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Apple Donuts, a year-round favorite, is especially popular as the temperatures cool and summer gives way to fall. With a soft, pillowy inside and a sweet, crunchy outside, these delicious Cinnamon Sugar Baked Apple Donuts are made with applesauce and pair perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or fresh out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Homemade Apple Donuts
Simple, homemade, delicious apple donuts. To be honest with you guys, which I am, I can think of few things better. It’s funny; donuts are one of those delicious treats that are so easily forgotten, at least for me. This makes no sense since donuts, especially these baked apple donuts, are definitely not forgettable. Take one bite of these soft, fluffy, apply pillows, and you’ll be hooked. With nothing artificial, they’re nothing like store-bought donuts.
The hardest part will be eating just one!
Ingredients in these Apple Donuts
- Flour – We’re using regular all-purpose flour. For a gluten-free version, swap regular flour for a gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda
- Ground Cinnamon and nutmeg– This recipe doesn’t require more than a little ground cinnamon and nutmeg to have yummy fall flavors. Of course, feel free to swap the ground cinnamon for apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice if preferred.
- Butter – Butter helps make these donuts moist and cake-like. The butter also adds a delicious buttery flavor.
- Eggs – Eggs keep the donuts together, preventing them from crumbling apart.
- Granulated Sugar – For sweetness!
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk helps keep baked goods moist and flavorful.
- Applesauce and Grated Apple – For yummy apple flavor!
Tools to Make Apple Donuts
Now, there are a few things that are pretty important when making these delicious, fantastic, fall-flavored donuts.
- Donut Baking Pan– This is the donut pan that I use, and it works great. You can also try using a silicone donut baking pan for easier removal.
- Cheese grater – If it works for cheese, it will work for the apples.
- Large zip-lock bag – The batter is quite thick and sticky, so it’s much easier to get the apple batter into the donut mold by squeezing it through a small slit in a zip-lock bag.
How to Make Apple Donuts
- Preheat oven, grease donut pan, and grate apple. Set everything aside.
- Prepare the batter.
- Transfer the batter for the apple donuts to a large ziplock bag and seal, removing all air. Snip off a small corner of the bag.
- Gently squeeze batter into the cavities of the donut hole pan.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes.
- As the donuts bake, melt the butter in one bowl and mix together the cinnamon and the sugar in another.
- Remove the donuts from the pan, brush with melted butter, and coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
One important thing to note about these donuts (and all donuts) is that they taste best when eaten just after baking. Ideally, when they’re still warm, but definitely within the first 12-24 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, not necessarily. However, they are baked rather than fried, so they are healthier than regular fried donuts.
Absolutely! Instead of using a donut pan, lightly grease a mini muffin pan and bake in a preheated 400℉ oven for 8-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also bake them in a regular muffin pan. Start at 400℉ for 8 minutes, then 350℉ for another 6-8 minutes.
Donuts taste best when eaten just after baking. Ideally, when they’re still warm, but definitely within the first 12-24 hours. If you don’t expect to finish all 18 donuts on the same day, my advice is to keep the batter stored in the refrigerator and bake the remaining donuts the next day. If you do bake them all in one go, store any leftovers in a sealed, airtight container for maximum freshness!
More Apple Recipes,
- Homemade Applesauce Recipe
- Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats
- Fried Apples Recipe (How to Make Fried Apples)
- Apple Balsamic Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Marinated Salmon Apple Salad
- Herbed Apple and Pumpernickel Stuffing
If you try making this Apple Cinnamon Baked Apple Donuts Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
Cinnamon Sugar Baked Apple Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
For the Apple Doughnuts
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 0.75 cup granulated sugar
- .5 teaspoon nutmeg
- 0.5 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1.5 cups fresh apple, peeled, cored, and grated
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 4 tablespoon salted butter, melted, plus more as needed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Set aside these dry ingredients.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, granulated sugar, buttermilk, nutmeg, and applesauce. Mix until just combined.
- Stir in the grated apples, then stir in the dry ingredients from step 2, and transfer the batter to a large ziplock bag. Squeeze out all of the air and snip one corner, creating a small hole. Spray the donut hole pan with a light layer of non-stick cooking spray.
- Squeeze batter into the cavities of the donut hole pan and transfer to the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes.
- As the donuts are baking, combine the sugar with the ground cinnamon and melt approximately 4 tablespoons of butter in a small dish.
- When the donuts have finished baking, remove them from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes. Brush with the melted butter and coat in the cinnamon sugar topping. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Store any leftover donuts in a zip-lock bag or container with a tight-fitting lid. Best when enjoyed within 24 hours.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I accidentally bought regular apple sauce instead of no sugar added… 😬. Can I lessen the sugar to adjust?
absolutely 🙂
I made these with Rocket apples (skins on), and they were delicious. I love that they are not overly sweet; they are just right. The recipe is a keeper.
Could these be made with a non-dairy milk?
While I have not tried making these baked apple donuts with non-dairy milk, I don’t see why not.
Since the recipe as written calls for buttermilk, you will need to stir in half a tablespoon to one tablespoon of lemon juice into the milk alternative, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until thickened/curled 🙂
These are amazing. So moist and very delicious. I used Gravenstein apples from our own tree plus homemade applesauce I had made for dinner the night before – also made from our Gravensteins. I can’t say enough how delicious they were – hot out of the oven, as well as after they cooled off. Thank you for this recipe. I will make these again and again.
Thanks, Teena, I agree that fresh apples do turn out moist and delicious donuts in this recipe 🙂
These are delicious 😋. I used 1 medium Braeburn apple – I didn’t compress it down in my measuring cup tho. Also this is a very thick batter think I’ll use my stand mixer next time. I ended up with 12 doughnuts and 24 mini muffins I call them doughnut holes.
Will make them again. Thx!
Thanks for the delicious feedback Mary 🙂
These just didn’t turn out for me. I have made donuts several times in the past. Normally the batter is slightly thicker than cake batter. Is 4c of flour correct? .5 cup buttermilk? The batter was really thick and gluten. There was no way I was going to pipe the batter into the donut tins. Thanks.
What are the best kind of apples to use for baking these?
Great question Sara, any kind of apple will work with this recipe, so I would suggest your favorite kind of apple 😀
I am making these very soon. How many apples did you use for the 1 1\2 cup grated apples? Thanks!
Great question Beverly! It really depends on the size of the apples. Again depending on the size of the apples, at least 2 apples should net about 1.5 cups, but you should probably have at least 3 to be safe 🙂
The video shows vanilla being added but it is not in the ingredient list, should it be?
Thanks Cindy, I updated it to reflect that 🙂
Thanks Cindy, I updated it to reflect that. 🙂
I tried this because cinnamon is one of my favorite spices. Turned out great!