Everything you could possibly want in a seasonal Fall favorite – cinnamon, sugar, and apple cider!

Easy Apple Cider Donuts
Every time I post a vegan recipe I am hesitant to use the word ‘vegan.’ Even though it is a vegan recipe, I feel like people look at the word ‘vegan’ like it’s restrictive, requires special ingredients, or it’s time consuming to make. While there may be vegan recipes out there like that, I stay pretty consistent with promoting easy ones that often taste better than the non-vegan version.
You’ll find as you substitute eggs for applesauce that the texture and consistency changes slightly, it will be moist. And get this, when you don’t use dairy as an ingredient it’s harder to notice that it’s over baked. For example, if you were to leave these Baked Apple Cider Donuts in the oven a minute or two longer than you are supposed to, they will still be a little soft and spongy!
Some of my favorite recipes on the blog are vegan, like these Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, Vegan Hulk Spinach Banana Muffins, and the best Vegan Chocolate Brownie Cookies!
You don’t have to consider yourself vegan to try vegan recipes. Just try it because it looks or sounds good! I think you will be pleasantly surprised. This recipe is considered vegan except for the butter. Non-vegans can make it as is and vegans can easily swap the butter for vegan butter!

What You’ll Need for the Donuts:
- 1 1/2 cups Flour
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Apple Cider
- 1/4 cup Soy/Almond Milk
- 3 tbsp Unsweetened Applesauce
- 2 tbsp Butter, Melted
And the Cinnamon/Sugar Coating:
- 4 tbsp Melted Butter
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon

How to Make Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
- Then, pour in 1/2 cup apple cider, 1/4 cup soy/almond milk, 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce, and 2 tbsp melted butter and mix until well combined.
- Spoon batter into the donut pan filling them 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. They should spring back when lightly pressed.
- Allow donuts to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
- While the donuts are baking, prepare the cinnamon/sugar coating by stirring together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, melt 4 tbsp butter.
- When the donuts are ready, dunk both sides into the melted butter then transfer to the cinnamon/sugar mixture and dip both sizes covering thoroughly.

Recipe Notes & Substitutions:
- Batch size – I get 10 donuts out of the recipe, others get 12. It just depends how much batter you use in each donut mold. The fewer donuts you get, the longer the batter needs to bake. If you get 10 donuts then you’ll need to bake these for 10 minutes. If you get 12 donuts then I would check them at 8 minutes.
- Apple cider – I recommend using apple cider because it gives the donuts a stronger apple taste. Apple juice works, but the apple taste will be lighter.
- Butter – You don’t have to dunk into the butter, you could also brush it onto the donuts.
- Vegan version – To make vegan, just substitute the butter with vegan butter.
- Applesauce – Any applesauce works, but using the unsweetened is lighter and then the sweetener/cinnamon that comes in other applesauce won’t override the apple cider.
- Cinnamon/sugar mixture – You will have extra. It’s a lot easier to manage coating the donuts with extra then barely enough.

More Donuts:
- Baked Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Chocolate Zucchini Donut Muffins
- Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts
- Baked Valentine’s Day Donuts
- Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Baked Apple Cider Donuts, everything you could possibly want in a seasonal Fall favorite - cinnamon, sugar, and apple cider!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup Apple Cider
- 1/4 cup Soy/Almond Milk
- 3 tbsp Unsweetened Applesauce
- 2 tbsp Butter, Melted
Cinnamon/Sugar Coating
- 4 tbsp Butter, Melted
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Then, pour in apple cider, soy/almond milk, applesauce, and melted butter and mix until well combined.
- Spoon batter into the donut pan filling them 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. They should spring back when lightly pressed.
- Allow donuts to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
- While the donuts are baking, prepare the cinnamon/sugar coating by stirring together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, melt 4 tbsp butter.
- When the donuts are ready, dunk both sides into the melted butter then transfer to the cinnamon/sugar mixture and dip both sizes thoroughly.
