Baked salted caramel apple cider donuts. Yes I’m sharing another baked donut recipe! As you can tell, I’m quite enjoying the donut pans we bought a couple of months ago. I remember seeing Half Baked Harvest post this recipe over a year ago and almost buying donut pans right then, but I talked myself out of it.
So when I finally bought the pans, I knew this was going to be one of the first donuts I made. With apple season pretty much over, I figured it was time. What’s great about baked donuts is they can be prepared and ready to eat in less than 15 minutes! Now the caramel for these baked salted caramel apple cider donuts takes longer so factor that in, but it’s so worth it! Whenever I make donuts these days, it is at the top of my list along with pumpkin donuts.
I don’t know about you but I’ve never really had anything beside a basic caramel, so an apple cider caramel sounded interesting to me. And not surprising, the it’s what really makes these baked salted caramel apple cider donuts amazing. Oh and public service announcement with homemade caramel – let it cool before you try it to make sure it tastes good. No I didn’t do this but have seen people do it and don’t want it to happen to you! Hope you give these a try and enjoy.
Baked Salted Caramel Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
Apple Cider Caramel
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 6 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp sea salt
Apple Cider Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 6 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tbsp apple butter (or unsalted butter if you can't find)
- 6 tbsp apple cider
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Apple Cider Caramel
- Add apple cider to medium sauce pan and bring to boil. Boil for about 20 minutes or until the cider has reduced to 1/3 cup.
- Reduce the heat and add the butter, cream and brown sugar. Bring back to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the caramel is a dark color and has thickened. Remove from heat. If the caramel thickens too much, place over low heat and add cream to thin.
Apple Cider Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg, canola oil, apple butter, apple cider and brown sugar. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
- Place batter in ziploc bag and squeeze out air. Cut corner of bag. Spray 6-cup donut pan with non-stick spray. Pipe the batter evenly in the donut pan. It should make 6.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until stick comes clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and remove and place on cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Dip donuts in caramel and sprinkle some sea salt over it. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply