Soft, fluffy, coated in cinnamon sugar, and bursting with fall flavors, these vegan apple cider doughnuts bake up in minutes (no frying!) and are a delicious way to celebrate the season. Guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth!
I love vegan doughnuts any time of year, but especially during the fall. There's just something really special about sitting on the back patio, wrapped in a cozy sweater with a piping hot cup of coffee and a doughnut. Maybe that explains why so many of my doughnut recipes are fall-themed. There's vegan gingerbread doughnuts, vegan apple crumble doughnuts, vegan apple fritters, and now, perhaps my favorite, vegan apple cider doughnuts!
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You're definitely going to want to whip up a batch of these babies this autumn. They're as easy as can be, so no excuses!
These doughnuts are baked, so just like my classic baked vegan doughnuts, there's no frying involved. The batter takes minutes to whip up and bake, and when they're all done they get brushed in melted vegan butter and dipped in cinnamon sugar, which is delicious, kind of fun, and makes for a beautiful sparkly doughnut.
Ingredients You'll Need
- All-purpose flour. I've also successfully made this recipe with whole wheat pastry flour, so you can use that instead if you'd like.
- Sugar. White sugar is sometimes processed using animal bone char, so it's not always vegan. How can you be sure yours is? Use organic! Organic sugar is processed differently, so it's considered vegan.
- Brown sugar. Same deal. This should be organic.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Spices. We're using a mix of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Salt.
- Apple cider. Whatever you do, don't use apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar will make your doughnuts taste awful, because it's...vinegar. Apple cider on the other hand is something suitable for drinking. If you live in some areas outside of the United States it may be referred to as "cloudy apple juice," or something similar.
- Vegetable oil. If you have another favorite type of baking oil, feel free to use it. Corn oil, canola oil, and melted coconut oil will all work fine.
- Vanilla extract.
- Vegan butter. You should be able to buy this in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores, right next to the regular butter.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F and oil the cavities of your doughnut pan.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt together.
Step 3: Combine the wet ingredients in a separate container: apple cider, oil, and vanilla.
Step 4: Add the wet ingredients to the dry, then whisk or stir everything together until combined.
Step 5: Divide the batter among your oiled doughnut cavities. You'll want to fill each one just a smidge below the brim.
Step 6: Pop the doughnut pan into the oven, and bake your doughnuts until they're puffy and spring back when lightly touched with a finger.
Step 7: Let the doughnuts cool in the pan, on a cooling rack.
Tip: You can take the doughnuts out of the pan if you want to speed up cooling. Just be sure to give them at least a few minutes in the pan to finish setting, and then be very gentle when you remove them. They'll be a bit delicate until they're completely cool.
Step 8: Stir your cinnamon sugar mixture together and melt some vegan butter.
Step 9: Brush each doughnut with the melted butter, covering the entire outer surface.
After brushing, dip both sides of each doughnut into the cinnamon sugar.
Your vegan apple cider doughnuts are ready to enjoy!
Leftovers & Storage
These doughnuts are best enjoyed immediately, but if you have some leftover, simply store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three months.
Variations
- Iced doughnuts. Skip the cinnamon sugar coating, and instead make an icing by combining two cups of powdered sugar, two to three tablespoons of non-dairy milk, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Dip or drizzle the doughnuts in the icing.
- Powdered sugar coating. Instead of the cinnamon-sugar coating, dip each doughnut in powdered sugar. Omit the butter for this option.
- Add fresh apples. Stir in a cup of very finely diced fresh apples into the batter.
- Caramel drizzle. Instead of the cinnamon sugar coating, drizzle your doughnuts with vegan caramel sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't made a gluten-free version, but I've had luck with similar recipes using an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
You can bake the batter in a muffin tin, or even a mini muffin tin to make vegan doughnut holes.
Possibly! Applesauce usually works as a substitute for oil, though I haven't tried it in this particular recipe, so no promises.
More Apple Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Apple Cider Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the Doughnuts
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
- ¼ cup organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- â…” cup apple cider (not apple cider vinegar, Note 1)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or your favorite baking oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Coating
- ½ cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly oil ten cavities of a twelve cavity doughnut pan or a couple of six cavity doughnut pans.
- To make the batter, first whisk the flour, sugar brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
- Stir the apple cider, oil, and vanilla together in a separate bowl or large liquid measuring cup.
- Add the cider mixture to the flour mixture. Whisk or stir the ingredients together just until fully mixed.
- Spoon (or pipe, using a pastry bag) the batter into the oiled doughnut cavities, filling each cavity to just below the brim.
- Bake the doughnuts for about 12 to 14 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched.
- Transfer the doughnut pan to a cooling rack and allow the doughnuts to cool.
- While the doughnuts cool, stir the sugar and cinnamon for the coating together in a small bowl.
- Once cool, brush each doughnut with melted butter, then dip it in the cinnamon sugar mixture, gently rolling it around until fully coated.
- Serve.
Notes
- This ingredient is a product suitable for drinking that is typically referred to as "apple cider" in the United States and Canada. In some other regions it may be called "cloudy apple juice" or something similar. Do not use apple cider vinegar or your doughnuts will not turn out right.
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Is apple cider the same as apple cider vinegar?
It's not. Apple cider vinegar is normally sold with the vinegars and salad dressings. (The doughnuts would come out way too tart if you used it!) Apple cider on the other hand is a drink. You'll usually find it in the produce aisle near the apples.
Perfect apple cider donuts!
I am such a fan of baked donuts I have one of those large pans that bakes 20 donuts at a time. I doubled the recipe & ended up with 14 delicious donuts. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Kathy!
Hi! Any change at all for high altitude??? I’m in Denver....
thank you!!
I'm afraid I don't have much experience with high altitude baking! My best suggestion would be to try the guidelines in this article: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
I made 4 batches in one week! (Because of course, I needed to make use of all the apple cider). I had to make sure to not let them cook longer than 12-13 minutes, or they would be dry. I also threw in 2 TB flax seed. Towards the last batch, I only had 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, so I substituted oat flour and they came out great, just a little more dense!
Thank you for the amazing recipes!
I meant whole wheat flour, not all purpose! :)
Wow! I'm so glad you're enjoying them! Glad to hear they work with oat flour - that's one of my favorites for baking lately. Thanks Jess!
This is such a wonderful recipe! Doughnuts were moist and dense in all the right ways! Thanks for sharing.
Yay!! I'm so glad you enjoyed them!!
Would this work with apple sauce instead of oil? Trying to stay clear of processed fats but it’s hard finding yummy wfpb desserts 😊
I think so, but I haven't tried myself so I can't be totally sure. I'd love to hear how it works out if you do!
I made these yesterday and they are delicious! Super hard to resist. I doubled the batch brought half to visit family. My almost 10 year old nephew took one bite and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up -- and that's not easy to get!! I'm planning to make up a double batch to bring to the office too. I can always rely on your recipes -- thanks for another great one.
Yay!! I'm always happy to hear when a recipe passes the kid test. :) Glad they were a hit! Thanks Barb!
Do you think I could make these as mini muffins, since I don't have a donut pan?
Yup! I've made other doughnut recipes in muffin pans and it always works. I've never done mini muffins though, so I'm not sure of the cook time. I'd start checking them at 8-9 minutes and every couple minutes after that.