Apple Cider Donut Holes

Mini Apple Cider donut holes made with fresh apple cider and then dipped in hot melted butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Made in a mini muffin pan without a mixer!

I love a good apple cider donut in the fall, but I wanted to make an easy version at home that didn’t require frying. Making them in a mini muffin pan gives you that little bite-sized treat that’s perfect for popping into cinnamon sugar.

I tested these with both apple cider and applesauce. The cider gives you that classic fall flavor, while the applesauce adds more apple flavor and helps keep the muffins soft and moist. I also use buttermilk here because its acidity works with the baking soda and helps create a tender muffin.

And instead of using oil, I went with melted butter. You get that buttery flavor without having to cream softened butter and sugar together. Once they’re baked, I dip each mini muffin in even more melted butter and roll it in cinnamon sugar. That’s what really gives these the apple cider donut feel!

Why This Recipe Works

• Apple flavor in every bite. Using both apple cider and applesauce gives these mini muffins plenty of apple flavor while keeping them soft and moist. I boiled the apple cider down and reduced it first on the stove for more flavor.
• Buttermilk keeps them tender. The acidity in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda and helps create a light, tender muffin.
• No frying required. You get all those cozy apple cider donut flavors without dealing with a pot of hot oil.
• Melted butter keeps things easy. There’s no mixer or creaming butter and sugar. Just melt the butter and whisk everything together.
• The cinnamon sugar coating makes them taste like donuts. Dipping the baked muffins in melted butter before rolling them in cinnamon sugar gives them that classic sugary apple cider donut finish.

Ingredients

For the Muffins

• All-purpose flour: For best results, weigh your flour with a kitchen scale or spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off. Don’t pack it down.
• Salt
• Granulated sugar
• Light brown sugar: Make sure to pack the brown sugar into your measuring cup if you’re measuring by volume.
• Baking powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Baking soda: Make sure your baking soda is fresh. It works with the acidity in the buttermilk to help the muffins rise.
• Buttermilk: Bring your buttermilk to room temperature before mixing the batter.
• Apple cider: Use apple cider, not apple juice, for the best apple flavor. Reduce it first on the stove and let it cool.
• Applesauce: I recommend using unsweetened applesauce so the muffins don’t become overly sweet.
• Eggs: Bring the eggs to room temperature so they combine more easily with the other ingredients.
• Unsalted butter: You could also use unsalted butter or a neutral-tasting oil.

For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Ground cinnamon

How To Make Apple Cider Donut Holes

Reduce the apple cider.

I tried these with apple cider right from the carton and reduce and it was much better reduced! All this means is you want to start with a 1/2 cup cider and place in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat and allow to reduce down to a 1/4 cup.

Place in a small bowl and allow to cool. You can speed this up by placing in your refrigerator. You want it at room temperature when using.

Prepare your oven and pan.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a mini muffin pan well so the muffins release easily after baking.

This recipe makes about 48 mini muffins. If you only have one 24-cup mini muffin pan, that’s completely fine. Bake the first batch, let the pan cool enough to handle, grease it again, and bake the remaining batter. The batter can sit at room temperature while the first batch bakes.

Combine the dry ingredients.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Whisking these ingredients separately helps evenly distribute the leavening and spices throughout the flour. You don’t want to bite into one muffin with lots of cinnamon while another has barely any!

Whisk together the wet ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, apple cider, applesauce, eggs, and melted butter until combined.

Make sure your melted butter has cooled slightly before adding it. If the butter is piping hot, it can start to cook the eggs.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir just until everything is combined.

Don’t worry if you still see a few small lumps in the batter. That’s exactly what you want! Continuing to mix until the batter is perfectly smooth can develop too much gluten in the flour and leave you with tougher muffins instead of soft, tender ones.

Fill the mini muffin pan.
Divide the batter between the prepared mini muffin wells, filling each about 3/4 full. You want to make sure to NOT overfill. The more you fill the less they will look like “donut holes” and have big flat muffin tops and bake over the top of the pan.

A small cookie scoop works great here because it makes it easy to portion the batter evenly. Keeping the muffins similar in size also helps them bake at the same rate.

Bake the muffins.
Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire cooling rack. Giving them those few minutes in the pan allows them to set up so they don’t fall apart when you remove them.

Make the cinnamon sugar coating.
Once the muffins have cooled enough to handle, melt the butter in a small bowl. In a separate small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Dip each mini muffin into the melted butter, allowing the excess butter to drip back into the bowl. Then roll it in the cinnamon sugar until completely coated.

Don’t skip letting the excess butter drip off. Too much butter can cause the cinnamon sugar to become wet and clumpy instead of creating that classic sugary donut coating.

Transfer the coated muffins back to the wire rack and repeat with the remaining muffins.

Now it’s time to dunk! Melt some butter and then dip each donut hole into the melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar. Then faint from deliciousness. Hoard them for yourself. No judgement here.

Recipe Tips

• Use apple cider instead of apple juice. Apple cider has a stronger, more concentrated apple flavor that gives these muffins more of that classic apple cider donut taste. Reduce it down for maximum flavor!
• Don’t overmix the batter. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients only until no streaks of flour remain. A few lumps are perfectly fine. Overmixing can make your mini muffins dense and tough.
• Don’t overfill the muffin wells. Fill each cavity about 3/4 full. This gives the muffins room to rise without spilling over the edges of the pan.
• Let the melted butter cool slightly. If your butter is too hot when you add it to the wet ingredients, it can begin cooking the eggs. Melt it first and set it aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
• Let excess butter drip off before coating. You want enough butter for the cinnamon sugar to stick, but not so much that the coating becomes soggy or clumpy.

Storage Instructions

At room temperature: Store cooled apple cider donut muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The cinnamon sugar coating is best the day the muffins are made and will soften somewhat as they sit.

Freezing baked muffins: For the best results, freeze the muffins before adding the butter and cinnamon sugar coating. Once completely cooled, place them in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Label the container with the recipe name and date.

Thaw the muffins at room temperature, then dip them in melted butter and cinnamon sugar before serving. If you’ve already coated the muffins, you can still freeze them, but the coating won’t have quite the same texture once thawed.

More Apple Recipes To Enjoy

If you’re craving more apple desserts be sure try my Apple Crumble for Two, or my Apple Crisp For Two. They are perfect date night desserts for the Fall when you don’t want a bunch of leftovers!