Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
Baked vegan donuts infused with apple cider flavor, brushed in dairy-free butter and tossed in cinnamon-sugar. Truly the greatest Fall flavors all rolled into a single treat!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Bake Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 Donuts 1x
- Category: Donuts, Dessert for Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
For the Donuts
1 1/2 cups apple cider*
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
1/3 cup vegan butter, melted
2 tablespoons reduced apple cider
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Reduce Apple Cider: Pour apple cider into a small saucepan and heat over medium on the stove. Bring cider to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until liquid in the pan has reduced by over half. You should have about 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons reduced cider remaining. This step is important for flavor concentration. Remove pan from heat and allow cider to cool completely. You can place it in the fridge to speed up the process if desired.
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C) and lightly grease a donut pan with cooking oil. Set aside.
- Make the Dough: Add all purpose flour, sugar, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg to a large bowl. Whisk together. In a separate bowl combine unsweetened applesauce, nondairy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of the cooled, reduced apple cider. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Pipe Dough into Pan: Grab a piping bag or a large zip-lock bag and fill with the donut dough. Cut the tip (or the corner) off of the bag and gently squeeze to pipe the dough into the prepared pan. This method will allow you to layer an even ring of dough into each donut mold.
- Bake: Place pan on center rack of preheated oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of donut comes out clean with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Allow donuts to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Coat: Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a flat bowl. As soon as donuts are cool enough to handle (they should still be warm), begin the process of coating them. Taking one donut at a time, brush with melted butter using a pastry crush. Once coated in butter, immediately transfer donut to the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Toss donut around until completely coated. Return donut to cooling rack to set for at least 10 minutes. Continue process until all donuts have been coated. Serve immediately for tastiest results.
Notes
*Donuts will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days but taste infinitely better on the day they are made. Donuts can also be frozen for up to 1 month.
*Most donut pans only have 6 molds. If you have two pans, you can bake all 12 donuts at once as the pans will fit side by side on the same oven rack. If you only have 1 bake the donuts in 2 batches. Try to work quickly so the prepared donut dough isn’t sitting out for too long.
*Reducing apple cider on the stove increases the potency of the flavor by a ton! Do not skip this step.
Find it online: https://censoredbaker.com/vegan-apple-cider-donuts/
