Apple Cider Donuts

Let me tell you about my best friend. GUYS. This apple cider donut recipe. I can't even handle. It's kind of a project, but it's 100% worth it. I don't always fry things, but when I do - I don't even have an ending to that sentence.

Let's face it. We all have dreams of the perfect apple cider donut. Crispy on the outside, but moist (sorry) on the inside. It somehow managed to be both dense and light. And, cinnamon sugar crusted on the outside. But sadly, most of them are dry and cakey. Well, not these bad boys - courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar & Chocolate Glazed Cake Donuts

Because I’ve got donuts on my mind and in my heart. Indeed, the way to win my affections is most definitely through a donut. I really really like the maple glazed ones at Dunkin. And in the fall, nothing beats the pumpkin one. And really who can turn down the cake or glazed ones on any given day. And don’t even get me started on Munchkins. I could eat the whole box myself.

And then I bought a donut pan. And my world was forever changed. Homemade donuts (with no chemicals and which definitely haven’t been frozen) were within a timely reach.

For my first batch, I made a vanilla cake donut and glazed half with chocolate and dunked the other half in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar donuts were by far the favorite, though I thought the chocolate glazed ones got better after a day or two.

To answer my dad’s question, “can you even bake a donut?” The answer is yes, yes indeed you can.

Recipe adapted from Baker Bettie

Ingredients:

for the donuts
5 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
11/2 cups all-purpose flour

for the cinnamon sugar topping
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cinnamon

for the chocolate glaze

1/3 cup chopped semisweet chocolate

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add in egg, followed by milk and vanilla.
2. Mix in the dry ingredients. Pour batter into a ziploc bag and pipe into greased donut pan.
3. Let donuts cool on a wire rack. 
4. For cinnamon sugar donuts, dip in butter then in cinnamon sugar
5. For chocolate glazed donuts, microwave chocolate, butter and corn syrup on 50% power for 1 minute. Stop half way through to mix. Add hot water and mix until smooth. Dip tops of donuts into chocolate glaze.