Wonderfully spiced, moist and fluffy, these Vegan Apple Cider Donuts are baked instead of fried and infused with warm fall flavors. A perfect Fall treat and easy enough to make any day of the week. Friends and family will love them!
These sweet fall-flavored Vegan Apple Cider Donuts are SO scrumptious! Baked to perfection, they’re soft and fluffy with warm apple flavors throughout. It’s like eating an apple pie or apple crisp in donut-form!
The ingredients in this donut recipe are very straight forward. The only special item you need is a donut pan! This tool will form and shape perfect donuts every time.
Enjoy these vegan apple donuts all year long or try my cinnamon sugar donuts instead.
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Whole wheat pastry flour – All purpose flour or a gluten free mix also work well!
- Granulated sugar – Or try coconut sugar.
- Baking powder – To fluff up the donuts!
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon – For delicious fall flavors. Feel free to add in nutmeg, ginger, or cardamom as well.
- Apple cider – Try to use quality organic apple cider if possible for the best flavor.
- Soy milk – Or use almond, hemp, or coconut milk.
- Applesauce – Unsweetened is best, or you can use apple butter instead. It can also be substituted for an extra 3 tablespoons of melted vegan butter.
- Vegan butter – If you don’t have any butter at home, make your own or use coconut oil instead.
How to make vegan apple cider donuts
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
- Next, pour in the apple cider, soy milk, applesauce, and melted vegan butter/coconut oil.
- Mix well with a large spoon making sure not to over mix.
- Spoon the batter into the donut pan, filling each circle 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake the donuts for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown. While they bake, make the cinnamon sugar topping: Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then melt the coconut oil or butter in a separate bowl.
- Leave the donuts to cool in the pan for 2 minutes when they’re done, then let them cool completely on a cooling rack. Brush each donut with some coconut oil or butter on all sides, then dip them in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Turn them into muffins
If you don’t have a donut pan, you can make these in a regular muffin pan. Make the apple cider muffins the same way, except spoon the dough ¾ of the way into a greased muffin tin instead. Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Can they be made gluten free?
Yes! Just swap the whole wheat pastry flour for a gluten free mix instead. Oat flour might work as well, but I haven’t tested it.
Can they be made without oil?
The vegan donuts can be made without oil by swapping the coconut oil/vegan butter for applesauce. When the donuts are done baking, don’t brush them with melted butter or oil and dip them in the sugar coating while they’re still warm. It will still stick to the donut very well.
Helpful recipe tips
- If your soy milk is cold, warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. You don’t want it to be cold or else it will harden the coconut oil in the batter.
- A piping bag with a large tip will come in handy to pipe the dough evenly into each donut cavity. Or just spoon it in.
- If a cinnamon sugar topping isn’t your thing, make a simple vanilla sugar glaze like in my Glazed Chocolate Donut recipe.
How to store leftover donuts
The donuts are best served right away, or at least the same day, because the butter or coconut oil will soak into the pastry and soften the outside. If you have leftovers, keep them in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
You can also freeze the plain baked donuts for up to 1 month by placing them in a plastic bag or sealed container. Leave them to defrost in the fridge or room temperature for a few hours.
More sweet recipes for Fall
Try any of these warm and tasty recipes when the chilly weather hits.
Vegan Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or white flour)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter or coconut oil
Topping
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons melted vegan butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a donut pan (or two if you have it) with non stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- Pour in the apple cider, soy milk, applesauce and melted vegan butter or coconut oil. Mix well with a large spoon to combine, but do not over mix.
- Spoon the batter into the donut pan, or use a piping bag with large tip to pipe it evenly into each donut cavity, filling about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden brown and they spring back when lightly pressed.
- Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Continue with all of the remaining batter.
- While they are baking, make the topping: Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then melt the vegan butter or coconut oil in a separate bowl.
- Brush each donut with a little vegan butter or coconut oil on all sides, then dip into the sugar-cinnamon mixture to coat well. You could also just brush the top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar instead of coating the entire donut.
- Enjoy! They are best served right away but can be kept in an airtight container for 2 days.
Notes
- Gluten free: I haven’t tested it, but a gluten free flour mix should work quite well here. Oat flour may work, or spelt flour.
- Oil free: In the batter, sub more applesauce for oil, and skip the butter/oil on the coating. Instead just coat in cinnamon sugar.
- May sub coconut sugar for regular sugar if needed.
- If you don’t have applesauce, you may sub apple butter, non-dairy yogurt or even just more vegan butter/coconut oil.
Nutrition
I love her recipes, however this one disappointed greatly. It was very sad to waste all the ingredients. Unfortunately not even my family or animals would eat it afterwards. I believe the recipe calculations are off I’ve never heard of apple cider half a cup in a recipe before. Usually it’s one to three tablespoons. I understand it’s apple cider donut recipe however this much cooking it puts off a very strong smell and the donuts do not cook well at all. I have cooked one batch for almost an hour now and they’re still doughy. Also The Taste was so strong that no one would eat them. I was able to eat one or two putting on five times as much sugar but that’s not really ideal. I should of listened to the reviews. On to the next recipe.
I’m sorry these didn’t turn out for you, something obviously went wrong. I wonder if you made any substitutions at all? The calculations are not off, I’ve made these countless times (as have others) without issue. The very first recipe for Apple Cider Donuts on google from Sally’s Baking Addiction uses 1 1/2 cups of apple cider… This is not an odd amount.
Did you use apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider? From your description, that’s what it sounds like happened.
Hey, so I see the mistake you made (I nearly made the same mistake before the light bulb went off). The recipe is for Apple Cider (the drink), sounds like you used apple cider vinegar! 1/2 a cup of vinegar does sound terrible lol. please make it again, but with the juice, it is SOOOO worth it!
Followed the recipe exactly using avocado oil in the batter instead of butter. Only regret is that I wish I hadn’t eaten my donut so fast lol! Thanks Nora!
I’m glad you enjoyed the donut, Carol! Thank you for taking time to share your terrific review! Happy cooking!
I do not have any apple cider. Can I substitute apple juice or applesauce? Could I use sparkling cider?
Apple juice would be your best substitute. Enjoy!
Made mine gluten-free and they came out amazing! First time I’ve had real feeling donuts since going gluten-free!! (They are usually more cake-like). I did not add more flour like mentioned above, but I did have to cook mine for about 22 mins. Thanks for the recipe, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome and how easy they were to make!
You are welcome, Mckenzie! I’m so glad that the donuts came out wonderful for you and that you enjoyed them! Thank you for sharing your glowing review and feedback!
What gluten free flour did you use? Thanks
Are there ideal dimensions for the donut pan?
So delicious! So easy! We gobbled them up!
Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome, Deb! I am glad that the donuts were a hit! Thank you for your wonderful feedback!
This recipe is a favorite – for vegan and non-vegan! It’s a winner and so easy to prepare. Thanks!
You are welcome, Susan! I’m so glad you are loving the recipe! I appreciate your glowing review! Thank you!
I did make this recipe, gluten-free, soy-free and vegan. However, I realized after I made two batches that came out really wet. The cook time is much longer and you have to use more gluten-free flour than what this recipe calls for. Other than that it’s amazing. I will definitely keep using this recipe. It’s so good!.
Having similar issues with 1-to-1 GF flour mix (using Bob’s Red Mill) : could you advise how much extra needs to be used? I just wasted an entire batch of batter trying to figure it out 😩