Baked Apple Cider Doughnut Minis

I have been on the hunt for apple cider for over a month now. I did actually find some at Kroger at the beginning of my search, but it was clear and 2 gallons. First of all, since when is apple cider clear?? And second, there’s no way I need 2 gallons of it.

When I was in Columbus, I snagged a gallon jug of it, but then realized I had no way to keep it cold for the 8.5 hour drive back to Memphis so I had to leave it. You’re welcome Christina.

Then I walked into Kroger for my typical almost-every-day-of-the-week grocery store trip, and “ta-da!” there it was staring at me the moment I walked into the produce section. So I finally was able to make these doughnuts that my tummy has been after.

And they were worth the wait, even though my labmates thought they tasted like pumpkin… strange. I ended up making half mini and half large just because I got lazy. Or maybe I just like diversity?

But somehow after finally succeeding in acquiring apple cider, I forgot the cream cheese for the glaze. Really bummed about that because I LOVE cream cheese. A regular glaze had to suffice for now.

One year ago: Asian BBQ Chicken

BAKED APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUT MINIS

Makes approximately 6 dozen mini doughnuts (or 2 dozen large)

Ingredients:

DOUGHNUTS

Granulated sugar for preparing pans

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 large egg, beaten

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup apple butter

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup apple cider

1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt

3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup confectioner’ s sugar

1 Tbsp milk, plus more to reach desired consistency

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat pan with nonstick spray or oil. Sprinkle with sugar, shaking out excess.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, apple butter, maple syrup, cider, yogurt and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon about 1.5 teaspoons (2 generous tablespoons if using the large doughnut pan) of the batter in the cavities in the prepared pan. Don’t fill them to the top or your doughnuts will lose their holes when the batter puffs up while baking!
3. Bake 5 to 6 minutes (or 10 to 12 minutes or the large), or until the tops spring back when touched lightly. Loosen edges and turn the doughnuts out onto a rack to cool. Clean the pan, re-coat it with oil and sugar. Repeat with remaining batter.
4. Ice your doughnuts, if desired. In a small bowl, whisk with powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, adding more milk if necessary to create a spreading or dipping consistency. Dip tops of doughnuts into the icing, then set right side up on a rack to let the icing set.

Source: Doughnuts from Recipe Girl, glaze adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.