Ingredients

  • Doughnuts:
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for dusting
  • Sugar Coating:
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Cider Glaze:
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider
  • Maple Syrup Glaze:
  • 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups oil for frying, or as needed

Method

  • Bring 1 cup apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan; boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool.
  • Beat butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 cup white sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Beat eggs, 1 at a time, into butter mixture until completely incorporated. Mix buttermilk and reduced cider into butter mixture.
  • Whisk 3 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg together in bowl. Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture; stir until dough is just combined.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly floured piece of parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle dough with flour. Turn dough over onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with flour.
  • Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness, sprinkling with more flour as necessary. Transfer dough on the baking sheet to the freezer until slightly hardened, about 20 minutes.
  • Cut cold dough using a 3-inch doughnut cutter. Gather, roll, and cut any dough scraps. Transfer cut doughnuts and doughnut holes to a second, slightly floured, baking sheet. Refrigerate doughnuts for 20 to 30 minutes.
  • Whisk 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon together in a bowl. Transfer cinnamon sugar to a paper bag. Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons apple cider together in another bowl. Whisk 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract together in a third bowl.
  • Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  • Cook doughnuts and doughnut holes in batches in preheated oil, turning once, until golden brown and cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Set cooked doughnuts on paper towels to drain.
  • Shake warm doughnuts in the paper bag with cinnamon sugar, or pour cider glaze or maple syrup glaze over warm doughnuts.