Doughnut Week! Apple Cider Doughnuts

Day 4 of Doughnut Week! Yay! Recently on my facebook page I put out a request for doughnut suggestions, and "Apple Cider Doughnuts" came up.  These sounded new and delicious!


Since I had never heard of these doughnuts before, I did some quick searching and found out that they are a New England thing, and have quite the cult following!  I read through a few different recipes and this one from  Smitten Kitchen seemed to combine everything that people wanted in a recipe: perfect texture, a nice apple cider flavour, and it gave two popular ways to finish them off.  

I dipped half of the doughnuts in a apple cider glaze, and the other half in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  Personally I preferred the cinnamon sugar coating, but I included the glaze recipe as well so you can pick your own favourite.

This dough is very soft (and perfect for frying!) so definitely keep half of the doughnuts in the refrigerator until you have finished frying the first half. This will help the doughnuts keep a consistent shape. I had both of my trays of doughnuts on the counter while I was frying them, and when I got to the last few doughnuts they ballooned when I dropped them into the pot! They were super fluffy, but out of control in size and difficult to flip and then remove from the pot. So keep your dough nice and chilled :)

I made just over 1 dozen doughnuts and doughnut holes with this recipe.


This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and is delicious!


Apple Cider Doughnuts

• 1 bottle (355mL) apple cider
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 4 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Vegetable or Canola oil for frying
• Apple Cider Glaze (optional)
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp reduced apple cider
• Cinnamon Sugar Coating (optional)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the apple cider and let it slowly reduce for about half an hour, then set aside to cool
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg
3. In a second large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) beat together the butter and sugar until smooth
4. Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each egg
5. On low, slowly add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of the reduced apple cider
6. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and mix until the dough begins to come together
7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle it generously with flour
8. Place the dough onto the cookie sheet and sprinkle the top with flour (the dough is very soft and this will help keep it from sticking to your hands)
9. Flatten the dough with your hands (until about 1/2" thick) and then place the tray in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill
10. Remove the dough from your freezer and prepare a second cookie with with parchment and sprinkled with flour
11. Cut out doughnuts and doughnut holes (I used a 3 1/2" doughnut cutter, but you can use two circle cutters or even two different sized glasses to do this) and set them onto the two floured cookie sheets
12. Place the two pans of doughnuts and doughnut holes in the refrigerator for 20 - 30 minutes to chill
13. While the doughnuts are chilling, place the oil in a heavy bottomed pan (or high-sided frying pan) and add enough so that it is about 3" deep. Using an oil thermometer, heat the oil to 350 F.  Also line a plate with several paper towels, and prepare a cookie rack with some paper towels underneath to catch any drips and crumbs
14. If you decide to use a topping, you can also whip them up while the oil is heating and the dough is chilling
1. To make the glaze: whisk together 2 tbsp of reduced apple cider and 1 cup of icing sugar in a small bowl until smooth
2. To make the cinnamon sugar topping: Mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside
15. Carefully add a couple doughnuts and/or doughnut holes to the oil when ready, and fry for about 60 seconds or until golden brown.  Carefully flip the doughnuts, and fry for about 45 seconds
16. Remove the doughnuts and place on the paper towels to drain the excess oil
17. When still warm, dip into the apple cider glaze or into the cinnamon sugar topping and set aside on the cookie rack
18. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts
19. Enjoy!

They are amazing when eaten plain too!