Featured Comment
From Jenny: “You perfected this recipe! It doesn’t even taste gluten-free. The texture, taste and sweetness are perfect. Thank you!!! ★★★★★”
From Tiara: “These are hands down the best donuts I have ever had! I made 6 donuts and the rest mini muffins bc I only had one pan. Loved the donuts but the mini muffins were the perfect bite! ★★★★★”
From Sha: “These donuts are definitely a winner! Kids are also addicted to it! They were bursting with flavors and the texture is remarkable! ★★★★★”
Recipe Overview
⏱️ Time to Taste: Donuts in about 30 minutes, start to finish!
✨ Texture: Moist and light with a cinnamon-sugar coating.
🥣 Ease: No frying required! The batter is piped directly into the donut pan for an easy (and less messy!) baked donut recipe.
🍎 Key Ingredient: Reduced apple cider and a blend of warm fall spices give these donuts their signature spiced apple cider flavor.
🍩 Equipment Needed: A donut pan is ideal, but regular or mini muffin pans can also be used for the same great flavor, just in a different shape!
Even if you don’t go apple picking this year, you can get the same delicious flavors at home. These gluten-free apple cider donuts are one of my favorite fall recipes to celebrate apple season!
I love how baked donut recipes let you skip the mess of frying without losing out on flavor or texture. Plus the cinnamon sugar coating in this recipe adds a crunchy, sweet layer that takes these donuts to the next level. I roll some of my gluten-free fried donut holes in cinnamon sugar too. It’s just so good!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free apple cider donuts. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: I recommend using a high-quality gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum It creates a better texture and makes all the difference! I like King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill for this recipe.
- Milk: I like to use unsweetened almond milk for these donuts, but any type of unsweetened milk will work — it’s easy to make these donuts with or without dairy!
- Oil: The oil adds moisture and fat for a tender crumb. I recommend using a neutral oil that won’t add extra flavors to the donuts.
- Lemon juice: The lemon juice enhances the flavors and balances the sweetness. It also works with the baking powder for light and fluffy donuts. I prefer to use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best results!
How to Make Gluten-Free Apple Cider Donuts
Here’s an overview of how to make these donuts. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Reduce the Apple Cider: Cooking the cider down from 1 ½ cups to ⅓ cup concentrates the flavor without adding too much liquid to the batter.
Make the Batter: After I prepare the wet and dry mixtures separately, I whisk the two together. Make sure the apple cider has cooled before adding it in!
Pipe and Bake: You can use a piping bag, but I usually just use a large Ziploc bag and cut a 1-inch hole in the corner to pipe the batter into the pans. I use two of these donut pans to make a dozen donuts!
Cool and Dip: Since the donuts need to cool before coating, I wait until they’re out of the oven to melt the butter and prep the topping. I recommend coating them generously and serving them fresh!
Make-Ahead/Storage/Freezing Instructions
To Make-Ahead: You can reduce the apple cider up to 2 days ahead and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. The dry ingredients can also be prepped ahead and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. For the best results, I recommend waiting to make the batter until you’re ready to bake.
To Store: I recommend eating these donuts right after baking. You can keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, but keep in mind their flavor and texture will change over time.
To Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing these donuts. Freezing and thawing can noticeably impact the texture.
I Don’t Have a Donut Pan — How Do I Bake This Recipe in Muffin Pans?
The regular muffin pans need about the same amount of time as the donut pans. For regular muffins, I stick with the recipe’s instructions as written. For mini muffins, they’ll need less time so keep a close eye on how they’re baking. They should only take about 8-10 minutes to bake.
Can I Use a Mini Donut Pan?
Definitely! Keep a close eye on how they’re baking since the batter is in smaller portions. Like with mini muffins, mini donuts should only take 8-10 minutes in the oven since they’ll bake faster.
More Gluten-Free Apple Recipes
Baked Gluten-Free Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients
Apple Cider
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) apple cider
Dry Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups (250g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (65g) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) neutral oil
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk of choice
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the Topping
- 8 tablespoons (113g) butter, melted
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
Reduce the Apple Cider
- In a small saucepan, bring apple cider to a gentle boil and let simmer over medium heat until thick and reduced to about 1/3 cup (80 ml), 15-25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Make the Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 6-cavity donut pans with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients, along with the cooled/reduced apple cider, and whisk until evenly combined.
- Pour the donut batter into a large Ziploc bag. Cut a 1-inch hole in the corner of the bag and pipe the donut batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake the donuts for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.
