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We look forward to freshly fried apple cider donuts from the local orchard all year long, but now we’ll be making this Apple Cider Donut Bread anytime the craving hits!
I go to the apple orchard at least once every Fall solely for the donut situation. I mean, those freshly fried apple cider donuts are worth driving 40 minutes outside of town!
We usually pick some apples as well, to make things like our apple cobbler (it’s insanely good and a must make!) or our Snicker apple salad.
The donuts, with that crackly cinnamon sugar crust, are the real draw though. Which is exactly why we made this Apple Cider Donut Bread – one bite will have you hooked!
And no – this isn’t just bread with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over the top – there is a secret trick that gives this deep-fried donut vibes and I think you’re going to love it!
Ingredient Notes:
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Dry Ingredients – You’ll need flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and apple pie spice, which is a bit similar to pumpkin pie spice.
Apple Cider – You can use fresh local apple cider or buy a jug from the store. Apple juice works just as well. You could even try some homemade apple cider!
Wet Ingredients – Along with the cider you’ll need egg, butter, and vanilla extract.
Topping – Some melted butter mixed with cinnamon and sugar is a quick and easy topping for this apple cider donut bread.
What We Love About This Recipe:
- All the flavors of my favorite apple cider donuts in the form of a bread loaf!
- Reducing the apple cider down concentrates the flavor so it really shines in this bread!
- We brush the bread with melted butter to give it that rich deep-fried vibe and then sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar for that crispy crackly crust we love about apple cider donuts.
My Favorite Hand Mixer!
It’s so easy to whip up dessert with this cute hand mixer. It doesn’t take up much space and is a must for any kitchen!
How to Make Apple Cider Donut Bread:
Apple Cider: Cook the apple cider at a low boil until it’s reduced by half. This will help concentrate the flavor and really add so much to the bread!
Mix: Beat the brown sugar and butter with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy. Next beat in the egg and vanilla until it is just combined.
Batter: Pour the reduced apple cider into the mixing bowl along with all of the remaining dry ingredients including the flour and apple pie spice. Stir by hand until it is just combined.
Bake: Grease your loaf pan (we use a 9×5) and then pour in the bread batter. Bake the apple cider donut bread for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Topping: Melt some butter and then brush it over the sides and top of the loaf of apple cider bread. Finally, mix together some cinnamon and sugar and start sprinkling it over the bread! Use as much or as little as you like.
Serve: You’ll want to let the apple cider donut bread cool for about an hour before slicing and serving. If you enjoyed this recipe I think you’ll love my apple cider donuts, apple cider pound cake, and apple cider donut pancakes!
Donut Bread:
The thing that sets this apart from a regular quick bread is that we’ve brushed the outside of the bread with melted butter to give it that rich flavor and add a little fat, like you’d get with deep frying a donut.
The cinnamon and sugar liberally sprinkled over the bread add crunch and texture that also helps mimic an apple cider donut.
FAQs:
Absolutely! Apple cider can be hard to find outside of a few months of the year, but apple juice is readily available and works well as a substitute. Apple juice is often a bit sweeter than apple cider, so be prepared for a bit sweeter of a bread.
You can keep this apple cider donut bread at room temperature for about 5 days if it is well wrapped in plastic.
MORE SWEET BREAD AND DONUT RECIPES!
- Cake Donuts
- Monkey Bread
- Air Fryer Donuts
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Glazed Donut
- Sprinkle Donut
Apple Cider Donut Bread
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 2 cups apple cider
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon apple pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For topping:
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Add the apple cider to a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while the oven preheats.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
- Add the butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the mixture along with the reduced apple cider. Stir by hand until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
- Remove the bread to a cooling rack set over a sheet pan.
- Brush the top and sides of the bread with melted butter.
- Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle liberally over the top and sides of the bread to coat, letting excess cinnamon sugar fall to the pan below.
- Let cool for 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Christina says
I was a little concerned when I combined the reduced cider to the mixture the batter became VERY soupy. I ended up adding a little more flour so it remotely looked like batter. Luckily, the bread looked like bread when it came out of the oven. I read some previous comments of some having difficulty slicing. I did not have that problem. Most important of all, it tastes FANTASTIC!
