Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
Packed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, these vegan Baked Apple Cider Donuts are a perfect way to welcome in the fall. Made in just 25 minutes for a delicious treat.
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Originally published 9/15/2013. Last updated on 9/12/2018
Have I mentioned how much I love fall?
With the kids finishing the first month of school, temperatures beginning to drop, and the days getting noticeably shorter, I couldn’t be more excited.
Fall is both a wonderfully nostalgic time for me, as I reflect on past years and old family traditions, while simultaneously representing new beginnings and fresh starts. There is a world of potential ahead of us!
So, for the next few months, you will find me over here in pure bliss. But before I get too lost in the glory of it all, where were we?
Oh right, Vegan Apple Cider Donuts!
Apple Cider Donuts {Video}
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
Making baked donuts is incredibly easy and satisfying. Who doesn’t love a soft and warm sweet pastry filled with herbs and dipped in the glaze? And better yet, they are so simple to master.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – For a gluten-free option, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Baking Powder & Soda
- Spices – Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt
- Maple Syrup
- Apple Cider – This recipe calls for apple cider or apple juice, not apple cider vinegar.
- Applesauce – This is the binder of the recipe. You could replace it with 1/3 cup mashed banana, 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree, or a variety of other egg replacers.
- Oil – This recipe calls for coconut oil because it doesn’t add flavor. You can also use avocado, olive, or canola oil. If you want to eliminate the oil altogether, swap it out for the same amount of applesauce.
- Vanilla Extract
- Granulate & Powdered Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
Recommended Equipment
Most importantly, you will need a couple of donuts pans. With a donut pan you can make all the baked donuts you want this fall.
It’s also nice to have is a good piping bag. When baking donuts (rather than frying) the batter is soft like cake and will need to be piped in the donut pans. You can get reusable piping bags or one-use plastic bags. Either way, they are super cheap and nice to have on hand.
In addition, you’ll need basic kitchen equipment such as a mixing bowl, utensils, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to make Apple Cider Donuts
Step one – Make the Batter
First, mix your dry ingredients together. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. You don’t want to over mix or your doughnut will become tough rather than tender.
Step Two – Bake the Donuts
The batter will be soft, so a piping bag is the best option here. If you don’t have one, you can make a makeshift piping bag by pouring your batter into a ziplock bag, cutting off the tip, and piping from there.
Bake the donuts for just about 8-10 minutes. When done the dough should spring back when gently pressed.
Step Three – Glaze the Donuts
Once the donuts are ready, pull them out of the oven and flip them onto a wire cooling rack.
Let them cool 10 minutes before dipping them into your glaze and sprinkling them with cinnamon sugar.
Pro Tip: This cooling time is necessary otherwise the donuts might crumble and the glaze will definitely melt off.
Serving and Storing
Serve donuts immediately as a morning pastry or afternoon snack. Serve with a homemade Chai Latte.
Store leftover donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Tips and Tricks
- Generously spray the donut pan before piping in the batter to ensure the donuts do not stick to the pan.
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Take care not to overmix the batter. Overmixed batter becomes tough and gummy.
- For cleanest results, pipe in the batter with a piping bag.
- Let the donuts rest in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping them onto a wire cooling rack. Let donuts cool completely before dipping them in the glaze to prevent the glaze from melting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I omit the oil?
Sure. If you would like to make any of these recipes oil-free, simply swap out the oil for additional applesauce at a 1:1 ratio.
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
For sure! For gluten-free doughnuts, I recommend using a 1:1 baking blend.
I don’t have a doughnut pan. Would these work as muffins?
Yes! When making muffins, I prefer using a mini-muffin pan (<<affiliate link) for these as they do tend to be a bit sweeter than muffins.
More Vegan Donut Recipes
- Vegan Maple Bacon Donuts
- Orange Poppy Seed Donuts with Chocolate Ganache
- Double Chocolate Pistachio Donuts
- Cinnamon Spice Donuts
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and rate it below. If you made any substitutions, let us know how it turned out!
Packed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, these vegan Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts are a perfect way to welcome in the fall. Made in just 20 minutes for the perfect autumnal treat.
Cuisine: Vegan
Keyword: Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
Servings: 6 doughnuts
Calories: 237 kcal
Author: Sarah McMinn
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a donut pan and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together maple syrup, apple cider, apple sauce, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.
