Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Baked Apple Cider Donuts with Less Fat

This recipe is from Beach House Bakingby Lei Shishak. The recipes are all very approachable. The kind of desserts you really want to eat. Many are comfort food, some have a little twist. These donuts are baked and showcase the fabulous fall flavors of apple cider and cinnamon. Some baked donuts are dry affairs. The inclusion of buttermilk and canola oil give these a bit of a spring and a great cakey texture. Still, donuts are always best eaten ASAP. I think serving within 15 minutes of coming out of the oven is ideal. The Wilton pan that Lei mentions forms the donuts perfectly (LINK). Note that the recipe makes 8 donuts while the pan holds 6. You can buy 2 pans or hold some batter back for a second round in the oven. Check out Lei’s Snickerdoodles, too.

Excerpted with permission from Beach House Baking: An Endless Summer of Delicious Dessertsby Lei Shishak. Photographs by Chau Vuong. Copyright 2014, Skyhorse Publishing.

Every fall, my family and I would visit our favorite apple orchard in New Jersey. I remember as a child peering into their bakery cases packed with rows of sugarcoated apple cider donuts. We would buy a bag full of donuts, take them home, and savor each one. After moving out West, I didn’t make it back there as often as I wanted to and my annual apple cider donut cravings went unfulfilled. After numerous failed attempts to get them to share their recipe with me, I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to develop my own version to satisfy my craving every time apple season rolled around. Well, I’m over the moon excited about the outcome. These donuts are light, fluffy, and sugary with a hint of autumn. These donuts stay soft for days if you can resist them that long!