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One of our favorite fall traditions is a trip to the local apple orchard to go apple picking. We love the crisp air, colorful leaves, and of course, fresh apple cider donuts. These Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts bring that seasonal favorite right into your kitchen, made with sourdough discard and warm fall spices.
Traditionally, apple cider donuts weren’t super apple-y—they were more of a spiced donut that you’d eat with a glass of cider. That’s what I love about this recipe: it keeps that classic feel while still giving you just the right touch of apple flavor.
Soft, tender, and perfectly spiced, these homemade sourdough donuts are a family favorite in our house. My kids love baking them with me, and we always end up with sticky fingers, happy smiles, and plenty of fall flavor to share. They’re the kind of treat that makes apple cider season feel extra special.
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Why You’ll Love Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts
- Fun Family Bake – Like my family’s favorite Sourdough Donuts, these Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts are easy to make with the whole family, and make for a fun (and delicious) fall activity.
- Soft with Irresistible Crispy Edges – These cake-style homemade donuts have the perfect texture – soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, similar to my favorite Sourdough Apple Fritters.
- Fried to Perfection – I love frying in coconut oil whenever possible. It keeps these donuts light, not greasy, and gives them that sweet flavor I can’t get enough of—just like my Sourdough Berry Donut Fritters.
- Sweet Apple Flavor – Using freeze-dried apples (just like freeze-dried strawberries in Strawberry Sourdough Bread) gives these donuts their mild apple flavor in every bite.
Sourdough Discard Tip: I keep a jar in my fridge that I continually add sourdough discard to. Discard is a by-product of your sourdough starter and there is no reason to throw it away. Instead, use it in incredible sourdough discard recipes where it adds moisture and great flavor. Use older, more tangy discard in savory recipes like these Sourdough Zucchini Fritters and young/fresh discard in sweeter recipes like my Sourdough Apple Crisp.
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard – I always use 100% hydration sourdough discard. You can also use fresh, active starter if you’d like, or even discard that’s been refrigerated for up to a week or two. Just know that older discard will give the donuts a more pronounced sourdough tang.
- Apple Cider – Look for real apple cider, which is usually 100% apple juice and not made from concentrate. Store-bought “apple juice” is often from concentrate, and the flavor isn’t the same. And just to be clear: apple cider is very different from apple cider vinegar!
- Coconut Oil – Frying in coconut oil makes a big difference. It gives the donuts a clean, light mouthfeel—never greasy—and no, they don’t taste like coconut. You can substitute another light, neutral oil if you’d like, but coconut oil is always my first choice.
- Apple Cinnamon Sugar – This finishing touch takes things over the top and gives these donuts their apple flavor. By crushing freeze-dried apples into a powder and tossing them into cinnamon sugar, you get a coating that’s sweet, spiced, and full of apple goodness with a little extra crunch.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger give these donuts their cozy, classic flavor. For even more fall spice, try adding a pinch of allspice or clove.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions
- Reduced Apple Cider: For more apple flavor, start with 280 grams of apple cider. Reduce it on the stove by simmering it for 30-40 minutes over medium-low heat until it is reduced to 70 grams. This will give a more concentrated apple flavor.
- Substitute Apple Juice: If you don’t mind less apple flavor, substitute apple juice instead of apple cider. These are a spiced donut, meant to be eaten WITH apple cider, and I think the cider gives them a nice apple flavor.
- Freeze-Dried Apple Cinnamon Sugar Mixture: I love the boost of apple flavor freeze-dried apples give to the cinnamon sugar coating. You can leave them out if you prefer, but keep in mind these donuts aren’t super apple-forward to begin with—they’re lightly spiced, so skipping the freeze-dried apples means you’ll lose most of the apple flavor.
- Sour Cream: You can swap the sour cream with thick, plain Greek yogurt.
- Butter: Use unsalted melted butter, or substitute salted butter and reduce the added salt slightly.
Equipment Needed
- Mixer or Hand Mixer for dough
- Heavy-bottomed pot for frying
- Candy or instant-read thermometer
- Donut/Biscuit/cookie cutters (or even a mason jar lid) for cutting donuts
- Wire rack + sheet pan to drain donuts
How to Make Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts
Mix the Dough
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the wet ingredients: apple cider, sourdough discard, brown sugar, granulated sugar, sour cream, eggs and melted butter (Image 1). Mix together until fully combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon nutmeg, and ginger. Add them to the wet ingredients (Image 2) and mix until a thick, sticky dough forms (Images 3 & 4).
