Baked Apple Pie Donuts

Fall is in the air and with the beautiful sights and scents of Fall come all of the amazing fall foods. Anything apple happens to be on our fall cooking agenda, and baked apple pie donuts seemed the perfect way to bring my favorite fall flavors together.  Proving that anything can be made into a delicious baked donut, I wanted to share this easy recipe for an apple pie donut perfect for serving with your favorite mug of cocoa, hot chai, or latte when the weather gets chilly.

The dominate flavor in this one is definitely the apple followed by the earthy and nutty flavor of ground nutmeg that helps round out the flavor profile of these donuts.  Once these delicate donuts are done baking, they are brushed lightly with butter and then dipped into a cinnamon and sugar coating that helps bring all of those delicious fall flavors together and that little bit of gritty, yummy crunch that just so happens to be my favorite thing about donuts.

There is no need to visit the apple orchard for pricey donuts this year because I plan to make these right in the comforts of our home and in a price that is just right for our little family. These would be the perfect ending to any fall activity whether it is a round of jumping in the leaves, sitting cozy by the fire, picking apples together in the sweet sunshine, or just a lazy Sunday afternoon with nothing else on the agenda. It is also just a fantastic way to use up any apples you might have in your fruit basket this week.

It took all the willpower in me to photograph these and not eat all of them. It then took another great round of willpower to wait until my children came home from school to eat this fun snack. If you have been a reader here long, you will know that our donut pan is worth its weight in gold in our house and I would highly recommend snagging one or two for your kitchen too.    My donut pans were purchased with a few Swagbucks that I had set aside and credited  towards an Amazon gift certificate to purchase them for free this year. I use these Norpro 6-count Nonstock Donut Pans for $12.99 each for our donut baking in our house.

If you don’t have a donut pan, a mini-muffin tin will do the trick too for quick and easy donut holes. Watch the donuts after half the time listed in the recipe since they should cook up a little quicker.

Recipe:

Baked Apple Pie Donuts

1/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1 1/2 cups of bite size chunks of apple, peeled and cored (approximately 2 apples)
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk

For sugar & cinnamon topping:
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugars salt and and nutmeg in a bowl. Add the cold chopped butter, cut into tablespoons. Cut the butter with the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a pastry blender or fork.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the milk and fold in the chopped apples. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir using a spatula or spoon making sure not to overmix. Place two spoonfuls of batter into a greased donut mold pan.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the donuts are just golden. Allow to cool for five minutes. Unmold each donut gently and lightly brush each with the melted butter. Dunk in a bowl with the sugar and cinnamon mixed in. Shake off excess sugar and serve immediately.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Recipe Adapted From: Cooks.com

Serving Size: 9 donuts