Apple donuts are moist, soft and fluffy baked donuts filled with cozy warming spices and fresh apples. These applesauce donuts are rolled in a crunchy cinnamon sugar coating. Make these apple doughnuts for the perfect fall breakfast or dessert.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I love a good donut recipe. Bonus points if it’s the perfect fall donut. There are several favorite fall donut recipes on the blog to include my Maple Donuts, Cinnamon Sugar Donuts and Pumpkin Donuts. I am so excited to add these cinnamon sugar apple donuts to the mix. I know you’ll love this apple spiced donut recipe because:
- It has the perfect moist, dense and tender texture. These baked apple donuts coated in cinnamon sugar stay wonderfully moist for days. They bake up wonderfully soft and fluffy which pairs deliciously well with the sweet, spicy and crunchy cinnamon sugar coating.
- Tons of fall flavor. Fresh apple, applesauce and warming fall spices are baked into these apple doughnuts. They’re the perfect fall donut.
- Easy to make with simple ingredients. These homemade apple cake donuts are made using the same simple ingredients used to make muffins. This donut recipe comes together in two bowls with no fancy equipment; just some good old fashioned mixing and baking.
Ingredients
This apple donut recipe requires only a handful of ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your house. Here’s what you’ll need.
Apple Donuts
- Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Gather melted butter, light brown sugar, an egg, buttermilk, applesauce and a fresh apple.
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping: Gather melted butter, granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended ingredient substitutions to make these homemade baked apple doughnut just in case you need them.
- All purpose flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with an alternative flour. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten free, use a good 1-1 flour and measure by weight (240 g) rather than cups. Note that the donuts will need to bake for a few minutes longer.
- Ground Spices: Feel free to use any blend of ground spices. Pumpkin spice, chai spice or apple pie spice would all be wonderful in this apple baked donut recipe. The total amount of spices for these apple cinnamon sugar donuts is about 2 teaspoons.
- Unsalted Butter: Use salted butter if needed. Just make sure to omit the added teaspoon of salt listed in the recipe. Plant based or dairy free butter can also be used if needed.
- Light Brown Sugar: Make these apple cake donuts refined sugar free by swapping the brown sugar with maple sugar.
- Egg: This recipe hasn’t been tested without an egg.
- Buttermilk: Use a full fat version if you can find it. However, a thick and creamy greek yogurt works or sour cream can also as long as the sour cream or yogurt is thinned a bit. For this recipe, mix ⅓ cup sour cream or full fat greek yogurt with 2 - 3 tablespoons water or milk (enough to make ½ cup). Use in place of the buttermilk in the recipe.
- Applesauce: Use store bought or homemade. Unsweetened is preferred to sweetened when possible.
- Apple: Look for tart apples like Granny Smith or tart and sweet apples like Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady apples.
Variations
- Apple Mini Donuts (aka, apple donut holes or munchkins): Prepare the apple donut recipe according to the recipe directions. Grease a 24 ct. mini muffin pan or doughnut hole pan. Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the prepared pan about ¾ full. Bake the apple donut holes in a 425 F (218 C) oven for about 7 - 8 minutes. Cool, drip in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Maple Glaze: Swap the cinnamon sugar coating and top the apple donuts with a quick and easy maple glaze. Mix 1½ cup (180 g) powdered sugar with 3 - 4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) maple syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) milk as needed. After the donuts have cooled on the cooling rack, dip the tops in the maple glaze. Return the donuts to the cooling rack to set.
- Apple Cider Glaze: Mix 1½ cup (180 g) powdered sugar with 3 - 4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) apple cider until smooth and well combined. After the donuts have cooled on the cooling rack, dip the tops in the apple cider glaze. Return the donuts to the cooling rack to set.
How To Make
Learn how to make apple donuts in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 375 (190 C). Grease two 6 ct. donut pans. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom and salt together until well combined.
- In another large bowl, pour the whisk the melted butter, light brown sugar, an egg, buttermilk, and applesauce together until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients to the wet until well combined. Peel and shred an apple. Mix the shredded apple into the donut batter.
- Spoon or pipe the apple donut batter into each of the prepared donut cavities in the donut pan. This should fill about ¾ of each cavity of the donut pan. Bake the donuts for about 12 - 14 minutes. The donuts are done when the tops bounce back quickly when lightly pressed. Cool the donuts in the pan for 5 minutes before gently taking them out to cool on a cooling rack.
