These Baked Mini Apple Cider Donuts are soft, moist, and sweet cake donuts. They have a delicious warm apple flavor that's perfect for fall baking. You'll love everything about these dairy-free donuts-- including how quick and easy they are to make!
These apple cider donuts pair well with a hot cup of coffee. If you want to spice things up, you can even pair it with my Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte or coffee with Oat Milk Pumpkin Spice Creamer.
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❤️Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Quick: These baked donuts are made without yeast, so you don't have to wait for anything to rise. Other recipes for apple cider donuts can take longer because they require an apple cider reduction. While this does enhance the flavor, it can be more time consuming. So if you like baking that's quick and easy, this recipe is for you!
- Easy
- Soft and moist
- Delicious
🍎What is Apple Cider?
Apple cider is also referred to as sweet cider, soft cider, and cider in the U.S. and Canada. In other countries, it's referred to as cloudy apple juice because it's darker and opaque compared to apple juice. It can even be tangier than apple juice, and contain pulp that settles to the bottom.
Cider is made with fresh pressed apples. It's opaque due to fine apple particles that no not dissolve. Sometimes apple cider is pasteurized to kill bacteria and increase its shelf life. Unfiltered and raw cider doesn't have added sugar and is minimally processed. This gives it a shorter shelf life than apple juice, and it can start to ferment into apple cider vinegar. Over time, it can even turn into hard cider (alcohol).
To understand more about the difference between apple cider and apple juice, this article from The Kitchn does a great job breaking it down.
📝Ingredient Notes
- Apple pie spice: I buy this from my local Walmart. If you can't find any, you can make your own with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Here's a recipe to make it!
- Non-dairy butter: Use one that you like the taste of. I use sticks of Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil.
- Unsweetened plain coconut yogurt: I use the kind by SoDelicious. Yogurt helps make the donuts moist!
🌾Substitutions
- Unsweetened plain coconut yogurt: I use this as a sour cream substitute in recipes. You can also use a dairy-free sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt that you like the taste of.
🍩Equipment
- Mini donut pan: I bought mine from my local Walmart and the brand is by Tasty.
- Piping bags or a sandwich bag: You can buy piping bags at your local grocery store. These make filling the pan super clean and easy. Sandwich bags don't work as well as piping bags, but they are the next best option. Just fill the sandwich bag, then snip the corner off to pipe into the pan.
🍎How to Make Baked Mini Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, in a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well combined, but do not over mix.
4. Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan filling it ¾ of the way full.
5. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let rest in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a small bowl. Brush the donuts with melted butter and then dip both sides of each donut into the sugar mixture. Enjoy!
🧊Storing
Store the donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 to 3 days.
✅Pro Tips
- Make sure your wet ingredients are room temperature: This helps them blend together evenly. When your wet ingredients are too cold, mixing them with warmer ingredients (like melted butter) makes it clump up. This will not give your baked goods the best texture/consistency.
- Don't over-mix the batter: Over-mixing can cause too much gluten to form. If this happens, your donuts will come out tough and chewy. This is why you want to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, and then mix until just combined.
- Let the donuts rest in the pan after baking: If you try to remove the donuts right away, they will break apart. Let it sit for 5 minutes before trying to remove them.
- Use a butter knife to separate the sides of the donut from the pan: Even with nonstick pans, they can still stick a little to the sides. Using a butterknife can help ensure they come out of the pan easily.
⁉️Frequently Asked Question
This is usually a result of over-mixing your batter. Over-mixing causes too much gluten to form. This makes baked goods come out tough and chewy. To prevent this, mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then mix together until just combined.
Yes! Once completely cooled, transfer the donuts to a freezer safe ziplock or container, and freeze for 2 to 3 months. Let them come to room temperature to thaw.
You can make a batch of about 8 donuts by splitting the measurements in half!
⭐️Before you go! If you enjoyed this recipe for Baked Mini Apple Cider Donuts, leave a review and share it with me! I love to hear from you.
📖 Recipe
Baked Mini Apple Cider Donuts
Equipment
- mini donut pan
- piping bag or sandwich bag for filling donut pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour scooped and leveled
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons melted non-dairy butter
- ⅓ cup plain unsweetened coconut yogurt room temperature
- ½ cup apple cider room temperature (NOT apple cider vinegar)
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Sugar Coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- 3 tablespoons melted non-dairy butter for brushing on the donuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk the wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well combined, but do not over-mix.
- Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan filling it ¾ of the way full. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let rest in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice in a small bowl. Brush the donuts with melted butter and then dip both sides of each donut into the sugar mixture. Enjoy!
Notes
- Store the donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 days, or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- Some countries refer to apple cider vinegar as apple cider. DO NOT use apple cider vinegar. In America and Canada, apple cider is referred to as apple cider, sweet cider, or cider. Other countries refer to apple cider as cloudy apple juice.
Nutrition
Note: The nutrition label is only an estimate. Amounts may vary.
Kristina Jenkins says
Just made these tonight and they were as good as they look. Fabulous job creating this recipe and making the instructions easy to follow!
Justin Jenkins says
Wife made this and it was fantastic. 10/10 and will have again.