One of the things I miss most this time of year are the amazing apple cider donuts we always got when we went apple picking every fall. I think these gluten free apple cider donuts are a pretty close replica of that apple orchard treat. These donuts are flavored with fresh apple cider and apple pie spice plus covered with a cinnamon sugar coating just like you remember. They are the perfect fall treat!
I know lots of people are intimidated by frying donuts at home. It is a bit of work, but its worth it in the end for hot, freshly fried gluten free donuts. So pick up a jug of fresh apple cider - it's time to make the donuts!
If you're looking for more fall flavors to celebrate the season, you'll definitely want to try my easy apple crisp bars that are flavored with apple butter and slices of fresh apples of these awesome gluten free apple fritters (maybe my second favorite donut!)
Why You'll Love This Gluten Free Donut Recipe
- These donuts taste just like the ones you buy at the apple orchard. Even your gluten eating friends will love them!
- I have lots of tips about frying at home, so you don't have to be intimidated by making homemade donuts.
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Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour - for almost all of my recipes, I use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. You can use your own favorite flour blend but keep in mind this recipe was developed with BRM, so your final product may be slightly different.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda - We are using a little of both kinds of leavening agents because this dough is very heavy and we want light fluffy cake donuts.
- Spices - Arguably the most important ingredient aside from cider. You can use apple pie spice or make your own mix of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice.
- Vegan Butter- I use vegan butter here, either Miyokos brand or Country Crock Plant Butter. I think it gives the donuts a little bit of a buttery flavor which is perfect with the cinnamon. You can substitute with liquid coconut oil or if you're not dairy free, regular butter will work too.
- Brown Sugar - The molasses flavor imparted by brown sugar is an essential element of fall desserts. You can substitute dark brown sugar if you'd like.
- Eggs - Just one egg here to hold the dough together. I haven't tried this with an egg substitute, but I think a flax egg would probably work. Let me know in the comments if you try it.
- Apple Cider - The key to apple cider donuts is of course the cider! To impart the apple flavor without adding too much moisture you must reduce the cider before incorporating it. To reduce apple cider, simple cook it on the stove over medium heat for about 30 minutes and half of the moisture will bubble away leaving a really concentrated apple juice.
- Vanilla - Just a hint of vanilla to sweeten the flavor.
See the recipe card for the full ingredient list with quantities.
How to Make Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts
- STEP 1: Add the cider to a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat until it is reduced to about ¾ cup. Set it aside to cool.
- STEP 2: Combine the gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk well to mix.
- STEP 3: In a separate bowl, whisk the egg until frothy like soap bubbles.
- STEP 4: Add the melted butter, reduced apple cider and vanilla to the beaten egg. Whisk again until smooth.
- STEP 5: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold them together with a spatula. It will seem very dry, but it will eventually come together.
- STEP 6: Cover the dough and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours.
- STEP 7: Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and pat it into a large circle about ½" thick. Use a donut cutter to cut out the donuts.
- STEP 8: Fry the donuts until they are golden brown on both sides. Then dip the warm donuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Recommended Equipment
Sure you can enjoy a baked donut (although I refer to those as circle muffins), but for the occasional treat why not go for the real thing? With a few tools you can definitely handle frying donuts at home:
- Use a cast iron pan or a dutch oven. Both are made of cast iron, which will keep a more even heat than a stainless steel pan. You want something that has enough depth to get about 2 inches of oil.
- Use a thermometer. The kind you use for candy or oil. The key features you’re looking for in a thermometer is an easy to read display and a clip to hold it on the side of the pan.
- Buy a spider strainer. This one has a nice long handle so your hands don’t get close to the hot oil and the little web design lets the oil drip off easily.
- The last tool is totally optional, a donut cutter. Similar to a biscuit cutter with a second hole in the center. I actually don’t own one of these. I use a 2 ½″ biscuit cutter and a small circular cookie cutter to make my donuts. You can really use anything that’s round and sharp enough to cut dough.
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Tips for success
Here are a few tips to help you have better donut frying success:
- Place your cut out donuts on individual squares of parchment paper. You can slip the whole thing into the oil, which cuts down on your risk of getting burnt as well as reducing the chance of the oil splashing. Just use your spider strainer to fish out the paper, it will separate from the donut immediately after entering the oil.
- Set up your drying area before you start. Once things are frying, you don’t want to leave the stove. I use a baking sheet with a wire rack on top.
- When heating your oil, it will take a while for the temperature to build. But once it is over 300 degrees it will start climbing fast. At this point, reduce your stove temperature a little. You don’t want to miss your frying window or overheat your oil.
- Keep a close eye on the oil temperature at all times. It will fluctuate. Anywhere between 350-375 degrees will give you a good outcome. Under 350 will come out greasy and over 375 will be burnt and possibly undercooked inside.
- Keep a little bit of room temperature oil set aside. If your oil temp climbs too high, not only can you reduce the stove temperature but you can pour a little of the cold oil in to help drop the temperature. If that doesn't do the trick, move your pan off the burner until the oil cools down to the cooking range.