Spoon or pipe the batter into the prepared donut pan, filling each mold about 3/4 full.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the donuts springs back when gently pressed. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring doughnuts onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and apple cider in a small shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, combine ingredients for cinnamon sugar topping.
Once doughnuts have cooled, dip the tops of each doughnut into the glaze. Immediately sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Let the glaze harden and enjoy!
Recipe Video
Serving and Storing - Serve donuts immediately as a morning pastry or afternoon snack. Store leftover donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months. When ready to eat, pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours
Recipe Tips
- Generously spray the donut pan before piping in the batter to ensure the donuts do not stick to the pan.
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Let the donuts rest in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping them onto a wire cooling rack. Let donuts cool completely before dipping them in the glaze to prevent the glaze from melting.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 
Pam says
I’m usually not much of a chef, but these came out great! My tip is to make sure all ingredients are at room temp (I keep cider & maple syrup in the fridge,so I warmed them up).
Lynn Patterson says
Omg these are amazing and so easy! Unfortunately I read Apple cider as vinegar but they were delicious so I’ve made them again this way.
haley says
sooo good! just made them today for thanksgiving and omg
Chewli says
Just tried them and I love the taste but unfortunately the consistency turned out to be like a browny and very dense not as fluffy as a donut should be. I used honey instead of maple syrup maybe that’s the fault but I will try them again as the taste is SO good!
Andrea says
Just made these, had such a craving but no apple cider so chopped up two small macintosh apples and added a tiny bit more applesauce, also too lazy, oh well, to melt the oil so used vegetable oil. what a yummy , moist recipe!!
Brittany Cords says
Do you think these would fair well being packed and brought camping? What is the best way to store these if made ahead of time?
Sarah says
Yeah, I think they would be fine. To pack them, let them first cool completely, then just pack them in an airtight container. They should be kept at room temperature. Enjoy!
Traci says
Made these yesterday and they’re so delicious! Had to substitute EVOO, as I can’t have coconut oil, and didn’t notice a difference. Made double the batch to share and coworkers are already requesting more!
Caitlin M says
Made these yesterday and they were DELICIOUS! Doubled the recipe for sharing and couldn’t find apple cider so substituted some apple juice and lemon juice- can’t wait to make again!
Angela says
Can I leave the oil out? I don’t ever buy oil anymore and do t want to start!
Sarah says
I’ve never made it without the oil. You couldn’t do it without substituting it for something else (without significantly changing the texture) and I don’t know what to recommend without personally trying it.
Kimberly says
Just made these yesterday, and have to say they were absolutely amazing! Thank you so much! For reference for other folks, I used fresh ground wheat: 4 oz of soft white and .25 oz of hard white. A bonus was that the 6-donut pan fits in my Breville Smart Oven, so no need to heat up the big oven. 🙂 THANKS AGAIN!!
Kristen says
These are so good!!! I am not vegan but try to eat fairly clean and liked that the base recipe used only maple syrup vs refined sugar. I did reduce down a cup of apple cider so it was more of a syrup. Also I used a 1:1. Gf flour, avacado oil instead of canola and dusted with some coconut Sugar with cinnamon and no glaze as these were for younger kids and less sugar is better 😉 they were delish! Wow!
Martina says
I don’t know what I did but they turned out more than bad. They tasted like flour and vinegar only.. I had to throw them all away.
Sabrina says
Did you use apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider (the drink)??? That would be my only idea of what went wrong coming from your comment as there is no vinegar at all in this recipe. Apple cider is kinda like fresh pressed apple juice.
B says
Unfortunately, these did not work for me. The mixture baked, but turned out the consistency of a dense muffin. They did not taste like, or resemble a donut. I had to throw them out. I also had to cook them for longer than the recipe stated because they were still very pale and uncooked after 8-10 minutes.
Sarah says
I’m sorry to hear that. Without more information I’m not sure why that would have happened.
Noel says
Would this work with coconut flour or almond flour? And is there any sugar substitute I can use?
Alex says
I am seriously in awe. These look so good! FOR BREAKFAST TOO. Yummy.
kerri says
I am baking for a large vegsn bake sale this Friday night.
