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These baked donuts are soft and tender on the inside with a serious sugary cinnamon crunch on the outside. They are not only delicious and family-friendly but they are a healthier alternative to fried donuts and made with simple ingredients that you can easily find at home and you can make them in less than 30 minutes.
WHY WE LOVE OUR BAKED DONUTS
- Homemade treat that tastes just like your favorite bakery item
- Easy to make and quick to bake
- No electric mixer needed
- Moist and cakey texture
- Coated in sweet cinnamon sugar
- Baked, not fried
- Similar to a cider mill donut
- Warming and delicious fall flavors
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated white sugar
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Baking soda: The leavening agent for these donuts.
- Allspice: Provides heavenly fall flavors.
- Applesauce: Experiment with different flavors of applesauce, just for fun!
- Eggs
- Heavy cream: If you switch this out with milk or half and half, your donut will be a little bit fluffier in consistency. You may need to use a different amount depending on the substitution.
- Sour cream: Plain Greek yogurt can also be used, and will create the same fluffiness that sour cream does.
- Canola oil: You can also use vegetable or grapeseed oil.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a subtle, delicious taste of vanilla.
- Cinnamon: Warming spice that mixes deliciously with sweet sugar.
- Salted butter: Unsalted butter works fine, but I like how the extra salt cuts through the sweetness.
You will want to have a donut pan, but if you don’t have one, you can bake these in a mini muffin tin, filling to the edge, and baking at the same temperature and timing as this recipe.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE DONUTS
A simple mix of wet and dry ingredients makes these donuts so easy to prepare for cool fall mornings–no mixer required!
Combine the all-purpose flour, granulated white sugar, salt, baking soda, and allspice in a large bowl. Stir until combined. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk the applesauce, eggs, heavy cream, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract until everything is evenly combined.
Fold the applesauce mixture into the floured mixture until you have a sticky, thick dough.
Fill the donut pans with the donut batter.
Pro Tip: To make filling the donut pans easier, fill each donut depression with the batter using a piping bag (without a tip). Make sure each hole is about ¾ full of batter. (You can also cut a hole in a gallon sized ziploc bag if you don’t have a piping bag).
Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.
To make cinnamon sugar topping combine the cinnamon and sugar and mix well.
In a separate shallow bowl, place the melted salted butter. Once the donuts are completely cooled, dip each donut into the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Plate, serve and enjoy!
VARIATIONS / OPTIONS / ADD-IN’S
- Applesauce: Feel free to experiment with cinnamon applesauce for extra spice or chunky applesauce for more texture. Homemade applesauce will work too!
- Spices: For more fall flavors, add nutmeg, ground cloves, or pumpkin pie spice.
- Toppings: For an extra decadent finish, drizzle caramel on top, add some icing, or sprinkle with confectioners sugar. You can even top with colored sprinkles for a festive look!
- Frosting: I love a “frosting” of nut butter mixed with honey.
- Flour: For those with dietary restrictions, you can use gluten-free or whole wheat flour for these donuts.
TIps
- If you don’t have a donut pan, you can bake these in a mini muffin tin, filling to the edge, and baking at the same temperature and timing as this recipe.
- These applesauce donuts are so yummy served warm right out of the oven!
- Make the cinnamon sugar topping ahead of time by combining the two ingredients in a covered bowl and keeping at room temperature until you are ready to use. Feel free to save some cinnamon sugar on-hand for all of your favorite fall treats.
- Feel free to add some maple syrup, agave syrup or honey to your applesauce for additional sweetness.
For even more great fall recipes check out our apple pie cups, so good!
Baked Donuts (Cinnamon Sugar)
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 1¼ cups applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Cinnamon Sugar topping:
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 5-7 tbsp salted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare 1-2 donut pans by spraying them with cooking spray.
- Combine the all-purpose flour, granulated white sugar, salt, baking soda, and allspice in a large bowl. Stir until combined.
- Whisk the applesauce, eggs, heavy cream, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla extract in a separate medium sized bowl. Mix well to make sure everything is evenly combined.
- Fold the applesauce mixture into the floured mixture until you have a sticky, thich dough. It should be a thick dough.
- To make filling the donut pans easier, fill each donut depression with the batter using a piping bag (without a tip). Make sure each hole is about ¾ full of batter. (You can also cut a hole in a gallon sized ziploc bag if you don’t have a piping bag).
- Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.
- To make cinnamon sugar topping: In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon sugar and white sugar. Mix well to create cinnamon sugar coating.
- In a separate shallow bowl, place the melted salted butter.
- Once donuts are completely cooled, dip each donut side into the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Plate and serve.
Notes
You can store these donuts at room temperature for about 1-2 days, refrigerate them for up to 1 week, and freeze them for up to 3 months. Tips:
- If you don’t have a donut pan, you can bake these in a mini muffin tin, filling to the edge, and baking at the same temperature and timing as this recipe.
- These applesauce donuts are so yummy served warm right out of the oven!
- Make the cinnamon sugar topping ahead of time by combining the two ingredients in a covered bowl and keeping at room temperature until you are ready to use. Feel free to save some cinnamon sugar on-hand for all of your favorite fall treats.
- Feel free to add some maple syrup, agave syrup or honey to your applesauce for additional sweetness.
