Apple Cider Doughnuts Get a Health Makeover

| 3 min read

healthier apple cider donuts
Fall in Michigan is synonymous with certain activities: seeing the color of the leaves change, watching college football on Saturday afternoons and indulging in fresh apple cider doughnuts at the local orchard. Around the state, families are eating the hot, sweet, round treats by the dozen. But you don’t have to take a trip to a farm to enjoy an apple cider doughnut—try making them yourself with one of these two recipes. And there’s a bonus: They’re healthier thanks to ingredients like whole wheat flour and the fact that they’re baked, not fried.
Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
Recipe adapted from: The Chic Life
Serves: 6
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup apple cider
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon canola oil
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons raw sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a doughnut pan with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together apple cider and egg. Slowly add milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and white vinegar to the apple cider mixture and whisk to combine. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently mix. Evenly distribute the dough in doughnut pan. Bake for eight to 10 minutes. While they’re baking, whisk together the raw sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. When doughnuts are still warm, dip both sides into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Nutritional information per serving (yields 6 servings) 139 calories, 3.1g fat, 0.4g saturated fat, 205mg sodium, 25.6g carbohydrates, 2.7g protein, 12.7g sugar
Whole Wheat Apple Cider Doughnuts
Recipe adapted from: A Happy Food Dance
Serves: 10
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup apple cider
¼ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, divided
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a donut pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together cider, milk, eggs, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of butter, melted. Slowly add dry ingredients, stirring until blended. Pour batter into doughnut cups and bake for 10 minutes. While doughnuts are baking, mix together remaining ½ cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in and melt remaining butter. When doughnuts are done, dip in butter and then in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Nutritional information per serving (yields 10 servings) 225 calories, 6g fat, 3.3g saturated fat, 514mg sodium, 40.6g carbohydrates, 4.7g protein, 20.4g sugar
For more on your favorite fall foods, check out these blogs:
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Photo credit: VeganBaking.net

A Healthier Michigan is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
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