4. While the apple donuts cool, melt the butter in one bowl and whisk the cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Dip both sides of the cooled donut into the melted butter. Quickly roll the entire baked donut into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each apple cinnamon donut on the cooling rack. Repeat until all the donuts are coated in the sweet and crunchy coating and enjoy.
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
Like doughnuts you get from a donut shop, these apple cake donuts taste best the day they are made. However, if needed they can be stored and enjoyed later.
- Store: These spiced apple donuts are truly best when enjoyed the same day they are made. To enjoy them beyond the day they are made, store them in an airtight container lined with paper towels on the bottom. Place them in a single layer in an airtight container. Store them at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- Freeze: Wrap each cooled apple cake donut in plastic wrap. Place the uncoated donuts in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. I recommend rolling the donuts in cinnamon sugar after freezing and thawing.
- Thaw: To thaw these apple donuts, set them out at room temperature for a few hours. Then dip them in the melted butter, roll in the cinnamon sugar and enjoy.
M’s Expert Tips
- Use the right apples. The best apples for these donuts are also the best apples for baking other apple desserts. Look for a mix of tart apples like Granny Smith and sweeter apples like Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady apples.
- Shred the apples. Use the side of the grater with the smallest holes that create shreds of apple rather than apple pulp. The smaller the shreds, the better the donut apple batter can be piped into the muffin pan.
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature. This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly.
- Measure the flour properly. I highly recommend using a food scale to get perfectly measured dry ingredients every time.
- Don’t overmix the pumpkin donut batter. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Pipe the apple cake batter. The easiest and cleanest way to get the apple donut batter into the donut pan is to pipe it into the pan. Transfer the batter to a piping bag or ziplock bag and pipe into the pan.
- Cool the donuts in the pan for no longer than 5 - 10 minutes.
- Fully coat the donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture. You must use melted butter to get the cinnamon sugar to fully coat the donuts. For a healthy apple donut version, skip the cinnamon sugar coating and enjoy plain.
FAQs
Baked apple donuts taste like soft and fluffy spiced donuts infused with fresh tart apple flavor.
Apple fritters are fresh apples sliced into chunks, mixed in batter and fried. They are typically topped with a light glaze. Apple donuts are baked or fried donuts filled with fresh apples.
Fried donuts are yeast based. When fried they become light and airy when fried in hot oil. Baked donuts have a denser, more cake like texture and rely on leaveners such as baking powder to provide some lift.
Prepare the apple donut recipe according to the recipe directions. Grease a 24 ct. mini muffin pan or doughnut hole pan. Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the prepared pan about ¾ full. Bake the apple donut holes in a 425 F (218 C) oven for about 7 - 8 minutes. Cool, drip in the melted butter and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Other Apple Recipes to Try
- Puff Pastry Apple Pie
- Apple Bread Pudding
- Apple Cider Donut Muffins
- Apple Cider Cake
- French Apple Cake
- Apple Oatmeal Muffins
If you try this Apple Donuts recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Apple Donuts Recipe
Equipment
- 1 box grater
- 1 whisk
- 1 - 2 6 count donut pans
- 1 ziplock or piping bag optional
Ingredients
Apple Donuts
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ginger and cardamom (total of ¾ teaspoons spices)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (120 g) applesauce
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) melted and slightly cooled butter
- 1 large egg, room temperture
- ¾ cup shredded apples about 1 medium apple
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 (190 C). Grease two 6 ct. donut pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom and salt together until well combined.2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ginger and cardamom, ½ teaspoon salt
- In another large bowl, pour the whisk the melted butter, light brown sugar, an egg, buttermilk, and applesauce together until smooth and well combined. Mix the dry ingredients to the wet until well combined. Peel and shred an apple. Mix the shredded apple into the donut batter.½ cup (120 g) applesauce, ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk, room temperature, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, ¼ cup (60 ml) melted and slightly cooled butter, 1 large egg, room temperture, ¾ cup shredded apples
- Spoon or pipe the apple donut batter into each of the prepared donut cavities in the donut pan. This should fill about ¾ of each cavity of the donut pan.
- Bake the donuts for about 12 - 14 minutes. The donuts are done when the tops bounce back quickly when lightly pressed. Cool the donuts in the pan for 5 minutes before gently taking them out to cool on a cooling rack.
- While the apple donuts cool, melt the butter in one bowl and whisk the cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Dip both sides of the cooled donut into the melted butter. Quickly roll the entire baked donut into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each apple cinnamon donut on the cooling rack. Repeat until all the donuts are coated in the sweet and crunchy coating and enjoy.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
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