These Whole Wheat Apple Cider Donut Muffins will be your new favorite fall treat to bake! Made with 100% whole grains and partially sweetened with reduced apple cider, then brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Your house will smell AMAZING when you make these!
In New England, warm apple cider donuts are a tradition. A delicious, delicious tradition.
With a cake-like, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth texture, rolled directly in cinnamon sugar right after they come out of the fryer, they are simply one of the best things you could ever eat.
But since I now live in Texas, I had to learn how to make something similar at home.
I adapted Yankee Magazine’s recipe to make a whole wheat (yet still amazingly fluffy!) apple cider donut muffin. These muffins have the same cake-like texture as the donuts, and are brushed with melted butter after they come out of the oven and rolled in cinnamon sugar.
How can you resist? Answer: you can’t.
The secret to making these super flavorful and fluffy: reducing the apple cider with spices on the stovetop to create a concentrated, flavor-packed liquid to add to the batter.
The whole wheat flour is added gradually, alternating with the addition of the reduced cider, in order to combine with wet and dry ingredients as minimally as possible until just combined. (The secret to making non-dense whole wheat baked goods is to handle the batter as little as possible- the less stirring you do, the less dense the final product will be. If you do this correctly, you can barely tell the difference between whole wheat and white flour, making it easier to enjoy these treats with a little less guilt.)
I made these in a regular sized muffin pan. But if you want to get a more donut “hole” kind of thing going on, I’d recommend using a mini muffin pan.
Let’s talk about the reduced apple cider.
Basically, you’re going to boil the apple cider (along with some spices- cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg) until enough steam has evaporated that you’re left with about half of what you started with.
As the liquid reduces, the only thing evaporating is the water. Which means you are left with more concentrated flavor in the remaining liquid.
Adding that reduced apple cider helps enhance the sweetness of the muffins naturally. There is definitely regular sugar in these muffins, but considering how sweet and decadent they taste, there’s not too much.
These Whole Wheat Apple Cider Donut Muffins are best served warm. After taking out of the oven, allow to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes, then brush with butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar. Eat immediately, or if eating later, just pop in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.
This is the perfect fall treat to have with your morning coffee, and it will make your house smell amazing while you are cooking them.
If you like these, you’ll love this Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin with Apple Cider Gravy, these Whole Grain Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins, these Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes, and this Chai Spiced Pumpkin Bread. And you have to try this easy apple crisp recipe to complete your fall baking!
Whole Wheat Apple Cider Donut Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin Pan
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 2 cups apple cider or apple juice, in a pinch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or 10 whole cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan (I brushed canola oil on with a basting brush) and preheat the oven to 375.
- Place the apple cider, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Boil the mixture for approximately 15 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by half.
- Add eggs one at a time; continue to mix well for one more minute.
- Add vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well with the mixer.
- At this point, if you used whole cloves in the cider instead of ground, remove from cider and discard.
- Add one third (3/4 cup) of the whole wheat pastry flour to the wet ingredients. Stir gently with a wooden spoon or spatula until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the cider liquid. Add the second third of the whole wheat flour, and stir gently again until just incorporated. Add the remaining liquid. Finish adding the remainder of the flour gently until just incorporated. It is OK if the mixture is somewhat lumpy.
- Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin cups; bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- On a plate, mix together cinnamon and sugar for topping.
- When muffins are done cooking, allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. Remove each individually and brush the top and sides with melted butter.
- Roll each muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture and set aside.
- Eat immediately, or after cooled, microwave for 15-20 seconds to enjoy these muffins warm.
Notes
- To make these more like traditional donut holes, use a mini muffin tin and bake for only about 10 minutes.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Jen
This is our go-to muffin recipe each Fall! Just perfect!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Flannery
Can you use regular whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yes you can, but they may come out a bit more dense and potentially more dry. Whole wheat pastry flour is ground more finely than regular whole wheat flour, and is made from something called “soft” wheat rather than “hard,” and is ideal for pastries and muffins, whereas regular whole wheat flour is better for breads. While I recommend pastry flour, regular will work in a pinch!
Samantha
Would gluten free or almond flour work in this recipe?
Elizabeth
Unfortunately, it’s very hard to substitute almond flour for wheat flour in recipes, since it’s much more dense and higher in fat. Here’s a yummy looking paleo apple cider donut recipe that uses almond flour! I bet you could use the batter in a muffin pan and still roll it in butter, cinnamon, and sugar in the end. Hope that helps!
J. M.
Thanks for the article. I had always understood “cider” was fermented – whenever I bought it, it was! If it was called AppleJack, it was a little stronger.
What I like to buy is organic unfiltered apple juice and does have a characteristic cloudiness. From the article’s description of “cider,” I would think this would work fine in this recipe.
At present, I am enjoying collecting a few new recipes as after-hours relaxation, and planning how i will be serving them when I finish the massive moving from a large house to a modest apartment. These sound so good, I may have to take a muffin-baking break (as soon as I find the muffin pans).
J. M.
Would it work just as well using plain apple juice? Or can you “hack” cider by adding a little cider vinegar to the juice? Or a bit of sherry wine? I always have apple juice on hand, but it is difficult to find cider. When I do, it’s significantly more expensive.
Elizabeth
I haven’t tried it before, but I think it would be fine using plain apple juice! Here’s an article that explains the difference between the two- looks like the difference wouldn’t affect the outcome of the recipe. If you try it, let me know how it comes out! http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/cider_juice_difference.htm
Brenda Darroch
This version looks fantastic, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth
Thanks so much, Brenda! :-)
Lisa Lindemann
OK, this recipe, and the picture, literally made my mouth water. I wanted to lick my computer screen….but I refrained. Will definitely try this soon!
Elizabeth
Hah! Glad you refrained. You would have been sorely disappointed if you were expected the melted butter/cinnamon/sugar combo, and instead got computer screen :-)
Katie
AHH can’t wait to try! These do look amazing, definitely a lot less guilt-inducing than the real donuts too! Also, for what to do with large quantities of apples – make apple butter :)
Elizabeth
Mmmm apple butter… thanks!! :-)
Brian
I tried these yesterday (thanks for sending Liz home with them) and they were delicious! I sometimes find cider donuts to be too dry, but these aren’t at all! Perfect texture thanks for the recipe!
Elizabeth
Woo hoo! Glad you liked them! :-)