Apple Cider Donuts and Pies (2024)

FAQs

What's the deal with apple cider donuts? ›

What's So Special About Apple Cider Donuts? Apple cider donuts are a fall tradition in New England. Every year during the apple harvest, cider makers use some of their freshly pressed juice to make soft and tender “cake doughnuts”. Every fall, my dad sends me a delivery of fresh cider donuts from Vermont.

Cider Donuts are to be eaten with cider, that's where the name comes from. So if you grew up in rural New England, as I did, you have indelible memories of the smell of cider donuts at Apple Orchards this time of year.

Apple picking is a fall family tradition in New Hampshire, where more than 24.5 million pounds of the fruit are produced each year. Picking season is also known for another sweet treat, apple cider donuts. Farm stands and bakeries across the state fry them up fresh.

They are a harvest tradition in autumn in the northeastern United States and are sometimes sold at cider mills. They are often paired with apple cider, and may be covered with cinnamon and/or granulated sugar.

Autumn is upon us and that means it's time for that age-old Michigan tradition of combining the joys of fresh apple cider with the mouthwatering gooey sweetness of apple cider donuts.

Note that while apple cider donuts include apple cider, they're actually not designed to TASTE very strongly of apple, per several readers. Fittingly, most of these recipes are basically excellent cinnamon sugar cake doughnuts with a hint of apple.

CIDER DONUTS have become nearly as synonymous with a New England fall as apples and foliage. Every orchard's cider donuts are different, and every orchard's are the best, according to its devotees, who are often passionate on the subject.

If you are unfamiliar with these delicious apple cider doughnuts, they are usually fried cake donuts made with buttermilk. They can be covered in a sugar/cider drizzle or a dry cinnamon sugar mixture (adhered with melted butter).

Cider donuts originated with the American colonialists. With fall as the butchering season, there was a surplus of leftover fat from the animals. To use it up, colonial cooks would mix the seasonal apples with fry dough, and eventually, cider donuts became a homespun Halloween treat.

Forbidden Doughnuts

(aka Iced Pumpkin Cake Donuts, inspired by King Arthur Flour) Makes 12 to 18, depending on the size of your donut pans. 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree. 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs.

Can you freeze fresh apple cider donuts? ›

Freezing: Place donuts on a baking tray and put in the freezer for 3-5 hours or until frozen. Without letting them thaw, place in an airtight container or freezing bag. Keep up to 3 months. Thawing: Leave at room temperature, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.