This recipe sounds perfect! in fact, its 7am here and I am about to try it out. Sometimes, a girl just has to bake. I plan on writing a review after I’ve made them this morning. In case I forget, I just want to say thank you 🙂
Nicole @ Just Live It says
I made these donuts, and they were a HUGE hit! (Even my husband loved them). 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Shanna says
Can I use a baby cakes donut maker.
Sarah says
I just googled babycakes donut maker (because I had never heard of it before) first of all, looks awesome. I probably should invest in one! Secondly because I haven’t used one before I can’t say for sure. I think it’s worth trying for sure though. Let me know how it turns out!
Deryn @ Running on Real Food says
Oh my goodness. These look awesome. I think it’s about time I picked up a donut tray and give these a try!! LOVE your site, by the way 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks Deryn! I hope you find a donut tray and can enjoy them.
Amber says
I made this recipe today to use up some of my leftover spices! I substituted normal all purpose flour for GF all purpose and they were a huge success! I added in 4 tablespoons of white chia seeds and a teaspoon of vanilla to the sugar glaze. Huge hit. Excellent recipe. I had a mini donut pan so the mix made 10 minis.
Sarah says
Thanks! It’s great to know you could sub in gf flour with no problem.
Christy says
YUM, these were so good! The whole fam loved them. Can’t wait to try your other donut recipes and check out your site. I got a donut pan for Christmas and was looking for some good vegan recipes!
origami_canoe says
I made these and they were AMAZING! My family absolutely loved them! I didn’t have a donut pan, so I made cupcakes, and they were so fluffy and delicious!
angela @ another bite please says
I just made these…my first try at baked donuts…and they were a huge hit. the whole family loved them! so happy this vegan version was amazing!!!! now i need to whip up six more!
DessertForTwo says
I love these! I had all the ingredients for them in my pantry. So good! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Laurie | Hello Foxy says
I just made these following the recipe exactly and they were SO delicious! Everyone loved them. I liked them so much that I made another batch the same day! One tip for people: if you double the donut recipe, you do NOT need to double the cinnamon sugar and frosting recipes. A single recipe of each will get you through at least two batches of donuts, probably more.
Also, I made these with a regular-sized donut pan and it made 6 donuts exactly. When I doubled the recipe, it made 12! (Math!)
Laurie | Hello Foxy says
p.s. I’m not vegan and neither were most of the people that I made them for!
Mallory says
As a red headed, pale skinned, freckled gal, I agree 🙂 Fall is the BEST! Top it off with the beautiful fall colors here in the Maritimes, and why would you ever need the other 3 seasons! I just stumbled across your blog and I cannot wait to start trying these recipes!! I am so thankful for people like you who help break the vegan stigma. Happy Fall 🙂
Sarah says
Happy Fall to you too, Mallory!
Larry says
Made these for my daughter’s preschool class, one of the kids has an egg allergy so these were perfect. Used a Wilton mini donut pan and got just under 3 dozen, nice rise, very light and fluffy.
I skipped the glaze and went for a light dust of cinnamon sugar, have you ever seen a room full of 3 year olds on too much sugar? Without the glaze they were a little light on the cider flavor, next time I’ll boil down a cup to make it stronger (ie cider syrup) and use apple butter in place of the apple sauce.
Sarah says
I like the idea of reducing the cider – I will certainly try that next time as well!
Alexandra says
What kind of a dough does this make? I’m living in on-campus housing so I’ve got a pretty minimal kitchen and I’d like to keep it that way, so I don’t have a doughnut mould and I don’t really want to get one 🙂
I have normal pans/trays; does it have enough substance to drop on a tray and make a sort of filled-doughnut shape? Or should I get something with walls, like a cupcake tray?
Thanks!
Sarah says
A muffin/cupcake pan would work best. It’s a soft batter (like cake) so unfortunately would not hold a shape. Good Luck!
Alexandra says
wow, thanks for your prompt reply! I’ll try it with a cupcake tray, then, and post back how it worked. Thank you!
Jamie says
Looking forward to trying this recipe. I just made pumpkin donut holes using a mini muffin pan.
