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baked apple donuts
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4.60 from 5 votes

Easy Baked Apple Donuts

Fall is definitely on the radar with these lightly spiced, fresh Baked Apple Donuts sprinkled with a crunchy cinnamon sugar!  Easy to make!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword: apple, cinnamon, donuts, fall baking
Servings: 12 Servings
Calories:
Author: Kim Lange

Ingredients

Baked Apple Donuts

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour measured by spooning and leveling flour correctly
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or use 1 & 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice and omit cinnamon and nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce or apple butter
  • ¼ cup oil of choice or melted butter
  • ¾ cup milk of choice or buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • Optional: 1 small apple grated or cubed

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Baked Apple Donuts

  • Preheat the oven to 400℉. Grease donut pan (s) with butter or baking spray. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until combined. Set aside.
  • In another mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce/apple butter, oil, milk, and vanilla until smooth and combined.
  • Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, until just mixed and no streaks of flour remain. Fold in grated or cubed apple if desired.
  • Transfer the batter to a large piping bag (or a ziploc bag), snip off the corner, and pipe the batter into the donut pans. Fill each donut cavity almost to the top.
  • Bake until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center of each donut comes out clean, about 10-12 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan(s) for 10 minutes before transferring to a baking rack to cool.

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

  • When the donuts are cool enough to handle (15 minutes or so), add the melted butter and cinnamon and sugar mixture to two small shallow bowls.
  • Dip each donut in the melted butter followed by the sugar topping until well-coated. You can dip the donuts entirely or just do the tops! Enjoy!!

Notes

  • Recipe makes 12 regular sized donuts or 24 mini donuts.
 
  • See how easy it is how to make Apple Pie Spice! Apple pie spice can be substituted for the cinnamon sugar in the donut batter mixture with store-bought apple pie spice or you can make it homemade. This easy homemade version makes 3 tablespoons and it's perfect when baking up any of your apple desserts! Place ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine. Store in a small airtight container.
  • 1 & ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 & ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon allspice