Apple Cider Donuts
Cider + Donuts =
Fall. Am I right? Of course I am.
With a little
patience, anyone can make a batch of these amazing donuts. I used the
“p” word (patience) because the dough has to be refrigerated for
at least 2 hours after you make it and before you can fry it. If
you’re planning to eat these donuts for breakfast, I would
recommend making the dough the day before and refrigerating it
overnight so that you can wake up and fry up some donuts in a short
amount of time. If you so desire, you can roll these donuts in
cinnamon and sugar, but I honestly preferred them plain because I
found them to have just the right amount of sweetness without the
need to add any more. I hope you enjoy these donuts as much as my son
and I did!
2 ½ cups apple
cider
½ cup (8
tablespoons) butter, room temperature
½ cup light brown
sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
3 ½ cups flour,
more for dusting
1 tablespoon baking
powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
Ingredients for
frying:
Oil (I used a mild
olive oil)
1 cup sugar
(optional)
1 T. cinnamon
(optional)
In a medium saucepan
over medium-high heat cook the cider, stirring occasionally, until it
has reduced to about ½ cup. This process should take about 30
minutes. Move the pan off the burner and let the cider reduction cool
to room temperature. (Tip: set aside the measuring cup that you use
to initially measure the 2 ½ cups of cider so that you can reuse it
when you need to measure out the ½ cup of cider reduction.)
Place a piece of
parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with about ¼ cup
flour, and set aside.
In the bowl of a
stand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed
for 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, turn the mixer back on low, and
add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl again then add the
cider reduction, buttermilk, vanilla, and zest on low speed. In a
separate, large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt,
cinnamon, and allspice. Again with the mixer on low speed add the dry
ingredient mixture a cup or so at a time until it has all been
incorporated into a sticky dough, which you will transfer to the
prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle a small amount of flour over the top
of the dough and press it out into an even ½ inch thickness with
your hands. Wrap the dough and baking sheet in plastic wrap and
refrigerate for no less than 2 hours, or overnight.
Cut out the donuts
by using 3-inch and 1-inch round cookie cutters. Any dough that falls
outside of the donut or donut hole shape can also be fried, and you
can call these “fritters.”
Place a wire rack
over a rimmed baking sheet next to the stove top.
In a medium bowl
combine the sugar and cinnamon, if using.
In a large Dutch
oven, pour enough oil to cover the bottom 2 ½ to 3 inches of the
pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees, using a food thermometer. (OK, I’m
going to be real with you here – I was too lazy to find my food
thermometer so I just heated the oil on medium-low heat and
everything turned out fine. You can check that the oil is ready by
dropping in 1 donut hole as a test and seeing how well it fries. If
it takes around a minute to brown the entire donut hole, you’re at
the right temperature. If it takes more or less time, adjust the heat
setting accordingly.) With extreme care, drop 3 donuts into the oil
and fry for about 2 minutes, flipping with a fork around the 1 minute
mark. This is an approximation and really you’re looking for a nice
golden brown color on both sides before removing from the oil and
placing on the wire rack. While still warm, toss the donuts in the
sugar and cinnamon mixture, if desired, then return to the wire rack.
Continue frying the remaining donuts, donut holes, and fritters.
Serve warm.
Yields: 8 donuts and
8 donut holes, plus fritters (number depends on size)
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