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These delicious cinnamon apple baked donuts with apple cider glaze are so simple to make. Ready from start to finish in under 30 minutes and with a perfect apple cider glaze on top! The perfect fall breakfast!
I am a full on cake donut fan. Don’t give me the air filled yeast donuts. No thanks.
These cinnamon apple baked donuts make for the perfect moist, fluffy more cake like donut that is the very best fall recipe!
When apple season is in full swing, they become my Frank’s Red Hot–ya know, I put that $#&@ on everything. Literally. Apple Pie Overnight Oats, Apple Pancakes, Apple Arugula Salad, and definitely an Apple Dump Cake or two!
Why We Love These Baked APple Donuts
Simple fall baking either includes apples or pumpkin for me. I love the ease of a freshly baked donut, and these cinnamon apple donuts are all the fall flavor packed into a simple little bite that is ready from start to finish in under 30 minutes! The perfect breakfast recipe or a little after school treat and more!
These apple baked donuts with apple cider glaze:
- are kid friendly from start to finish–a perfect way to get the kids in the kitchen
- include juicy apples baked right into the donuts.
- 15 minutes of prep, tops.
- three words: apple cider glaze. Sure you can dust these with cinnamon sugar, but the apple cider glaze makes them alllll the better!
Ingredient Notes
- I use regular all-purpose flour but imagine that a 1:1 gluten free flour will sub well.
- Plain Greek yogurt is what I prefer but you could use a vanilla Greek yogurt instead.
- As for your apples, choose your favorite. I typically opt for Fuji apples or Gala because that is what we always have on hand. Lots of apples are great options for baking!
- Feel free to add a pinch of nutmeg, cloves, allspice etc. to add another level of flavor to these donuts
How to make these apple cider donuts
Step 1: Whisk together the wet ingredients plus the sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.
Step 2: Then combine the dry and wet and stir to combine. No need to over stir the dry and the wet, just enough until they are incorporated.
Step 3: Fold in the apples. Seriously, these baked apple cider donuts don’t get much easier, do you agree??
Step 4: From there, I like to pipe mine into the donut pan for less mess, but you can spoon them if you prefer. Make sure the donut pan is sprayed well! Bake for about 10 minutes.
Step 5: Once they are baked, allow the apple donuts to cool for several minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to prep for the glaze.
Step 6: Once cooled, whisk glaze ingredients together and dunk the donuts in to coat. You can alternatively roll them in a cinnamon sugar mixture which is amazing too! I prefer a really nice and thick glaze. You can make it thinner if you prefer. I have had better luck spreading the glaze across the donuts versus dunking them into the bowl of icing.
Recipe Tips
If you don’t have any apple cider, simply use milk or cream for the liquid in the glaze. I would not opt for apple juice as I find to have much less flavor, but if you do have it, you could still use it. For a richer flavor, you can reduce the apple cider but that will take some time and I want to eat these donuts while they are still warm!
For a thick glaze to set, you want the donuts COMPLETELY cooled before you ice them. If not, the glaze will melt into the donuts and then set a bit. It’s honestly whatever you prefer.
I use plain Greek yogurt in my apple cinnamon donuts. You could use a vanilla Greek yogurt as well and have great results.
Make sure to spray the top of your donut pan as well. That way it is easy to get the donuts out in case they bake over at all. You can grease the pan with butter if preferred too!
Storage
Store leftover donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for about 5 days. To freeze, just make sure they are completely cooled before transferring to the freezer. We like to individually wrap them and then place in a freezer bag.
Other Breakfast Recipes
- Greek Yogurt Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
- The Easiest Homemade Pop Tarts
- Carrot Cake Donuts
- Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Cookies
- Maple Bacon French Toast Muffins
- Triple Vanilla Donuts with Maple Vanilla Glaze
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Apple Baked Donuts with Apple Cider Glaze
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 1 cup flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- ⅓ cup plain Greek Yogurt
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 apple, med-small, grated, I prefer gala or fuji
- 2-3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- 1½ cup powdered sugar, more as needed
- 2-3 Tbsp warmed apple cider*
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- dash of cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grate apples, or you can very small dice them. Leave the skin on or peel, up to you!
- In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, butter and yogurt.
- In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, flour, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
- Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients and then fold in apples.
- Spoon or pipe batter into a greased donut pan and bake for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely and then whisk together glaze ingredients. Spread the glaze over top of the donuts or dunk them in and lay it on thick. You can alternatively stir about ½ tsp cinnamon with ½ cup of sugar and coat each donut in the mixture.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Can you make these into muffins? I don’t have a donut pan (and would rather not buy and have to store a single function item). Is there something else I could use instead, because they look amazing!!
Yes you totally could! I don’t know the exact time to bake though so I’d check in at about 12 minutes and then every few minutes from there just to make sure you don’t over bake. I’ll likely be testing them soon making into muffins and add it in the tips!
So good and so simple to make. These had great rise and texture plus the maximum apple flavor I was hoping for. Since I use powdered buttermilk, I added it to the dry ingredients. Then I used the appropriate amount of apple cider instead of the water to make the buttermilk. .
So happy to hear you loved them. What a great idea on the buttermilk and cider! Yum!
Can you use regular yogurt
Hi! From what I just read, you should be able to sub regular yogurt with no issues. Let me know how it goes!
Yum! These look so rich, flavorful, and hearty – just how I like baked goods. And I keep all of these ingredients on hand – except for the Greek yogurt, but that’s an easy swap!
For sure! Could easily be made dairy free!
Oh, YUM! Love all things apple, cinnamon, and fall right now. These would be perfect and would make my house smell amazing!
Yes, the House aroma is a bonus!
Apples are my favorite. This sounds like a delicious recipe.
Thanks!