Waffles, Caramel Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls, Maple Cinnamon Olive Oil Granola, Eggless Pumpkin Spice Scones and Maple Cream Cheese Spread.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts
- Ready In: 25 minutes
- Makes: 12 donuts
- Main Ingredients: butter, sparkling apple cider, cane sugar, all purpose flour
- Flavor Profile: cinnamon, sugar coated sparkling apple cider
- Dietary Info: no seed oils
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: fluffy soft cake donut with apple cider
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Bursting with Flavor: These Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts are infused with the crisp, tangy sweetness of apple cider. These amazing donuts are a fall favorite!
- Light and Fluffy Texture: Baked rather than fried, these baked donuts with sparkling apple cider have a light and fluffy texture that makes them a delightful, less greasy alternative to conventional donuts.
- Fall Vibes: Perfect subtle apple cider flavor combined with cozy cinnamon sugar and nutmeg.
- Baked Donuts: While they are not traditional apple cider donuts, that are fried, these are cozy fall treat with sparkling cider that are a little better for you than going to the donut shop.
- Easy: Because these are baked, not fried, you don't need a frying pan or have to worry about excess grease ruining your clean stove. No doughnut cutter and no burning your hands either! I love this recipe because it's so simple.
I grew up going to a local orchard every fall. We would pick apples, get pumpkins and enjoy fresh apple cider donuts that tasted of soft sweet cake. It was a total treat, considering my mom was usually strict with sweets.
These Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts remind me of the donuts we got there, with that delicious fresh apple taste. Especially the donut holes, which were always my favorite. If you have a bottle of Marinelli's that you want to use up after opening, all you need are some basic pantry ingredients to make these fresh apple cider donuts! Perfect for a cozy fall baking project or even smaller celebrations.
Ingredients
- Baking Powder: Make sure to use baking powder and not soda here. Check out Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening.
- Nutmeg: I use organic ground nutmeg for a nostalgic spice as this is very common. in donuts.
- Cinnamon: I use organic ground Korintje cinnamon, which is my favorite variety. Check out Best Cinnamon to Bake With for more info on different kinds of cinnamon and how they can affect baked goods.
- Sparkling Apple Cider: Martinelli's makes an organic sparkling apple cider, which is so good! That's what I use here.
- Yogurt: I use organic Greek yogurt. You can use plain or vanilla either will work.
- Cooking Spray: Using a non-stick spray to grease the donut pans works the best. I use an avocado oil cooking spray but you could also use olive oil or canola oil.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- This recipe is super flexible, you can make it with a hand mixer, just a whisk or even your stand mixer if you prefer.
- You can use flat apple cider in place of sparkling if you prefer.
- If you have broken donuts, here's a little trick. You can just crumble them up and form into balls. That's how I got the donut holes. If you have a donut that breaks coming out of the pan or doesn't look ideal, just make it into a couple donut holes!
- If you have leftovers, make sure to store these in an airtight container or under a cake dome so they stay fresh.
- High Altitude — Bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
How to Make Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. I like to melt the butter in a small saucepan over the stovetop for the batter first, but you can also do it in the microwave if you prefer.
- To make the batter: Add the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sea salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together to combine the flour mixture completely.
- Next add the wet ingredients: egg, sparkling apple cider, heavy whipping cream, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Mix together using a hand mixer, spatula or even just a whisk until you have a smooth batter. Transfer the batter to a piping bag.
- Spray the donut pans with avocado oil cooking spray. Pipe the batter into the pans, or if you don’t want to pipe, you can also just spoon it into the pans too!
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden brown or a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- To make the topping: In a medium bowl, add the cane sugar and cinnamon and mix together. Add the melted butter into a second bowl.
- Dunk each donut into the melted butter.
- Then dip it into the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat it completely as you want to have cinnamon and sugar in every bite of each donut!
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, donuts can be baked in a donut pan instead of fried. Baked donuts are typically not yeast donuts, and they are more similar to cake and have a cake-like texture.
Yes, absolutely. If you want to make these donuts the day before you plan to serve them to you can do that. Because they are cake, they do need to be stored in an airtight container, so they don’t dry out. A cake dome is the best option for these. I actually made them the day before Halloween and then served them to my friends the next day!
Yes, if you have traditional apple cider that isn’t sparkling, you can use it in place of the sparkling in this recipe. The sparkling does give these donuts a very light texture, but they will still be delicious with the regular option as well.
Yes, you can use that in its place if you prefer.
Cornstarch helps create a very delicate crumb.
In order to get donuts, you need a donut pan here. But, if you want to just get the donut holes, then you can make this recipe without a donut pan. You can bake the batter in a muffin pan instead, the baking time will be the same. Then, just break up the baked muffins and form into the donut holes.
If you didn't grease it well, they can stick. It happens with baked donuts. In this case, just use the broken donut and form it into a ball to make donut holes. We actually kinda like the donut holes more than the whole donuts in my house!
These baked donuts with sparkling apple cider are a light and moist cake. So, they need to be stored in an airtight container, so they don’t dry out. My favorite way to store them in in a cake dome. Plus, they’ll look so beautiful sitting in a cake dome on your countertop!
You can freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Though, I do think these taste best when they are freshly baked.
Ways to Enjoy Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts
Enjoy these Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts with other delicious recipes to make them into a sweet breakfast, snack or dessert!
- Have as a breakfast treat with Fluffy Scrambled Eggs With Sour Cream, Homemade Pork Breakfast Sausage Patties, Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausages or Everything Bagel Turkey Breakfast Sausages.
- Serve as a side to Tomato Basil Quiche with Bone Broth or Bone Broth Sausage Mushroom Frittata.
- Enjoy with an Iced Blueberry Latte for a mid morning snack.
- Have as an after lunch treat with a Tropical Cranberry Smoothie or Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter.
- Enjoy for dessert with Boozy Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate or a scoop of Salted Caramel No Churn Ice Cream!
More Fall Brunch Recipes
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Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Donut Pans
- Piping Bags
Ingredients
Batter
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup sparkling apple cider
- 113 grams Greek vanilla yogurt
- 85 grams salted butter (melted)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- avocado oil cooking spray
Topping
- 226 grams cane sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 170 grams salted butter (melted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. I like to melt the butter in a small saucepan over the stovetop for the batter first, but you can also do it in the microwave if you prefer.
- To make the batter: Add the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sea salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk together to combine the flour mixture completely.
- Next add the wet ingredients: egg, sparkling apple cider, heavy whipping cream, yogurt, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Mix together using a hand mixer, spatula or even just a whisk until you have a smooth batter. Transfer the batter to a piping bag.
- Spray the donut pans with avocado oil cooking spray. Pipe the batter into the pans, or if you don’t want to pipe, you can also just spoon it into the pans too!
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden brown or a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- To make the topping: In a medium bowl, add the cane sugar and cinnamon and mix together. Add the melted butter into a second bowl.
- Dunk each donut into the melted butter, and then dip it into the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat it completely as you want to have cinnamon and sugar in every bite of each donut!
Video
Notes
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- This recipe is super flexible, you can make it with a hand mixer, just a whisk or even your stand mixer if you prefer.
- You can use flat apple cider in place of sparkling if you prefer.
- If you have broken donuts, here's a little trick. You can just crumble them up and form into balls. That's how I got the donut holes. If you have a donut that breaks coming out of the pan or doesn't look ideal, just make it into a couple donut holes!
- If you have leftovers, make sure to store these in an airtight container or under a cake dome so they stay fresh.
- High Altitude — Bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutrition
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These are a fall favorite I make every year!