Step 2: Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and gently press the dough into the prepared baking sheet (Images 5 & 6). Use flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands as you work. You want your dough to be about 1/4 inch thick. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
Long Fermentation Option: At this point, you can refrigerate the wrapped dough for 48–72 hours if you’d like a longer ferment. This gives you the added fermentation benefits from the sourdough and can develop even more flavor.
Chill Dough & Prepare Coating
Step 3: While the dough is chilling, prepare the cinnamon sugar topping. Pulse freeze-dried apples in a blender or food processor until a fine powder forms (Images 7 & 8). You can use any brand of freeze-dried apples. I find that including freeze-dried apple in this topping really brings out the sweet apple flavor in these donuts. Combine the apple powder with cinnamon, sugar, and a pinch of salt (Image 9). Set aside.
No Freeze-Dried Apples? You can leave them out, but the donuts will taste more like a classic spiced donut than an apple cider donut, since most of the apple flavor comes from the freeze-dried apples.
Shape & Fry Donuts
Step 4: Pour oil into a pot, filling the pot about 3 inches deep. Set over medium heat. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge (1 hour) or freezer (20-30 minutes). Cut the donuts using a biscuit cutter or donut cutter (Images 10 & 11). This recipe makes about 15 donuts and 30 donut holes. You will need to gather your scraps and re-roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to get the last few donuts.
Once the oil in the pot reaches about 330-350ºF, your donuts are ready for frying. If you don’t have a thermometer (though I do highly recommend it for this recipe), you can test that your oil is ready by dropping a little piece of dough in, which should sizzle and form bubbles if ready.
Step 5: Fry donuts by gently placing them in the hot oil. Be careful not to overlap your donuts. Cook for about 2 minutes per side, flipping with a slotted spoon or wooden dowel (Images 12-15). You’ll know they’re done when the outside is golden brown with craggly, crisp edges and the inside is light and fluffy (about 190–200ºF if you check with a thermometer).
Oil Tips: Keep your oil between 330–350°F for best results—too hot and the donuts burn on the outside, too cool and they’ll soak up oil. If the oil overheats, lower the heat or carefully add more oil to cool it down. Fry in small batches to keep the temperature steady, and once the oil has darkened or started to foam and break down, it’s time to throw it away. Let the oil cool completely, then pour it into foil or a disposable container before tossing it in the trash.
Step 6: Remove donuts to a cooling rack (Image 16) and then coat with the reserved apple sugar coating. While donuts are still warm, place them into the bowl of apple cinnamon sugar (Images 17 & 18). Turn the donut over, allowing it to be coated on all sides (Images 19 & 20). Enjoy donuts while they are warm! Dunk finished donuts in a mug of apple cider and enjoy!
Make Ahead, Freezer & Storage Option
- Make Ahead – Refrigerate the dough (covered) for up to 72 hours before cutting and frying. This long chill ferments the dough and adds a bit more flavor.
- Freeze Before Frying – Cut donuts can be frozen on a baking sheet, then bagged. Fry straight from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the cook time.
- Freeze After Frying – Let donuts cool completely, then freeze in an airtight container. Rewarm in the oven or air fryer and toss in fresh cinnamon sugar before serving.
- Storage – Leftover donuts keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1–2 days. The coating may soften, but they’re still delicious.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
Cold donut dough is much easier to handle, cut cleanly, and move to the pot without losing shape. If the dough starts getting sticky or tricky to work with, pop it back in the fridge (or even the freezer) to chill a little longer before continuing.
Frequently Asked Questions
These donuts are really meant to be fried for the best flavor and texture. I haven’t tested a baked version, but if you’d like to experiment, you could try baking them at 375ºF until golden (start checking around 12–15 minutes). The texture will be more like a soft cake donut rather than the crisp-edged fried version.
I also haven’t yet tried air frying these donuts, but if I were going to, I’d preheat the air fryer to 350°F, cut out the donuts, and brush or spray them lightly with oil. Then I’d air fry them for about 5–7 minutes until golden, flipping once if needed. The texture won’t be quite the same as frying in oil—more like a baked donut—but a apple cinnamon sugar coating or glaze would still make them delicious.
Yes. You can prepare the dough, press it into the pan, cover well, and refrigerate for up to 24–72 hours before cutting and frying. This longer chill time also allows the dough to ferment more fully, which develops flavor. Don’t skip chilling. The cold dough is much easier to cut and handle.
No. Coconut oil adds a light flavor, but canola or vegetable oil works just as well. Use whatever neutral frying oil you prefer.
Popular Fall Sourdough Recipes
If you tried these Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts or any other recipe on my website leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Happy Baking!
Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts
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Equipment
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- pot for frying donuts
- slotted spoon or dowel for turning donuts
- cooling rack for donuts after frying
Ingredients
Apple Cider Sourdough Donuts
- 70 grams apple cider, (see recipe notes) about 5 Tablespoons
- 120 grams sourdough discard, about 1/2 cup
- 110 grams brown sugar, about 1/2 cup
- 50 grams granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup
- 65 grams sour cream, about 1/4 cup
- 2 large eggs, about 100 grams
- 55 grams unsalted butter, melted
- 425 grams all-purpose flour, about 3 1/4 cups
- 10 grams baking powder, about 2 teaspoons
- 3 grams baking soda, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 4 grams salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 4 grams ground cinnamon, about 1 teaspoon
- 2 grams ground nutmeg, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 1 gram ground ginger, about 1/4 teaspoon
- coconut oil for frying
Apple Cinnamon Sugar
- 200 grams granulated sugar, about 1 cup
- 25 grams freeze dried apples, blended into powder, about 1 oz
- 12 grams ground cinnamon, about 1 Tablespoon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of stand mixer or using a hand mixer, mix together the apple cider, sourdough discard, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add the sour cream, eggs, and melted butter. Beat until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until a thick, sticky dough forms and all of the flour is fully incorporated.
- Lightly flour a parchment-lined 18×13-inch baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto the parchment, sprinkle with flour, and gently press into a rectangle about ¼-inch thick. Use floured hands to keep the dough from sticking to you as you work. Note: You can place another piece of parchment on top of the dough and gently roll it out with a rolling pin if you prefer, though pressing with your hands is simpler.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the freezer for 20–30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- While the dough chills, prepare the coating by blending (or finely crushing) freeze-dried apples into a fine powder. In a medium bowl, mix the apple powder with granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Shortly before pulling the donuts out of the freezer, prepare the oil for frying. Pour about 3 inches of coconut oil (or canola/vegetable oil) into a deep, heavy-bottomed pot. Heat the oil to 330–350ºF, checking with a thermometer to maintain the temperature. Note: If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil by dropping in a small piece of dough or a donut hole. It should sizzle and rise to the surface within a few seconds and take about 1–2 minutes per side to brown and cook.
- Remove the dough from the freezer and work quickly, cutting it into 3–4-inch circles. Use a 1-inch cutter to cut out the centers. Re-roll scraps as needed to make about 15–18 donuts plus about 30 donut holes. These donuts are much easier to transport and fry when chilled. If the dough starts to warm up and becomes sticky or difficult to handle, place it back in the fridge to firm up before continuing.
- Fry the donuts in batches, about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Flip halfway through using a slotted spoon or wooden dowel. If your donuts brown too quickly, add a little more oil to the pot to help bring the temperature down, and lower the heat slightly to keep the oil in the right range. Once donuts are golden brown, transfer to a cooling rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, toss the donuts and donut holes in the apple cinnamon sugar until well coated. Serve warm with apple cider. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just made these! The only substitution I made was 20 g of brown sugar. I was gonna try honey, but I didn’t wanna blow it.. but I gotta tell you these are delicious soft, extremely tasty and I’m making these for our Thanksgiving dinner this year. We are going to our neighbors and I’m gonna be so pleased to see happy faces for these rolls.😉
So glad it was a big hit! Thanks for the review.
Can this be prepped the night before? Maybe after step 4 leave in the fridge overnight?
You can do that! You can refrigerate either before or after shaping. Happy baking!
Could you bake these donuts instead of frying? Thank you! Sounds like an amazing recipe.
These donuts are really meant to be fried for the best flavor and texture. We haven’t tested a baked version, but if you’d like to experiment, you could try baking them at 375ºF until golden (start checking around 12–15 minutes). The texture will be more like a soft cake donut rather than the crisp-edged fried version.
I tried this and I can say that baking is not the best method 😅 it was very dense and dry
Good to know! Thanks for reporting back!
Where would I find freeze dried apples?
You can find them at most grocery stores or on Amazon – enjoy!
Ever tried baking these? My daughter is into making donuts but I’m not ready for her to try frying anything!
I haven’t tried baking them. You can definitely give it a shot, or you can have your daughter mix up the dough and then you can fry them for her. Best of luck!
What could be a good substitute for sour cream? Is cream cheese acceptable or Greek yogurt?
Yogurt would be a better substitute than cream cheese. You should be able to sub an equal amount of yogurt for the sour cream in this recipe with good results. Happy baking!
My kids couldn’t get enough of these. I especially love the donut holes!