~Amanda~
When I think of fall flavors, so many things come to mind, but my favorites are definitely pumpkin, maple, cinnamon and apple! Over the years, I have made so many pumpkin recipes so this year I decided to experiment with a flavor I don’t use in my baking very often, apple cider! Apple cider is made from the liquid extracted from apples, it’s so flavorful and tastes like fall in a glass, yummy! I have pinned several recipes for Apple Cider Donuts and decided this was the perfect time to try out this gluten free version from the blog A Dash of Megnut. Maybe next year I will work on making a recipe of my own, but since this was my first time making donuts ever, I decided following a recipe was the best idea!
Finding gluten free anything is pretty easy these days, I cringe when I think back to ten years ago when I was first diagnosed with celiac and there were so few options for me, but one gluten free food that I rarely see is donuts! I am always so jealous when someone brings donuts into work and I can’t have any, so I was excited to try making them for myself. The first step in making these donuts is to reduce the apple cider in half. Simmering it until it reduces will help to enhance the flavor and make it so much more delicious. I also made some extra apple cider and popped a cinnamon stick in it to enjoy while I was baking, definitely do this when you make yours too – it makes the experience so enjoyable!
The rest of the process is very simple; all you need to do is combine the dry ingredients, then combine the wet ingredients and mix them together! Once the batter is ready, it’s baked in donut pans rather than frying it in oil. This way the donuts are way better for you than a fried donut that’s covered in grease would be. Also without using oil to fry, it is so much cleaner and easier; all you have to do is pour your batter into the greased donut pans and bake for about 10 minutes. That’s it! From start to finish, these donuts took me about 20 minutes to make.
The final step is very important; you have to top your donuts with a delicious cinnamon sugar mixture. This just adds a little extra sweetness to the donuts and the cinnamon flavor complements the apple cider flavors so well. I found these donuts were most delicious when they were still warm out of the oven, but I also stored them in the fridge for a few days and after a quick couple of seconds in the microwave they were almost as delicious! Enjoy!
- 1½ cups apple cider
- 1½ cups gluten free baking flour
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Place the apple cider in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and let reduce for about 15 minutes until you have about ¾ cup remaining. Let cool.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two donut pans (this recipe makes 12 total) with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients; flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- In a separate smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients; reduced apple cider, butter, applesauce, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the greasen donut pans and bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through and a toothpick comes out clean.
- In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the donuts while they’re still warm. Then press down to get it to ‘stick’.
- Let cool and enjoy!