Michele Robbins says
We are gluten free could this be made with a different “flour”
Karly says
You could try using a 1:1 gluten free flour, but I have never tested it myself. I know Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour is pretty popular, if that helps.
Ann says
The loaf completely fell apart when cut & a lot of the cinnamon sugar came right off. We ate most of it with a fork. Very disappointed!
Karly says
Hi Ann! Sorry to hear you had issues with this. I’d be happy to help troubleshoot. Did you make changes to the recipe? Are you sure you measured your dry ingredients properly? Did you reduce the apple cider by half? Was the pan greased and had it cooled before slicing? This recipe consistently gets good reviews by others and I make it often myself, so I’d be happy to chat about what could have gone wrong.
Carrie greenlee says
Love this it’s the best I have eaten
Karly says
Thanks, Carrie! So glad you enjoy this one!
June Leathers says
This looks so good. Can’t wait to try it. If I use apple juice do I have to reduce that by half also?
Karly says
Yes, you’ll still need to reduce it down. 🙂
June Leathers says
Thanks Karly! Can’t wait to try this receipe because it sounds & looks so good!
Sue Cohen says
Can this be frozen?
Karly says
I think this would freeze great!
Austin says
Great Recipe! I’m reading some of the other comments and scratching my head as to why some people struggle with the idea of reducing 2 cups of cider by half. I don’t know how the author could have made it any clearer ?
Donna c. says
Tastes great and so easy. I also had an apple on hand so I shredded it and add it in! My husband loved it!
Karly says
Sounds amazing with the added apple!
Craftee says
Terrible! It just crumbled while cutting into it. And it was completely cooled!
Karly says
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. If it was dry, my guess is that you added too much flour – be sure to spoon the flour into a dry measure and level it off for a proper measurement. You never want to pack it in or you’ll have too much flour and things will be dry and crumbly. It also could have been overbaked, but I’d bet it was an issue with the flour.
Kelly dvorak says
Do you use only 1 cup of the apple cider
Karly says
You use 2 cups of apple cider that you reduce down to 1 cup.
Amelia says
I made this for an office potluck and it was a huge hit! It was so moist and not overly sweet. I’ll definitely be making this again. 🙂
Karly says
So happy to hear that!
June Puffet says
It was very tasty but fell apart when I cut it even after I let it cool for a couple of hours. I decided to refrigerate it and it was very firm but as he warmed up the same thing happened. I wonder if using another egg would help bind the batter as it baked. I also told my husband I think it would be better in a cake pan and when like a coffee cake.
Karly says
Hi June! We haven’t had an issue with it falling apart, but an egg would likely help with that issue. I’m sure this would make a great coffee cake too!
Sue says
I usually live bubsintheoven recipes, however the recipe should say only one up of cider after reducing. Mine would not reduce and the batter was thinner than cake batter…. Sad I didn’t think about his before I poured it in, so I’ll take the blame for tgat. But making this fir the first time it really would have helped.
Karly says
Hi Sue! I’m sorry you found the recipe confusing. There are correct and incorrect ways to write a recipe and we’ve followed the proper recipe writing guidelines for this recipe (and try to for all of our recipes). The recipe does call for 2 cups of apple cider and the instructions say to reduce it by half, which would obviously be 1 cup. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘yours would not reduce’ as you just boil it down until it has reduced to the proper amount. Sounds like maybe you didn’t cook the cider long enough to actually reduce it.
Michelle says
I’m glad people asked about the cider because I also had the same question. I’ll be making this tonight, and found this part about the cider confusing. Maybe it would have been clearer to specify something like “the actual amount of cider added to the batter should be one cup after reduction”.
Karly says
Hi Michelle! I’m not sure why people are finding it confusing. You always start with the amount of an ingredient called for in a recipe, which is 2 cups. If you reduce it by half in the instructions, you’d use what’s left. I will add a note though as a lot of people seem confused.
Linda Will says
So good! I’m not sure how much it tastes like a donut because it’s so moist. My cinnamon sugar topping doesn’t look very pretty either, but that made no difference once I ate a piece!
Loretta says
OMG This is terrific! Top with ice cream, I dare you!! <3
Karly says
Oh my! Challenge accepted! 🙂