These Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts are soft and fluffy and packed with fall flavors! One bite will make you feel like you’ve transferred to an apple orchard. These homemade donuts will be a hit for all eaters kids and adults alike!
One of my favorite fall activities to do nearly every year is apple picking. The apple orchards are usually about 1-2 hours away from the city, but during our drive there, I love the time of being able to catch up with my friends and being able to leave the city for a few hours and into nature.
Once I step out of the car, I am filled with the smell of fresh apples and apple cider around the orchard. There will usually be a long line as we wait to be able to enter. When we are finally in, I am like a kid all over again, skipping through the rows and rows of apple trees and trying to decide which variety of apples I will pick first.
My friends usually like to find smaller apples, but I always try to find the largest ones especially the ones on the highest parts of the apple trees, the ones that are the sweetest because the sun hits them more directly.
When we go in, we will say we would just pick a bag but by the end, we usually have 2 packed bags of apples of all varieties. Our hearts will be filled with not only laughter from stories we tell each other while we are picking the apples but also from being in nature.
Before we leave, we always head to the orchard’s shop, grabbing some fresh apple cider they’ve made in-house and any other treats they have especially apple cider donuts or pumpkin donuts. Let’s just say nothing can be compared to fresh apple cider during the Autumn season.
So you bet I will have a vegan apple cider donut recipe on my blog. If you are craving some apple cider donuts, these donuts are for you! Your kitchen will smell absolutely heavenly after you make them and they take less than 1 hour to make!
Here is an overview of these Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts.
Ingredients
Flour: I used regular all-purpose flour but you can also make them gluten-free with 1:1 gluten-free flour. I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill’s 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, the one in a blue bag.
Sugar: To make these donuts refined-sugar-free, substitute the cane sugar with coconut sugar.
Apple Cider: Please note that this is not apple juice or apple cider vinegar! I would not recommend substituting apple cider for apple juice as apple cider is much more concentrated and substituting it will affect the overall taste of the donuts.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These are the leavening agents to make the donuts fluffy without the use of yeast!
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture: This is the topping for the donuts and gives them an extra punch to the flavor and texture of the donuts. You can leave it out, but I highly recommend having it!
Applesauce: Be sure to use unsweetened applesauce to better control the sweetness level of the donuts. The applesauce acts as a liquid and “egg” replacement for traditional baked donuts. You can also make your own applesauce, but make sure it has cooled completely before using it in your batter!
Tips
Can I make these Vegan Apple Cider Donuts gluten-free?
You can try substituting the flour with gluten-free flour, but note that they would not rise as much as regular flour but it will still taste amazing!
How do I store these apple cider donuts?
These donuts are best eaten fresh. If you have any leftovers, store the donuts in an airtight container and place them in the fridge. When you want to eat them, preheat your oven to 200°F or 100C. Heat the donuts for about 8-10 minutes until they are warm. Note that some of the cinnamon-sugar toppings will be melted but you can top them on the donuts again with any leftovers you have!
Can I substitute the apple cider with anything else?
Nope! This is a key ingredient for the recipe. Using regular apple juice will affect the overall taste of the donuts.
If you like these Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts, you might also like:
Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Donuts
Vegan Matcha Mochi Donuts
Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts
I cannot wait for you to make these Vegan Apple Cider Donuts! If you do, please tag me on Instagram @_withhelen or leave a comment below letting me know how you like them! Enjoy!
Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
These Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts are soft and fluffy and packed with fall flavors! One bite will make you feel like you’ve transferred to an apple orchard. These homemade donuts will be a hit for all eaters kids and adults alike!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Donuts
300g (1 ¼ cup) fresh apple cider (not apple cider vinegar or apple juice!!!)
250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
133g (⅔ cup) cane sugar
6g (2 tsp) baking powder
5g (1 ½ tsp) baking soda
3g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp fine sea salt
61g (¼ cup) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
58g (¼ cup) unsalted, vegan butter, melted
5g (1 tsp) pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
30g (2 tbsp) unsalted, vegan butter, melted
3g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
50g (¼ cup) cane sugar
Instructions
- Apple Cider Concentrate. Add the apple cider to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and allow the apple cider to simmer until it is reduced to about 180g (¾ cup), stirring occasionally. Once it is ready, allow the apple cider concentrate to cool completely before using it for the donut batter.
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180C. Brush your donut pans with melted, vegan butter or with some melted, unrefined coconut oil.
-
To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cane sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, and salt together. Mix until well combined.
-
In a separate bowl, add the apple cider, applesauce, melted vegan butter and vanilla extract together. Mix the ingredients together until they are well combined.
-
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently mix the batter until they are just combined, without any lumps. Be careful not to over mix the batter. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes.
-
Divide the batter into your donut pans, about 3/4th of the way full. Bake the donuts for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
-
Remove the donuts from the oven and allow them to cool for 8-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
-
Meanwhile, make the Cinnamon Sugar Topping. Mix the ground cinnamon and sugar together until well combined.
-
Once the donuts have cooled completely, dip each donut in the melted, vegan butter. Then, dip them into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat this step until all the donuts are glazed. Serve and enjoy!
Keywords: apple cider donuts, vegan donuts, apple cider
+ COMMENTS