BA's Best Apple Cider Doughnuts

From the kitchen of Carly

Spiced doughnuts built on reduced apple cider and apple butter, giving you deep autumn flavor in every bite. Tender crumb, warm spices, and that perfect balance of cakey and moist. Fall's best breakfast pastry.

BA's Best Apple Cider Doughnuts

Reduced apple cider does the heavy lifting here, concentrating all that fall flavor into a syrupy base that keeps these doughnuts tender and deeply spiced without being cloying. You'll fry them until they're golden and pillowy, then roll them in cinnamon sugar while they're still warm. The technique is straightforward, the payoff is enormous, and your kitchen will smell like October for hours.

Prep
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Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 2cinnamon sticks
  • 3 cupapple cider
  • 1/2 cupapple butter
  • 1/2 cupbuttermilk
  • 2 tspvanilla extract
  • 1 tbspplus 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tspkosher salt
  • 1/4 tspbaking soda
  • 1/4 tspfreshly grated nutmeg
  • 3 1/2 cupall-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 tbspplus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
  • 6 tbspunsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cuplight brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 cupgranulated sugar
  • 2 largeeggs
  • 1Vegetable oil
  • 1A 3 1/4-inch-diameter cutter
  • 1 1/4-inch-diameter cutter
  • 1deep-fry thermometer

Instructions

  1. Combine the cinnamon sticks and apple cider in a large skillet over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid is thick, syrupy, and reduced to about 1/3 cup, anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl and whisk in the apple butter, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth; set aside.

  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, 3 1/2 cups flour, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Drop in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Dial the mixer down to low and add the dry ingredients in 2 additions, alternating with the cider mixture in 2 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. The dough will be very soft and sticky.

  3. Turn the dough out onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet dusted generously with flour, about 1/3 cup. Dust your hands and the top of the dough, then gently pat it down to 3/4 inch thick. Dust once more with flour, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

  4. While the dough chills, whisk the remaining 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a small bowl until no lumps remain; set aside.

  5. Working directly on the baking sheet, punch out as many rounds as possible with the 3 1/4-inch cutter, then use the 1 1/4-inch cutter to remove the center from each round. Gather the scraps, keeping the holes separate, and gently re-roll without overworking the dough. Repeat until all the dough is used; you should end up with 18 doughnuts.

  6. Tuck a wire rack inside a paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. Pour oil into a large pot to a depth of 3 inches, clip on a deep-fry thermometer, and heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 350°F. Fry the doughnuts in batches until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes per side, then move them to the rack to cool slightly. Fry the doughnut holes until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes per side, and transfer those to the rack as well. Toss everything warm in the cinnamon sugar until well coated.

  7. The dough can be made 1 day ahead; simply cover and keep it chilled until ready to use.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Reduce the cider all the way down, get it thick and syrupy, or the dough will be too wet to handle and the flavor will stay thin. Don't skip this step by substituting apple cider reduction from a bottle; it's not the same.
  • Keep your oil between 350-365°F. Use a thermometer. Too cool and the doughnuts absorb oil and taste greasy; too hot and the outside burns before the inside cooks through.
  • Chill the dough hard for the full three hours minimum. Cold dough is easier to cut, holds its shape in the fryer, and produces a lighter crumb.
  • Dust your work surface and hands with flour constantly while rolling out the dough. This dough is sticky by design, and flour is your friend.
  • Roll the cinnamon sugar coating onto the warm doughnuts immediately after they come out of the oil. The heat helps it stick and dissolve into the surface, so you get a sweet crust, not just a topping.

Variations

  • Maple glaze instead of cinnamon sugar: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and 2 tablespoons milk, then dip the tops of warm doughnuts.
  • Skip the apple cider reduction and make a spiced apple butter dough: Use 1 cup apple butter directly in the wet ingredients, and skip the cider cooking step entirely.
  • Brown butter cinnamon sugar: Toast the 6 tablespoons of butter in a small pot until the solids turn deep golden, then use it in the dough. The nutty flavor plays beautifully with the apple.
  • Chai spiced version: Add 1/2 teaspoon each of ground ginger and cardamom to the dry ingredients, and swap the cinnamon sugar coating for a chai sugar made with ground cardamom and a pinch of clove.

Make ahead and storage

Store cooled doughnuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. They're best eaten fresh or warmed for 15 seconds in the microwave. Freezing is not recommended; the texture suffers when thawed.