Apple cinnamon baked doughnuts

A doughnut pan has quickly become one of my favorite kitchen tools. Bake up a fresh batch for a healthy homemade version of your favorite breakfast treat. These apple cinnamon baked doughnuts are made with applesauce, so they’re quick and delicious.

Weekends are for sleeping in, especially in the winter. The forecast is already suggesting that it might snow this weekend. I know a few days off from school due to snow (reality: ice) are in our future. What better way to spend a cold day than snuggled under a blanket, reading a book and eating a doughnut?

Even better, how about a hot, fresh doughnut from your own oven? In about half an hour.

The average grocery store or bakery doughnut is not exactly a healthy breakfast food. It’s fried, coated in sugar, and probably made with other ingredients I try to avoid. My kids really like cake doughnuts and I do too. They like them even more now that I can make them at home, any time we want.

That might be pretty often because I’ve got this killer recipe for apple cinnamon baked doughnuts and a pair of shiny, new KitchenAid doughnut pans.

About KitchenAid

KitchenAid is the kitchen supply brand for home cooks. Many things in my kitchen are red because my mother had a red kitchen. She filled her kitchen with beautiful, red appliances and utensils, so that really just makes a kitchen seem like home to me. KitchenAid makes just about everything you need and makes it well. I have several things that I received as a wedding gift over ten years ago that are still cooking.

KitchenAid is expanding its baking line to include several new products, including the KitchenAid® Professional-Grade Nonstick 6-Cavity Mini Doughnut Pan. This pan is made of steel and protected with a nonstick coating. The pans are sold in a set of two and each one holds six doughnuts.

My first impressions were that these are really clean and professional-looking. They are also fairly lightweight, but definitely solid and durable. I was afraid that my doughnuts might stick, but they popped right out instantly and I barely needed to clean the pans.

Apple cinnamon baked doughnuts recipe

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I’m partial to King Arthur White Whole Grain, but any will do)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• cinnamon sugar (I have a grinder, but you can mix 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon)

Instructions

You don’t have to use a stand mixer, but it will get this done in minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the butter. Add the honey, egg, and applesauce one at a time and mix after each ingredient.

Add the flour and baking powder all at once and mix until combined.

The batter will be soft, but really sticky.

Spread the batter into each cavity of the doughnut pan. Be careful not to overfill them (like I did the first time). You want to fill each one just to the lip. Be careful not to cover the center hole either. If you go easy on the batter, you should get about 12 doughnuts.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The doughnuts will be spongy but solid feeling.

Allow them to cool on a baking rack for a few minutes while you prep the topping. Melt the butter and brush it onto the top of each doughnut. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.

Eat them right away. If you can resist, these should keep in a covered container on the counter overnight.

Yield: 12 doughnuts

Apple cinnamon baked doughnuts

Print

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• cinnamon sugar (2 tablespoons sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cream the butter. Add the honey, egg, and applesauce one at a time and mix after each ingredient.
3. Add the flour and baking powder all at once and mix until combined. The batter will be soft, but really sticky.
4. Spread the batter into each cavity of the doughnut pan.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The doughnuts will be spongy but solid feeling.
6. Allow them to cool on a baking rack for a few minutes while you prep the topping. Melt the butter and brush it onto the top of each doughnut. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.

I’m really happy with the KitchenAid mini doughnut pan set. I recommend it to anyone who likes to bake. Doughnuts are really just odd-shaped muffins, so if you have never made them at home before, go for it. These pans make it really easy. My kids are now requesting several flavors in addition to these apple cinnamon baked doughnuts, so now I just have to decide what to make next.

Disclosure: KitchenAid provided me with a set of doughnut pans for review. All opinions are my own and this is my original recipe.