24 Bakes: Apple Cider Donuts

Bake #13 is right in time for Fall (which means you're reading this way too late)

Why this recipe

I’m a sucker for my kid. I’ll do anything he wants. So when he begs me for donuts, I decide to try to make them myself rather than go purchase them because I’m lazy in a way that makes no sense to someone logical.

The Recipe

Because I have absolutely NO idea how to make donuts, I tried to go the baking route. I used the apple cider donuts recipe from NY Times. I had all of the ingredients, but I feel like I was still missing something. Maybe practice? Patience? A better understanding of how baking works? I promise I’m working on that last one.

How it went

This recipe could either be muffins or donuts, which hurt my brain a little because I think of one thing as dense and one as light and fluffy (more like cake). But also because I don’t understand how baking works. Brownie mix can be turned into 1,000 things so why can’t donut batter?

Mixing these required pulling out the (still borrowed) stand mixer and was maybe more complicated than I realized it would be, but also pretty easy.

My biggest problem? They didn’t want to come out of the pan! I used a silicone pan rather than metal, which means I likely didn’t grease them enough. Either way, getting them out was impossible.

So despite there being 12 “donuts” I only photographed three because the other nine were in various stages of lumps.

But let me tell you something: THEY WERE DELICIOUS. The biggest reason is that after you baked them, you covered them in BUTTER, CINNAMON AND SUGAR, which is basically the first recipe I ever learned (those three on toast are lethal). Next time, I am going to make these as muffins.

What I Learned

• Have the right equipment. It seems like maybe I had the wrong pans — mine were silicone. I did spray them but maybe not as well as I should have, because this was literally the second time I had ever used them.

• Apple cider is the best. Okay, I didn’t learn this — I was reminded. I love Fall and an apple cider old fashioned is my favorite thing to make all Fall long. Since you’re reading this in Winter…I’m sure you can find a shelf-stable apple cider to quench your thirst!