Cut the center hole with a smaller cutter. Roll the dough to 1/4″-1/2″ thick Cut the donuts with a 4″ biscuit cutter. The sponge will give the yeast and gluten a head-start before the other ingredients are added to the dough. Combine the water, yeast and some of the flour to make a sponge.
It took a couple more tries to perfect the rolling, cutting and frying steps before the recipe was blog worthy! Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make the best Yeasted Apple Cider Donuts: Reduce the apple cider to 1 cup, melt the butter in the warm cider. That did the trick! This recipe makes a dough is beautiful, light and elastic. The sponge gives the yeast and the gluten a head start before the other ingredients are added. I mixed the yeast with the water and some flour to create a sponge. So I lowered the amount of reduced cider to 1 cup and added a 1/2 cup of warm water to the dough.
A high proportion of sugar in the dough will take up too much of the water, leaving the yeast too thirsty to do it’s job. That’s 3/4 cup of sugar, which made this a high-sugar dough. In short, yeast likes sugar, but (just like us) moderation is important.Ī quick google search told me that 6 cups of cider has about 6 oz of sugar. It seems that excess sugar in the dough was halting the yeast activity. I found some great information on the Red Star Yeast website. I added the yeast directly to the cider to start the recipe. My first thought was that maybe the acidity of the reduced cider was too much for the yeast.Īt this point I was using 1 1/2 cups of cider (reduced down from 6 cups) in the recipe. Same lump of dead weight as the first time. So I bought brand new yeast and made the dough again. I’d just taken some yeast out of the freezer to make the dough, but it had been in there for quite a while. I tried warming it up over a bowl of hot water, setting the bowl into a warmed oven and finally took the drastic measure of microwaving the dough for 20 seconds to see if there was any yeast activity at all. The first batch of dough that I made was like a dead weight. How sugar can affect yeast activity in your bread dough: So we’re able to add a lot more cider flavor to the donut dough.īut that reduced cider is what caused me so much trouble. How to get the most apple flavor in Apple Cider Donuts:įrom the git-go I knew I wanted an apple cider donut that actually tastes like….wait for it….apple cider! I used a simple trick to maximize the flavor of the apple cider reduction.īy boiling down the cider to 1/4 of its original volume we loose a lot of the water and none of the flavor. It took 5 tries to finally sort this one out. I’ll tell you guys – this recipe almost kicked my butt. Well, maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about pounds… Ya know, “in for a penny, in for a pound”. But don’t worry, I’ve developed this recipe so that it can be made overnight for maximum ease.Īlso, if I’m gonna have a donut I’m going all the way and having a fried donut. If I’m going to the trouble of making my own donuts, I will take a little extra time to make them with yeast. I like the chewy, bready texture of a yeast-risen donut better than the cakey texture of a baking powder donut. Personally, I always prefer a yeasted donut.
So the texture is more cakey/muffiny than bready. That is, the donuts use baking powder and/or baking soda for leavening. Most Cider Donut recipes make “cake style” donuts. If you think all Apple Cider Donuts are the same, this recipe just might change your mind. I use a special trick for getting the most apple-y flavor in these cider donuts. These Apple cider donuts are made with yeast for a light crumb and deep-fried for crisp texture.