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These Apple Cider Donuts are one of the BEST Fall desserts I’ve ever made, and they’re soooo easy too! Made with a box of spice cake mix, they’re soft and cake-like, coated in buttery cinnamon sugar, and ridiculously easy to make for a cozy fall breakfast or dessert.
I can’t believe these apple cider donuts start with cake mix!
Okay, these Apple Cider Donuts might be one of my favorite fall recipes I’ve ever made. And I don’t say that lightly!
Even as a cookbook author with 100 recipes AND someone who worked at three different bakeries back in the day… these apple cider donuts are just THAT darn good. 😋
I baked these donuts early this morning and had one with my brown sugar iced coffee. Oh my goodness. The soft, cake-like donut with that buttery cinnamon-sugar coating and a little crunch on the outside?! SO GOOD. The coffee + apple cider donut combo was basically made for fall mornings.
And somehow, these donuts start with a box of spice cake mix! Just like my vanilla cake mix donuts, the cake mix does so much of the work for you.
To give these apple cider donuts that concentrated apple flavor without adding too much liquid to the cake batter, you first reduce the apple cider from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup by simmering it on the stove.
Then add the butter, eggs, and vanilla, and you’re basically there.
Pipe the batter into a donut pan, bake, brush with melted butter, and roll in cinnamon sugar. That last part MAKES them. Buttery, cinnamon sugary, soft in the middle with that little crunch on the outside. 10/10!
And because they’re this easy, I can think of a bunch of excuses to make them. Cozy Saturday breakfast. Halloween morning. Thanksgiving breakfast. A harvest party. Eating one while watching Gilmore Girls. IYKYK. 😉
Andy and the kids even loved them! This easy fall recipe is definitely a keeper! 🤗
Bear hugs from my kitchen to yours, sweet friend!
All You Need to Make These Apple Cider Donuts
You more than likely already have some of these ingredients in your pantry. 🤞🏽
- Spice cake mix
- Apple cider
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
How to Make these Apple Cider Donuts (video)
Apple Cider Donuts (with Cake Mix)
Equipment
- 1 Large Piping Bag Optional. You can also use a ziplock bag and snip off the corner.
Ingredients
Apple Cider Donuts
- 13.25 oz box Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix
- 1 1/2 cup apple cider, You can substitue apple cider with apple juice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Apple Spice Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease the wells of a donut pan.
- In a small saucepan, simmer the 1 1/2 cups of apple cider over medium-low heat until it cooks down to 1 cup. Remove from the heat and cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, reduced apple cider, melted butter, eggs and vanilla then mix with a hand mixer for 2 minutes.
- Fill a ziploc bag with the batter, snip the tip, and then fill each donut well halfway full of batter.
- Bake until the edges and tops are browned, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.
- In another bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
- Dip or brush the donuts in the melted butter.
- Roll each donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Don’t skip reducing the apple cider: Simmer 1 1/2 cups of apple cider until it reduces to 1 cup. This cooks off some of the excess water and concentrates the apple flavor, giving the donuts more apple cider flavor without adding too much liquid to the batter.
- If you’re unable to find apple cider, it’s okay to substitute with apple juice.
- No piping bag needed! Add the batter to a zip-top bag, snip off one corner, and pipe it into the donut pan.
- Fill each donut well about halfway so the donuts have room to rise.
- Brush or dip the baked donuts in melted butter before rolling them in cinnamon sugar so the coating sticks.
- These Apple Cider Donuts are best served fresh, especially while that buttery cinnamon sugar coating is at its best.
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