- Make sure your pan is big enough that 3 donuts won’t be crowded in there. You want them to float around and for you to have room to get in there with your spider to flip them. I use a 10 inch cast iron that is 3 inches deep.
- Your oil temperature will drop every time you add cold dough. So, for best results don’t add more than 3 donuts at a time.
- If you’re frying on an open flame, like a gas stove, please keep a fire extinguisher handy. A grease fire can easily break out if you accidentally slosh oil out of the pan, etc. Just try to be extra careful!
Recipe FAQs
Is there gluten in apple cider?
More apple recipes to consider:
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
- ¾ Cup Reduced Apple Cider see instructions
- 2 Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend I use Bob’s Red Mill
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅓ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 3 Tablespoon Vegan Butter melted & cooled
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla
- 6 Cup Canola Oil
Topping
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
- Begin by reducing the cider. Add 2 cups of apple cider to a small pot. Heat over medium heat until it is simmering. Stir occasionally. At 30 minutes start checking with a measuring cup to see how much has reduced. Stop when the remaining cider measures ¾ cup. Set aside to cool before making the dough.¾ Cup Reduced Apple Cider
- In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and brown sugar. Stir well until combined.2 Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend, 2 teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda, ½ teaspoon Salt, 2 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice, ⅓ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- In a second smaller bowl, whisk the egg until frothy like soap bubbles.1 Egg
- Add the melted butter, apple cider and vanilla to the beaten egg. Whisk together well.3 Tablespoon Vegan Butter, ¼ teaspoon Vanilla
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Work together until all the dry is incorporated. At first it will seem like there isn't enough liquid, but just keep folding it together until it's even. The dough will feel a little sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours.
- Remove from refrigerator and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Form into a patty about ½ inch thick. Using a donut cutter or two sizes of biscuit/cookie cutters, cut into donut shapes. Gently work your leftover scraps into another patty ½ inch thick and cut more donuts until all the dough is used. You should have about twelve 2 ½ inch wide donuts.
- In a large heavy bottomed pot (like a dutch oven), heat oil to 360 degrees. You want to make sure your oil stays between 350-375 to keep the donuts from getting greasy. Put 2-3 of the donuts into the oil. Watch the temperature because it will dip when the dough is added. Cook for about 2 minutes until donuts are floating and browned on bottom, flip over. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes on other side. Remove from oil using a spider strainer, let it drain for about 10 seconds over the pot of oil. Then place onto a plate lined with paper towels. Continue until all donuts are cooked.6 Cup Canola Oil
- Combine topping ingredients in a large ziploc bag or pie dish. Dip each warm donut into the topping to coat.½ Cup Sugar, 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
Matt says
So good. Thank you!
Tiffany says
I love to hear that! 🙂
Matt says
Thank you for this - autoimmune issues and can’t do gluten but am a food junky - so so appreciate having one of my seasonal favorites here adjusted for my dietary needs.
5 stars for GF sooo good - 4.5 out of 5 overall - but hey I’m not sick after -
I did check the comments and made a bit wetter and piped to parchment.
Tiffany says
Thank you for the sweet comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the donuts!
Sheryl says
Hello,
Quick question...your recipe states 6 c. canola oil. Is there really 6 cups of oil in this recipe?? I look forward to your response before trying the recipe. Thank you!
Tiffany says
The 6 cups of oil are not in the donuts. It's just the oil used for frying, so it's an approximation. A little of the oil is absorbed by the donuts during frying, but there is not a good way to know how much. Hope you enjoy the donuts! 🙂
María says
I made this recipe and it turned out delicious!! I used KA 1:1.
The dough was not as firm as I wanted so I decided to pipe it instead of using a donut cutter. I piped it on to parchment paper squares and proceed to fry.
Amazing flavor and texture specially after just frying them. I will keep making them this season FOR SURE!! Thank you for the recipe Tiffany!
Adam says
Good recipe, but very dense donuts. We ended up making more donut holes with our second batch. My wife and kids loved it (they are not gluten free), but I was looking for something closer to the real deal (I have Celiac and was really hoping this would become my go-to apple cider donut recipe). I may try with more baking soda and/or powder next time. I used cup-4-cup gluten free flour as the base. Still good though! Thank you for sharing this!
Tiffany says
Hi Adam, I'm glad your family enjoyed the donuts. It's true the ones from the farm are usually a little lighter. The issue here isn't the leavening agents, but the thickness of the dough. If you watch them make the donuts at an apple farm, their batter will be runnier and pushed through a donut extruder to make the circles. It's nearly impossible to replicate that process at home unfortunately. If you try to make this dough runnier, it would be impossible to cut into circles. You could attempt more liquid and use a piping bag to pipe the dough directly into the oil but I haven't tested that method. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out.
Martha W says
These turned out SO GOOD!!!! Great flavor, easy dough to work with, fried to perfection!
Thanks so much for the great recipe!