These sugared doughnuts are craggy and crunchy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. Apple butter (not sauce!) is key to their texture and flavor; look for it alongside jams and jellies in the supermarket, or at farmers’ markets, or make your own.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 18
Ingredients
2
3
½
½
2
1
1
¼
¼
3½
1
6
¼
1¼
2
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Bring cinnamon sticks and apple cider to a boil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until liquid is thick, syrupy, and reduced to about ⅓ cup, 20–30 minutes. Scrape into a medium bowl and whisk in apple butter, buttermilk, and vanilla until incorporated; set aside.
Step 2
Whisk baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, 3½ cups flour, and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Reduce mixer speed to low and add dry ingredients in 2 additions, alternating with cider mixture in 2 additions, starting with dry ingredients and ending with cider mixture (dough will be very soft and sticky).
Step 3
Scrape dough onto a parchment lined-rimmed baking sheet thoroughly dusted with flour (about ⅓ cup). Dust hands and top of dough with more flour, then gently pat dough to ¾" thick. Dust with more flour and tightly cover with plastic wrap; chill dough at least 3 hours.
Step 4
Whisk remaining 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon in a small bowl until no lumps remain.
Step 5
Working on baking sheet, punch out as many rounds as you can with 3¼" cutter, then use 1¼" cutter to punch out center of each round. Gather doughnut scraps, reserving holes, and gently re-roll without overworking dough; repeat until all dough has been used (you should have 18 doughnuts).
Step 6
Set a wire rack inside a paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. Fit a large pot with deep-fry thermometer and pour in oil to a depth of 3". Heat over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°. Working in batches, fry doughnuts until deep golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to prepared rack and let cool slightly. Fry doughnut holes until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to prepared rack and let cool slightly. Toss warm doughnuts and doughnut holes in cinnamon sugar.
Step 7
Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill.
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Reviews (21)
Back to TopThese are pretty tasty and I didn’t think they were as greasy as other reviewers mentioned. However they are extremely difficult. They stick to the pan, they fall apart in the fryer, they fall apart in the process of placing them in the fryer, they burnt at recommended temp and time, and of course that was after the actual process of making the dough which while not very difficult was time consuming.
Anonymous
Ventura, California
11/7/2021
A very long and complicated recipe that produces very greasy and unflavorful doughnuts. As others mentioned the doughnuts are fragile while in the fryer and they will stick to the sheetpan without a lot of flour coating the bottom of the pan. I definitely suggest chilling over night and to gently put the dough on a new piece of parchment paper that is floured. All of this for not much reward. Store bought apple cider donuts are better.
Bob Newly
Atlanta, GA
3/23/2021
Excellent flavor. I’ve made these twice. Here’s my takeaways. The mixture is too wet. Once the 1/3 cup of dusting flour is absorbed, they are perfect and hold their shape. The first few nearly fell apart, and soaked up too much oil. Cut the sugar and cinnamon that you dredge in in half. Way too much. Otherwise, this is a fantastic recipe. These don’t hold well, so if you don’t plan on a big group to wolf these down, cut the recipe in half.
Anonymous
Seattle
3/1/2021
I was worried about the frying based on the reviews but they actually turned out looking like real donuts! For the first few batches I was going for the darker color like in the picture but that was producing drier, chewier donuts so I tried frying for less time and they came out much more light and moist. My family devoured these in two days and are already clamoring for more so it's definitely and 5/5 stars for me!
Anonymous
Sacramento, CA
12/19/2020
I must echo the other reviews here. Lovely flavor, awful texture. I also ended up doing donut holes instead of full donuts and the texture is more like a churro. The final product was good, but I wanted donuts, not churro style donut holes.
Anonymous
Washington, DC
11/26/2020
I made these as written and had the same issue of them being overly oily and more like a churro. After a lot of internet searching, I found a site saying never use liquid oil for donuts because of this issue - tried again with the same batch of dough using crisco vegetable shortening and they were perfect - crunchy on the outside and soft and cakey on the middle. I made a glaze with 1 cup of apple cider reduced to 1/2 cup on the stove, 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 T corn syrup and 1 t vanilla extract and it was phenomenal. This is my go-to now.
Anonymous
Illinois
10/5/2020
I decided to chill the dough overnight and it divided up the amount of labor well. The only problem I had with the dough was the first time I over-reduced the apple cider. It became extremely tacky and impossible to work with. Scratched that and started over. The end result was all worth it, however. Fresh, handmade donuts are truly a sweet treat. And now I am recovering from a sugar coma. 4 stars only because this is NOT an easy recipe and should only be attempted by someone with a lot of time on their hands (me).
emma fritschel
Los Angeles, CA
10/4/2020