When my kids were little, we would take them apple picking every September. We always went to the same apple orchard. They made the best Apple Cider Doughnuts at this orchard. My family looked forward to this treat every year. I think they enjoyed the doughnuts more than the actual apple picking.
Now that my kids are older and we don’t go apple picking anymore, they miss the doughnuts, so I went in search of a recipe that could replicate the taste of the doughnuts they served at the orchard.
After many tries, I created this recipe and the kids loved them. They are not the same as the orchard has, but they are close, and the kids loved them so that is a win.
This recipe can also easily be cut in half. We are a large family and I like to share with extended family so this is a rather large recipe.
Apple Cider Doughnuts:
4 cups Apple Cider
7 cups flour
1-⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
1-½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. all-spice
4 eggs, slightly beaten
¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
Vegetable Oil for frying
Cinnamon Sugar for coating (1-½ cups white sugar whisked with 1-½ Tbsp. cinnamon)
In a medium saucepan, heat apple cider to boiling, then simmer for about 10 to minutes to reduce to half. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together cooled apple cider, eggs and cooled butter.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix together until a sticky dough forms and all the flour has been incorporated.
Cover and refrigerate 1-½ hours or overnight.
Remove from the fridge and working with ¼ of the dough at a time, roll out on a clean floured surface to ½” thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a floured doughnut cutter.
Place 3 to 4 inches of oil in a large heavy pot and heat to 325°F.
Once oil is heated, place 3 or 4 doughnuts in the oil and fry 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and place on a cooling rack over a baking pan or paper towel lined pan. Cool slightly before coating in cinnamon sugar.
Repeat with remaining doughnuts.
*The doughnut holes take only about 1-1-½ minutes per side to cook.
Serve warm.
Doughnuts can easily be heated in the microwave. If you plan on reheating them later, skip the coating of cinnamon sugar until you reheat them or the sugar will melt when they are reheated.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in freezer bags in the freezer for up to one month. When freezing, I skip the cinnamon sugar coating because it doesn’t hold well in the freezer. I then reheat the thawed doughnuts in the microwave for a few seconds and toss them in the cinnamon sugar coating while they are warm.
