Apple Donuts, a year-round favorite, are especially popular at my house as the temperatures cool and summer gives way to fall. Soft pillowy inside, sweet crunchy outside, these delicious Cinnamon Sugar Baked Apple Donuts are made with applesauce and go perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or fresh out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Apple Donuts
Simple, homemade, delicious apple donuts. To be honest with you guys, which I am, I can think of few things better.
It’s funny, donuts are one of those delicious treats that are so easily forgotten. At least for me. This makes no sense since donuts, especially these baked apple donuts, are definitely not forgettable. Take one bite of these soft, fluffy apply pillows and you’ll be hooked.
The hardest part will be eating just one!
Ingredients in these Apple Donuts
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Ground cinnamon
- Butter
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Buttermilk
- Applesauce
- Apple
Nope, these are not healthy or skinny donuts, but they are baked rather than fried so that’s something pretty huge!
Right? Right?
Equipment needed to make Baked Apple Donuts
Now, there are a few things that are pretty important when making these delicious, fantastic, fall-flavored donuts. Don’t worry, this recipe doesn’t require a $500 blender. phew!
- Donut baking pan. We’re baking these apple donuts rather than frying, remember? Come to think of it, I don’t know the first thing about frying my own donuts…and now that I have admitted it out loud, I have to learn how.
- Cheese grater. Nothing fancy, my friends. If it works for the cheese it will work for the apples.
- Large zip-lock bag. Because trying to spoon the batter for the apple donuts into the apple tin is way harder than one may expect.
You will also need things like measuring cups and a large mixing bowl, but that’s a rule in baking right? Must have a measuring cup and mixing bowl. Oh, and a spatula…
Which reminds me, I am definitely missing my some of my teaspoons.
How to make apple donuts
- Preheat oven, grease donut pan, and grate apple. Set everything aside.
- Prepare the batter.
- Transfer the batter for the apple donuts to a large ziplock bag and seal, removing all air. Snip off a small corner of the bag.
- Gently squeeze batter into the cavities of the donut hole pan.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes.
- As the donuts bake, melt the butter in one bowl and mix together the cinnamon and the sugar in another.
- Remove donuts from pan, brush with melted butter and coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Try to eat just one. literally impossible.
One important thing to note about these donuts (and all donuts) is that they taste best when eaten just after baking. Ideally when they’re still warm, but definitely within the first 12-24 hours. If you don’t expect to finish all 18 donuts on the same day, my advice is to keep the batter stored in the refrigerator and bake the remaining donuts the next day.
If you do bake them all in one go, store any leftovers in a sealed container for maximum freshness!
For more apple recipes check out,
- Homemade Applesauce Recipe
- Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats
- Fried Apples Recipe (How to Make Fried Apples)
- Apple Balsamic Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Marinated Salmon Apple Salad
- Herbed Apple and Pumpernickel Stuffing
DON’T FORGET TO PIN THESE CINNAMON SUGAR BAKED APPLE DONUTS AND SURPRISE YOUR FAMILY FOR BREAKFAST OR DESSERT ANY TIME YOU WANT TO MAKE DELICIOUS APPLE DONUTS.
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Cinnamon Sugar Baked Apple Donuts
Ingredients
For the Apple Doughnuts
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoon butter (melted and cooled)
- 2 large eggs
- 0.75 cup granulated sugar
- .5 teaspoon nutmeg
- 0.5 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1.5 cups apple (peeled, cored, and grated)
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 4 tablespoon salted butter (melted, plus more as needed)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Set aside these dry ingredients.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, granulated sugar, buttermilk, nutmeg, and applesauce. Mix until just combined.
- Stir in the grated apples, then stir in the dry ingredients from step 2, and transfer batter to a large ziplock bag. squeeze out all air and snip one corner creating a small hole. Spray donut hole pan with a light layer of non-stick cooking spray.
- Squeeze batter into the cavities of the donut hole pan and transfer to the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes.
- As the donuts are baking combine the sugar with the ground cinnamon and melt approximately 4 tablespoons butter in a small dish.
- When donuts have finished baking, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before brushing with the melted butter and coating in the cinnamon sugar. Enjoy!
Video
Jessica's Notes
- Store any leftover donuts in a zip-lock bag or container with a tight-fitting lid. Best when enjoyed within 24 hours.
- Recipe lightly adapted from The Cake Blog.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
Could these be made with a non-dairy milk?
While I have not tried making these baked apple donuts with non-dairy milk, I don’t see why not.
Since the recipe as written calls for buttermilk, you will need to stir in half a tablespoon to one tablespoon of lemon juice into the milk alternative, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until thickened/curled 🙂
These are amazing. So moist and very delicious. I used Gravenstein apples from our own tree plus homemade applesauce I had made for dinner the night before – also made from our Gravensteins. I can’t say enough how delicious they were – hot out of the oven, as well as after they cooled off. Thank you for this recipe. I will make these again and again.
Thanks, Teena, I agree that fresh apples do turn out moist and delicious donuts in this recipe 🙂
These are delicious 😋. I used 1 medium Braeburn apple – I didn’t compress it down in my measuring cup tho. Also this is a very thick batter think I’ll use my stand mixer next time. I ended up with 12 doughnuts and 24 mini muffins I call them doughnut holes.
Will make them again. Thx!
Thanks for the delicious feedback Mary 🙂