Angela says
I made these today as donuts and a couple weeks ago as muffins (just bought a muffin pan). They’re great! I threw in a tablespoon of apple butter instead of the canola oil. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Faith says
These taste perfect! 😀 My kids (3 and 1) had so much fun helping me make them! I don’t have a donut pan so I used a muffin tin that I oiled and floured. They turned out to be giant donut holes. (No complaints really) I baked them for 15 minutes. The only other thing I changed was using oat flour because that’s all I had and I couldn’t wait! And 1/3 amount of the maple syrup because again, I couldn’t wait. I will be making more soon, for sure! With all ingredients. 🙂 I love the glaze! So simple but, so delicious. I have to remember it for all the treats this time of year. Great recipe! I loved how quick, easy yet delicious it was! Thank you, thank you!
Sharon says
Great recipe, Sarah! I made these for my friend’s son, who has multiple life threatening food allergies. All of the ingredients were on his safe list. I omitted the maple syrup because I didn’t have any on hand. I just bumped up in the cider and added a splash of soy milk to replace that moisture. They came out perfectly. 🙂
Andrea says
So happy I found your website! I was wondering what kind of apple cider you used?
Sarah says
I’m glad you found me too! I’m not sure of the brand. I buy the apple cider that’s in the non-refrigerated juice section. It’s usually right next to the apple juice. But any apple cider (or apple juice) would work for the recipe.
Kristen says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! How many doughnuts does it yield?
Sarah says
6, which is sadly the only size of donut pan I’ve found.
Marla says
I may be just a little bit obsessed with this recipe right now. I’ve made them a BUNCH of times – always with a combination of white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour. One of the times I was…a bit distracted, forgot the apple sauce, and then wondered why the batter was so dry (the batter is usually so fluffy and perfect) so I dumped in extra cider and they came out…not bad at all! And another time, the maple syrup bottle was nearly empty so I mixed what was left with a simple syrup I’d made previously – and THAT worked very well. Thank you SO MUCH.
William Burnside says
These doughnuts look awesome and I love that they’re baked instead of fried! I too don’t have a doughnut pan, but I imagine I could just use a muffin pan like others have mentioned. These would be awesome on one of our cool Chicago fall evenings along with a mug of mulled apple cider. Yum!
Christina says
These look amazing!!
Is it possible to somehow make these without a donut pan? I don’t have one. Could I just cut the center out with something and then bake them on a cookie sheet?
Sarah says
Thanks Christina! The dough is pretty soft, so it would be hard to make without a donut pan. You could try piping it in a donut shape on a parchment lined cookie sheet – that would work better than cutting a hole out of the middle. You could also use the batter to make muffins – but then you would want to double the batch because it only makes 6 donuts (to fit in the pan) and muffins will take more batter.
Good luck! Let me know if anything works out.
Christina says
Ooh, I like the muffin idea! I think I am going to try that this weekend, thanks!
Christina says
The muffins came out great! I ended up baking them longer than the donuts (about 20 minutes total). The kids love them!
Maureen says
Sounds delicious ! Just curious if you mixed the batter by hand or used a stand mixer which I have? Thanks, can’t wait to try this recipe.
Sarah says
I just mixed it by hand. The batter is a small amount so it seemed easier to do it by hand. Either would work, you would just want to make sure not to over-mix it in a stand up mixer.
Maureen says
These came out picture perfect and tasted amazing! Thank you for the great recipe Sarah. 🙂
Savita says
Hi,
I just made your recipe today!!! Absolutely phenomenal!! Even though I didn’t have some of the ingredients, I am amazed how amazing these were. I can only imagine how delicious they would be if I following it exactly.
Instead of allspice (which I didn’t have,) I added a pinch of ground cloves. I also didn’t have maple syrup so I just substituted coconut sugar and added some extra apple cider. I can’t believe how moist and delicious they were. Thank you so much!! I’m not a baker by any means, but this recipe was so easy and fantastic.
Sarah says
Savita, thank you so much for letting me know how you liked them – and I’m so glad you did. Your comment makes me think I should make another batch this week…
Venus says
Hi Sarah,
I made this last night so they would be ready for breakfast this morning… I have to say that I Absolutely love them!!!… I didn’t chance any ingredients ( i think changing the recipe makes it lose its “essence”), anyways, I posted on Instamatic and mentioned you.
What I’m having a little hard time though is with the glaze… It looks to me like the donut absorbs the glaze… I tried adding more confectioners sugar, but i don’t want them to be too sweet.. any suggestions? I want them to look like yours 🙂
Sarah says
Hey Venus,
I’m glad you liked them. Did you wait until the donuts were completely cooled before dipping them? Perhaps I should clarify that. Also if it still seems too runny, you can add more powdered sugar (or less apple cider) and because the donuts themselves are very sweet I think it would be okay. Hope that helps!
