Yesterday was National Doughnut Day and I was planning on making these with my girls, but we also had an event to attend and they’re getting over colds. So, I prepped the dough yesterday and let it rest overnight and fried them up this morning, because let’s be honest: when you turn the clocks back, you don’t get an hour of extra sleep, you just end up finding yourself awake an hour earlier. These are the perfect fall treat, and super delicious, but will I make them again? No. Way too much work and the dough is very finicky and sticky and lends itself to being a weird shape…I’ll just head out to my favorite donut shop instead.
Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Butterscotch Glaze
Doughnut recipe from, Bon Appetit, Rick Martinez & Alex Lau
Doughnuts
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cups apple cider
½ cup apple butter
½ cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
3.5 cups AP flour + more for dusting
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
Oil for frying
Glaze
⅔ cup dark brown sugar
⅓ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp butter
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp fine sea salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Prepare the dough. Bring the apple cider and cinnamon sticks to a boil, in a small medium pot over medium-high heat, and reduce to ⅓ cup, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the apple butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Reserve.
In a medium bowl, whisk the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon. Reserve.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and regular sugar. Place it in your stand mixer, affix the paddle attachment, and cream the sugar and butter for about 3 minutes, on medium speed (alternatively, use a hand mixer). Then reduce the speed to low and add the eggs in, one-at-a-time, and turn off the motor.
Whisk in the cooled, reduced apple cider into the apple butter bowl. Add half of the prepared dry ingredients to the mixer, and turn the motor back on to low, then add in the half of the apple butter mixture, followed by the remaining half of the dry ingredients and then the remaining wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and thoroughly coat with ⅓ cup of flour. Dump the dough onto the parchment and sprinkle more flour on the top of the dough and some on your hands. Pat the dough out quickly until about ¾” thick. Wrap up the baking sheet with cling wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours.
Make the doughnuts. Pour oil into your deep fryer, or 3 inches of oil a dutch oven, and heat to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze by combining all of the ingredients in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Whisk constantly for two minutes, then remove from the heat. Reserve.
Using a 3” ring mold, cut out doughnut rounds, then using 1” ring mold, cut out the middle hole, reserving the holes, and heaping the excess dough back together and cutting more doughnut rounds and holes. You should have a dozen doughnuts.
Dust your hands with flour and pull a doughnut ring from the prepared baking sheet. Fry in the oil for 2.5 minutes per side. Remove to a rack lined baking sheet to cool briefly before rolling them in the cinnamon sugar. Fry up the doughnut holes for about 4 minutes, flipping halfway through and roll in the cinnamon sugar.
While the first doughnuts fry up, make the cinnamon sugar by whisking together the cinnamon and sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
When all the donuts and holes have been fried and sugared, place on a clean sheet of parchment. Whisk up the glaze and pull the whisk up, wiggling it back and forth over the pot. When the dripping glaze gets thin, wiggle over the doughnuts and balls. Repeat as necessary. Serve.
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Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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