Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

I love the fall so much!  It really is my most favorite time of the year (it may have something to do with my birthday falling right in the middle of October and I really love my birthday). 

As the weather begins to cool, it's the pots of bubbling soups and curries, loaves of warm pumpkin bread with melty chocolate chips, the changing leaves, cozy sweaters, boxes of honey crisp apples from Allred's, and of course these doughnuts (and my birthday) that make me get all tight inside when this time of year rolls around. 

I made these for the first time last year after going to a pumpkin patch that boasted of their amazing apple cider doughnuts only to find out that they were sold out when we got there.  I was seriously so disappointed (for a few days) until Melissa from The Faux Martha posted a recipe for these delightful baked apple cider doughnuts just a week later making all my apple cider doughnut woes disappear.

 
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Yield:  10 doughnuts

3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple cider
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg

Topping

3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup apple cider
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400° F. 

In a small saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in cider and set aside to cool.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Set aside.

To the cooled butter mixture, whisk in sugar, honey, and egg until evenly combined. 

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Take care not to over mix as that will create a tough doughnut.

Spray 2 doughnut pans.  Add batter to a piping bag (I used a gallon size Ziploc bag and cut about a 1/4-inch off one of the bottom corners) and pipe evenly into the pans. 

Bake for 7 minutes.  While the doughnuts are baking, melt butter for the topping and stir in cider.  In a flat-bottomed bowl, mix together cinnamon, sugar, and salt.

After removing doughnuts from the oven, allow to cool for 1 minute before removing doughnuts onto cooling rack.

Quickly dip each doughnut in the butter/cider mixture and lightly coat in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Place back on cooking rack.  Best served slightly warm.

Recipe barely adapted from The Faux Martha