Fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year! And that’s no secret. Besides the gorgeous leaves, cute style options, and fun activities, the food has to be the next best thing. Last year, when I went apple picking with my friends in Rhode Island, we came back with a giant bag of apples and decided to try new recipes. Well, I also left Rhode Island with a slightly less giant bag of apples (we picked A TON) and decided to try more once I got home. The favorite, both on my blog and in real life, were these apple doughnuts. So this year, I am reposting the recipe for this hit! Special thanks to The Cake Blog for this absolutely delicious treat. I love this particular recipe because it’s easy to make and the doughnuts are baked, so you don’t get those extra calories from frying. That means you can have more, right? I won’t let this intro go into how food is life and how I’m going to pass this recipe down to my future grandchildren while they sit on my knee because I know you’re just here for the doughnuts. So without further ado, let’s get into the recipe! Read on to find out how to make these delicious, classic fall treats!

Apple Doughnuts

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, from jar
• 1 ½ cup fresh apple, peeled and grated

For the Coating:

• unsweetened applesauce OR melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• dash of ground nutmeg, optional

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 375°
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• In a separate large bowl, mix the melted butter, eggs, sugar, buttermilk, and applesauce. Then stir in the fresh apples
• Next, add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon. Add the next third and stir. Lastly, add the remaining third and stir together until combined
• Spoon batter into a large ziplock bag. Seal and snip the corner off one end. You can also use a pastry bag if you have one. Spray a doughnut pan with nonstick spray and squeeze the batter into the cavities, filling ⅔ to ¾ of the way full
• To help the doughnuts keep their shape, use a spatula or the back of a spoon to even out the batter in each cavity and clean off the center knob
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops of the doughnuts spring back slightly touched. Let them cool for about 5 minutes before removing
• For the outside coating, combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Lightly coat each doughnut with either apple sauce or quickly dip into melted butter (I personally dip into butter, I think it dries less wet and stick the best). Then dip into cinnamon sugar and toss until coated. Dip a second time for an extra crunchy coating

If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it! And if you share, don’t forget to tag @thecakeblog and #thecakeblog on Instagram! Once again, thank you to the Cake Blog for this delicious recipe!