If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating apple cider donuts at the fair or any “you-can-pick” farm, now is your chance to make and devour them at home. I can’t wait for you to try these Fluffy Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts coated in delicious cinnamon sugar! 
How to make homemade apple cider donuts
Making vegan donuts at home is actually so easy! Here are the steps you’ll want to follow to make the absolute best vegan apple cider donuts from the comfort of your home:
First, reduce the apple cider
What really made these donuts go from good to great was the first step in the recipe; reducing the apple cider.
Why reduce apple cider for apple cider donuts?
This was a trick I actually first stumbled across in Taste of Home’s apple cider doughnut recipe, so I knew I had to try it when making my vegan version. To test them out, I tested these doughnuts with and without reducing the cider. While this recipe still works without reducing the apple cider, the flavor is SO MUCH better when you do! Reducing the apple cider essentially concentrates the apple flavor of these doughnuts.
Mix the apple cider donut ingredients in one bowl
The best part about vegan donuts is they can easily be made in one bowl. I like to mix the wet ingredients first including the apple cider, apple sauce, coconut oil, vanilla, and sugar.
Then, I add in the dry ingredients including the pastry flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. I like to use pastry flour in my Vegan Cake and Cupcake recipes as it leads to the best texture.
Bake the vegan apple cider donuts
These doughnuts are another baked doughnut recipe so you will need to use a doughnut pan to make them. My favorite brand is the Wilton Donut Pan as it’s non-stick and so easy to clean. I like to spoon my batter into the pan, however, you can also add the doughnut batter to a piping bag and pipe it into the donut pan for less mess.
Honestly, I’m not to keen on fried food, so this pan is worth it if you’re ever going to bake donuts! If you go out and buy this pan you may want to follow up this recipe by making my Vegan Lemon Lavender Donuts or Vegan Champagne Donuts too!
Finally, roll the donuts in cinnamon sugar
To finish off the doughnuts, you’ll want to roll these doughnuts in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar TWICE for perfectly coated doughnuts.
Why Roll the Doughnuts in Cinnamon Sugar Twice?
Honestly, just to get more cinnamon and sugar to stick!
I very lightly dip the doughnuts into coconut oil just to give them more sticking power and then I dunk them into a separate bowl filled with cinnamon sugar. After letting the coconut oil cool and harden with the cinnamon sugar attached, I roll them in the cinnamon sugar one more time for extra sugary goodness!
Fall is meant for vegan apple donuts!
Growing up, I always looked forward to Apple Picking at Beak & Skiff Farms in Upstate NY. It wasn’t just the fact that I would eat handfuls of apples right off the trees, but it was the bags of apples my family brought home for baking that was the real treat.
While I was at Beak & Skiff, I would always grab a fresh baked good and come home with a few cartons of fresh cider as well. However, getting an apple cider doughnut out at the store or a “you-pick” farm was always a favorite treat of mine. When I thought about what the first Fall recipe should be on the blog, my mind immediately drifted to creating a vegan version of these fluffy cider doughnuts!
I can’t wait for you all to make and devour this perfect Fall treat! If you follow me on social media @ShotGirlTallOrder, you know there’s a bunch of fall cakes, buns, and savory dishes coming your way in the next few weeks. Don’t forget to tag me in any of your creations so I can share them as well. Enjoy these Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts!
-TSG
Looking for more Vegan Fall Recipes? Check out these SGTO favorites:
Pumpkin Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting
Gingerbread Scones with Cranberry Glaze
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The Best Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts you will ever eat! This is one of the most popular recipes on the blog for good reason.
Ingredients
Doughnuts
- 1 cup fresh apple cider (reduced to 1/2 cup, if not reducing you only need 1/2 cup for the recipe)
- 2 Tbsp apple sauce
- 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup white pastry flour (pastry flour is finer and has less protein than AP, so using a different flour is not recommended)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (okay to substitute for white pastry flour, but AP or other flours not recommended)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Begin by adding your apple cider to a small pot and bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and reduce until you have 1/2 cup of apple cider left (about 15-20 minutes).
- Once the apple cider is reduced, let sit for 10-15 minutes to cool before using in your recipe. Once cooled, preheat your oven to 350F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your apple cider, apple sauce, melted coconut oil, vanilla bean paste/extract, and 1/2 cup sugar. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl mix together your pastry flour(white and whole wheat), salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Once mixed, slowly add this dry mixture to the large mixing bowl containing the wet ingredients. Stir until a thick batter is formed.
- Spray your doughnut pan with a cooking spray. Next, add your batter to the pan making sure not to cover the holes in the center. The batter should make 6-8 doughnuts. Bake the doughnuts for 15-18 minutes until they begin to brown.
- Remove the pan from the oven and carefully invert onto a drying rack (I like to bring the drying rack up to the pan and then flip it there to make sure the doughnuts don’t fall apart). Let cool for 5 minutes.
- While the doughnuts are cooling, prepare your cinnamon sugar topping by adding your melted coconut oil to one small bowl and your cinnamon sugar mixture to another small bowl/plate.
- Take each doughnut and VERY lightly dip it into the coconut oil on both sides and then dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Let the doughnuts sit for about 10 more minutes and then dunk into the cinnamon sugar mixture one more time to evenly coat. Enjoy!
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