Matt says
Sarah! These look absolutely phenomenal. I was looking through the blog at work and all my co-workers were standing behind me freaking out over how awesome they look. We have been going through a doughnut phase here at work where we talk about them all the time. My buddy Marcus has been hankering non-stop for the doughsant/cronut hybrid pastries that are all the rage lately!
Anyway, these look amazing! Definitely want to try them out. 😀
Sarah says
Thanks Matt! I haven’t heard about the doughsant/cronut yet, but that sounds AMAZING! I may have to try out some recipes…
Kailley @ Kailley's Kitchen says
I’ve been scouring the internet for the ideal-sounding cider doughnut recipe, and I think I’ve finally found it! This recipe sounds as spectacular as your photos look– can’t wait to give it a try!
Sarah says
I’m glad you found me Kailley. Hope you like the doughnuts!
Bobbie {the vegan crew} says
Give me a week or two and I will be incredibly excited for fall, but I’m currently still relishing all things summer (probably due to the unseasonably cool weather we’ve had recently). Once that happens however, I’ll be giving these a try — the donuts look fantastic!
Sarah says
It’s totally understandable that many people are still enjoying the final days of summer- we do still have 3 weeks until it’s official. Enjoy the end of your summer while I enjoy the beginning of my fall! 🙂
becca says
Do you think this recipe would work using a GF all-purpose flour?
Sarah says
I would think so. As far as I know GF AP flour is supposed to substitute pretty well in basic baking recipes. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Tiffany says
I tried it this morn using gf all purpose flour and the apple sauce didn’t allow the doughnuts to rise that much…..but they were good anyway! Is there something else we can sub for the applesauce?
Sarah says
Interesting. I’ve never had that issue with the donuts. You could try using chickpea flour or a chia egg – both which are referenced here: https://www.mydarlingvegan.com/replacing-eggs/ you could also just add 1/8th tsp of baking soda and see if that helps.
Erin S says
These donuts are making me drool just thinking about them. They look so pretty!
Lisa says
Ah… I remember all those fall events as well–and a few others besides! This recipe looks amazing. I don’t have a donut pan, but imagine I could improvise and make them square cakes or muffins… but the donut is so classic here! Love your pictures and everything about this blog.
Sarah says
Thanks Mom!
I was thinking about mentioning a muffin option as I think it would work well – you would want to double the batch because muffins will use more batter and I imagine you’d want more than 3-4 muffins.
Allison says
I did make this recipe in a muffin pan and it was a great success!! The little muff-onuts, as I lovingly call them, turned out so light inside with a soft, thin crispy layer on the outside. I hand-greased each muffin tin with a bit of extra virgin coconut oil and there was no coconut flavor imparted to the final product, so no worries there. I came out with 12 muffins (approx 1in. tall each after baking) and they easily came out of the pan with no problems to finish cooling on a cooling rack. I also substituted apple butter for the apple sauce because I happened to have some on hand, and this worked just fine. I cooked them for 10.5 minutes at 350 degrees and the oven was fully preheated when I put them in there. So, if you’re like me and don’t own a donut pan and don’t want to buy one, then no fear– you can use a muffin pan and you will still have great results!
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing how it worked out Allison! I have had some other people mention the apple butter and I think it’s a good idea – it gives a stronger apple taste.
Shannon says
I am so glad it’s gonna start cooling down soon. My tea drawer is ready for cool mornings. These donuts would be perfect for dunking in some black tea!
Lou says
Hi there! I have nominated you for the Shine On Blogger award, because I think your blog is just plain groovy. As per the instructions given to me, you now need to tell us seven things about your lovely self, and then nominate seven other bloggers that you think take the cake! If you want to see how I did it, the link to my post is here:
http://freshpickedvegan.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/shiny/
Thanks for sharing your vision with the world!
Sarah says
Thanks for the nomination Lou. And now I know about your blog, so even better!
LizW says
As a fellow pale-skinned, freckle-faced Oregonian, I agree 100%! I LOVE the cool, cloudy fall 🙂 And I can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Sarah says
Ah, a kindred spirit! I only recently started admitting I didn’t like summer when I realized I spend most of it indoors hiding from the sun. 🙂