Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes
An easy recipe for Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes coated in either cinnamon and sugar or an apple cider glaze. Plus instructions for how to make Baked Apple Cider Donuts too!
It’s officially October and there’s a small hint of fall weather in the air. The stores are lined with tons of fresh apples and apple cider is everywhere now. This is by far my favorite time of year because I love creating fall desserts, especially anything with apples or apple cider in it.
These Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes were actually requested by a reader earlier this year. I loved the idea so I jotted it down in my little book of notes and held onto the idea until fall was finally here. I’m so glad I held onto this recipe idea too because this may be one of my favorite baked donut hole/donut recipes to date.
These donut holes are jam-packed with apple cider flavor thanks to a little trick I use to really enhance the flavor. And because I couldn’t just leave you with a donut hole recipe, I’ve also included instructions for how to make baked apple cider donuts and an apple cider glaze. If you love apple cider, then this is definitely one recipe that you will want to try before fall is over!
Ingredients for This Recipe
This recipe can be used to make either apple cinnamon donuts or donut holes. The ingredients list is the same for both, all that changes is how you cook the batter! Here’s what we’ll need to make this apple cider donut recipe:
- Apple cider: You want to buy plain apple cider, not the kind that’s already spiced.
- All-purpose flour: Make sure to spoon and level the flour so you don’t end up with dense donuts.
- Baking powder: Helps the apple cinnamon donuts rise in the oven.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, & ground cloves: All three spices pair wonderfully with the apple cider flavor in these donut holes. Plus, a little extra spice never hurts.
- Salt: Balances out the sweetness of the donut dough.
- Greek yogurt: My trick to keep desserts from drying out (the worst!) is to incorporate some Greek yogurt or sour cream whenever I can.
- Brown sugar: Sweetens the dough and also adds some flavor.
- Egg: Needs to be at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Unsalted butter: I recommend using unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between different brands.
How to Make Apple Cider Donuts
The first step to making these apple cider donut holes is to reduce some apple cider in a saucepan. I found that the best way to really get the apple cider flavor in these donuts holes was to reduce it before adding it to the batter, this way you get a more concentrated flavor. It takes an extra 10 to 15 minutes, but it’s certainly worth it so I don’t suggest skipping this step! Once it’s reduced, set it as aside to cool down.
Next, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside and whisk together the wet ingredients. For the wet ingredients, you’ll whisk together the reduced apple cider, plain Greek yogurt, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Then, simply mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.
You’ll be baking the donut holes in a mini muffin pan. Sounds weird, I know. But once you add the glaze or cinnamon sugar coating, they end up looking more like donut holes. If you have a donut hole pan, then that would also work wonderfully for this recipe too!
For the coating, you can either use cinnamon and sugar or an apple cider glaze on these donuts. I personally love both and couldn’t choose which one I liked best. Both taste wonderful on the donut holes and donuts, but the apple cider glaze does add more cider flavor if that’s what you’re looking for.
FAQ’s
Can I Make Baked Apple Cinnamon Donuts in Advance?
Baked donut holes and donuts are best eaten the same day, but these still taste wonderful on day two.
What Type of Apple Cider Should I Use?
I use Musselman’s fresh pressed apple cider, but you can use any brand you’d like. Just make sure to buy plain cider, not spiced cider.
Baking Tips
- Make sure to reduce your apple cider before getting started with this recipe. It usually takes about 7 minutes for the cider to reduce in half once it comes to a boil.
- Be sure not to over mix the batter once you combine the wet and dry ingredients. You may still see a few lumps in your batter, this is okay.
- For the cinnamon sugar coating, start with 4 tablespoons of butter and melt an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons if needed. If you prefer a little less sugar on your donut holes, start out with 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
More Fall Dessert Recipes to Try!
- Apple Cake
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes
- Apple Hand Pies
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes
Ingredients
For the apple cider donut holes:
- 1 cup (240ml) apple cider (reduced to 1/2 cup - 120ml)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter , melted and slightly cooled
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 4-6 tablespoons (65-85 grams) unsalted butter , melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
To make the donut holes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 24-count mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Add the apple cider to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 7-10 minutes or until the apple cider has reduced to 1/2 cup. Remove from the heat, pour the apple cider into a heatproof bowl, and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cooled reduced apple cider, Greek yogurt, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and melted butter until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter between all 24 cavities of the mini muffin pan. I prefer to use a piping bag to make this step easier, but a ziplock bag with the corner cut off works well too.
- Bake at 350°F for 11-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the donut holes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the cinnamon sugar coating:
- Add the melted butter to a small heatproof bowl and set aside. Start with 4 tablespoons and melt 1-2 more tablespoons of butter if needed to coat all of the donut holes.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Take each donut hole and dunk it into the melted butter, making sure it is fully coated. Then dip it into the cinnamon and sugar mixture, making sure to coat well. Repeat until all of the donut holes are coated, then serve and enjoy!
Notes
Danielle, Thanks for this perfect fall baking recipe. I’ve never baked doughnuts/holes before, but now I am inspired to try! I love to bake, and yours is absolutely the best baking blog site I’ve ever found! Your instructions and tips are clear and easy to follow, the photos are mouth-watering, and your stories are so entertaining!
