Makes 12 donuts and holes
Ingredients
2½ cups apple cider
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 or 4 teaspoons baking powder (see Recipe Instructions)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
⅓ cup cold buttermilk or kefir
2 cold large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 quarts vegetable, canola, or peanut oil, for deep frying
Instructions
Bring 2½ cups apple cider to a boil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Boil until reduced to ⅓ cup and syrupy, about 10 minutes. (If you reduce it by too much, just add enough water to get back to ⅓ cup.)
Meanwhile, cut 6 tablespoons unsalted butter into 6 pieces.
When the cider is ready, remove the pan from the heat.
Add the butter and whisk until melted and combined.
Add ½ cup packed brown sugar and whisk until melted.
Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl.
Add ½ cup unsweetened applesauce, ⅓ cup cold buttermilk or kefir, and 2 cold large eggs to the bowl with the apple cider mixture.
Whisk until smooth.
Place 3½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon of the ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons baking powder (4 teaspoons if you plan to let the dough chill overnight), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Scrape the cider mixture into the flour mixture.
Stir with a rubber spatula until a sticky dough forms. Do not overmix.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate 1 hour (or overnight if you used 4 teaspoons baking powder). Meanwhile, place the remaining 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 cup granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate and stir to combine. Set aside.
Fill a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot with 2 quarts vegetable oil (at least 1½ inches of oil) and clip on a deep-fry thermometer.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat until 350ºF.
Meanwhile, fit a wire rack onto a baking sheet.
Dust a second baking sheet lightly with flour. Cut out the donuts.
Generously flour a work surface, then transfer the dough (it will not be smooth) onto it. Generously dust the top of the dough and a rolling pin with flour.
Roll the dough out until ½-inch thick (about a 12-inch wide round).
Cut donuts out with a floured donuts cutter (or use 2 round cutters about 3 and 1-inch in diameter).
The dough may be a little sticky, and itʼs okay to twist the cutters as you push them in to get a clean cut.
Transfer the donuts and donut holes to the floured baking sheet.
Gather the scraps and form them into a ball, then roll out again until ½-inch thick.
Repeat cutting until you have at least 12 donuts and 12 donut holes.
If the oil is not ready yet, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator.
But if it is, fry in batches of 4 donuts.
Gently place the donuts in the oil and fry, flipping once, until puffed and golden brown, about 1 minute per side.
Use tongs or chopsticks to gently remove the donuts from the hot oil, hold them over the pot for a few seconds to drain off the excess oil, and place on the wire rack. .
Immediately place the donuts one at a time in the reserved cinnamon sugar and toss until well-coated, sprinkling some of the sugar over the donut and making sure the sides are well coated.
Return to the wire rack.
Repeat with frying the remaining donuts, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain an oil temperature of 350ºF and tossing each batch in the cinnamon sugar immediately after they are fried.
Fry the donut holes in 2 batches, about 1 minute per side, and coat in cinnamon sugar.