Make the Topping
- In a medium bowl mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once the donuts are cool enough to handle (cool for 5-10 minutes), dip each donut on both sides in melted butter and then generously dip into the sugar mixture.
- These are best eaten right away – enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in September 2023. It was updated with new photos and instructions in August 2026.
You perfected this recipe! It doesn’t even taste gluten-free. The texture, taste and sweetness are perfect. Thank you!!!
Hi Jenny Lee, we love comments like this! Thank you so much for the review!
Planning to make these for Thanksgiving morning, could I sub 1/3 cup of the King Arthur boiled cider for cider I boil down myself?
Hi PJ, we haven’t tried the King Arthur Boiled Cider in this recipe. It sounds like it could work as a sub for the homemade boiled down cider. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Hi, can you please clarify what you mean by apple cider? I’m from the UK and apple cider here is an alcoholic beverage. I have heard that isn’t necessarily the case in other countries so wanted to double check.
Hi Kelly, in the U.S. apple cider is a nonalcoholic drink, similar to apple juice, but not quite the same thing. It’s typically unfiltered, fresh-pressed, and cloudy since it’s not as processed as apple juice that’s made to be shelf stable. We hope this helps!
Our family loves the recipe. Considering baking several batches for a family gathering. I understand freezing isn’t recommended. Although if I were to freeze according to directions, what should I expect in the quality of the donut? Is it a flavor or texture issues? Thank you for your insight!
Hi Michelle, we’re so pleased this recipe has been a hit with the whole family! Freezing the donuts mainly impacts texture. Freezing them, even before coating, will cause them to lose some of their softness and create drier, denser thawed donuts. As for the coating, the butter and sugar mixture won’t hold up through the freezing and thawing. We hope this helps!
Love the recipe!!! They taste just like the real thing!
Hi Jabin, we’re so pleased to hear you enjoyed the donuts so much! Thank you for your positive feedback!
WOW! These were so good! I’ve been making my own flour but this one was easy….I used King Arther & it was fabulous! I chose not to dip my donuts but rather do a drizzle of powdered sugar & a little milk, so as to not have too much sweetness.
Hi Leah, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us! We’re so glad you enjoyed the donuts. Happy baking!
I baked these and they are amazing. I also fried some and they were AMAZING! So anyone interested, these do translate well to fried donuts. YUM.
How did you fry them? Did you manage to shape them?
I only have silicone molds and nervous they will not crisp
These are hands down the best donuts I have ever had! I made 6 donuts and the rest mini muffins bc I only had one pan. Loved the donuts but the mini muffins were the perfect bite!
Hi Tiara, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Love the mini muffin idea too! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us.
I haven’t made these yet. I’m going to my granddaughter-in-laws (who is GF) baby shower and my daughter wants me to bring GF Apple Cider Donuts. I know GF usually needs to be eaten the same day for most things and I believe that GF donuts would fall into that category. Do you think I could make the batter up the day before and make them the morning of? Thanks
Hi Lin, yes you’re right that these donuts need to be eaten right after preparing. We haven’t tried it ourselves, but you could probably prepare the batter up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerate it until making it the day of. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Loved these easy donuts and I’ve shared with many GF bakers!
I’m wondering if anyone has tried substituting the cider for another liquid. I don’t always have cider on hand.
I’m glad you like the recipe! Have you tried this recipe for gluten-free baked donuts? https://meaningfuleats.com/gluten-free-baked-donut-recipe/
Absolutely delicious! Definitely a winner in our house!!
I’m so happy they turned out for you! Thanks for the comment.
I have made these twice and they are fantastic! Terrific recipe, not difficult, everyone loves them at our house. The only changes made were I added 1 Tablespoon Psyllium husk powder for more mechanical strength and used 2% milk instead of almond milk.
I’m glad they turned out for you! Thanks for the tips.
These are truly delicious. We are a little higher elevation and gluten free baking can be challenging but for these I decided to air fry for 3 additional minutes after baking and it was perfect. That really quashed the denseness and mush that tends to exist in GF baked goods.
Yummy yummy. We’re a big hit with the kids. We did colored sugar and made it fun.
I’m so happy to hear that! The colored sugar sounds fun 🙂
These donuts are definitely a winner! Kids are also addicted to it! They were bursting with flavors and the texture is remarkable!
I’d love to make a fried version of these. Any thoughts on how to convert this? Thanks so much!