Have you published any baking books? You have such a great writing style that I (and my family, who eat all the results) never want to lose you!
So glad to have inspired you, Lori! Baked donut holes are one of my favorite easy breakfast recipes to make! Thank you for such a kind comment too, it really means so much to hear that you enjoy my blog. I haven’t published any time of baking book yet, but it’s certainly a goal of mine 🙂
Made the pumpkin donut holes today and dipped half of them in the apple cider glaze and some in the cinnamon sugar. They are delicious!
Such a good idea, Renee! So glad you like the donut holes!
Such a good idea, Renee! So glad you liked the donut holes!
This might be a silly question, but the “apple cider” that you use is not apple cider vinegar, right? Is there a certain brand of apple cider that you recommend?
Not apple cider vinegar, just apple cider. I use Musselmans, but any brand will work fine!
Hi Danielle! There’s a Fall bake-off competition going on in the office and I made them last night to bring them into work today. They were such a huge hit!! I can’t thank you enough for this wonderful recipe. Reducing the apple cider made the house smell amazing. I think i reduced the cider too long because it came out thick almost like loose caramel so i had to do a second batch to add up to 120ml. But i think that’s what enhanced the flavor even more. Can’t wait to try the Pumpkin Donut Holes!
So glad everyone liked the donut holes! Hope you enjoy the pumpkin version too!
Plan on making this today. Just to clarify. For the apple cider donut holes, do I use a total of 1/2 cup reduced apple cider or 1 cup of reduced cider . Want to make sure I get the liquid amount correct. Thanks
You use a total of 1/2 cup reduced cider, but you’ll need 1 cup of apple cider to reduce it down to 1/2 cup.
Thanks for your response. Made the apple donut holes and they were absolutely delicious! My family has already finished them off. Will definitely make them again. Simple to make and they were a perfect fall treat
So glad that everyone enjoyed the donut holes, Kim!
Can this recipe also be used for baking in a donut pan (rather than donut hole)?
Absolutely! I have notes in the recipe for how to make these in a donut pan.
I made these last night and they are awesome! Super moist and really tasty and very easy!! I didn’t have a donut hole pan but will definitely buy one now. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
So glad you liked them, Barb!
Hi can I make this recipe in a muffin tin?
Can I add in a little bit of chopped apple too?
Thanks!
Sue
Do you mean a regular muffin pan instead of a mini muffin pan? If so, that would be fine but you will need to increase the baking time. You can also add some chopped apple too.
Can you make the batter the night before and then bake them off in the morning?
They probably won’t rise quite as tall, since the baking powder is first activated when the wet and dry ingredients are combined. You can mix up the wet and dry ingredients separately, refrigerate the wet ingredients, then just mix them together the next morning.
These look great! Can I use whole wheat flour instead of white flour?
You could use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour.
I would really like to try this recipe but I do not own a mini muffin tin. I do, however, own a cake ball maker…would that work?
That would be fine!
I made these donut holes a while back, they were a great hit with my family! I’ve never made anything like it before but it worked so well. Thank you!
I just made these. I made them as mini muffins. They are soooooooooooooo good!! The recipe is easy to follow and perfectly written. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. It will be a go-to for me.
Can these be baked on a baking sheet? Or will they not rise? If so, I can just use a regular muffin tin! (Just don’t have a mini muffin tin/donut)
I would recommend using a regular muffin tin. It should make 12 larger muffins and the baking time should be 20 minutes give or take a few minutes.
These are great! I’ve made them 3 times in the last week.
I simplified the recipe a bit, measuring the hot cider in a 1 cup glass measuring cup, adding 3 T cold butter to cool it down, then adding the egg, yogurt, and vanilla and mixing right in the cup. (I added the brown sugar to the dry ingredients.) I have a 20 hole donut pan and I filled each cavity just to the top to get perfectly round holes… I’ve had enough leftover batter to make an additional 4-5 mini-muffins. I only use 3 T melted butter and the lesser amount of cinnamon sugar (1/2 c sugar + 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon) to finish the donuts.
I have heard these are awesome! Do you think you could us a cookie scoop to put them in the mini muffin tins? I know there are different sizes, but mine is fairly small.
That would be fine!
I’m confused. It says donut holes, but they’re actually muffins?
I used a mini muffin pan because I figure it’s a more common baking pan that people will have on hand. Feel free to use a donut hole pan if you prefer.
Delicious! Next time I will shred an apple into the batter and maybe a dash more spice… but they are wonderful as is.
Danielle- I did use a cookie scoop! The appearance was more like muffins- so I simply dipped the muffin top in the butter and cinnamon sugar mix. Didn’t matter at all!
Hi Danielle, this recipe sounds delish. Can I make the batter a day ahead and then bake the next day?
Hi, Sharon! I’m not sure that the donut holes would rise very well if the batter sits overnight. You could prepare the wet and dry ingredients separately, refrigerate the wet ingredients, then mix everything together the next morning. Or you could bake them the night before and then coat them in the cinnamon sugar mixture the next day.