Baked Whole Wheat Apple Cider Doughnuts

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and set aside.

Now for the apple. I used Fuji, but almost any apple will do. Granny Smith would be fantastic. I would not recommend using Red Delicious as they can be kind of mealy. It does not matter at all if the apple turns brown, so don’t sweat it. Peel, then chop in medium-sized pieces. Use a mini chopper or food processor to finely chop or even puree the apple. I like little bits of apple in the donuts, so I don’t puree. I used a large apple and ended up only using about 3/4 of it. (If you absolutely had to, you could substitute applesauce, but try to get some of the excess moisture out of it first.)

In a large mixer bowl (I used my KitchenAid with the whisk attachment), whisk together the egg, brown sugar, apple, maple syrup, cider, yogurt, and oil. (Note: do not substitute butter for the oil. Using butter will cause the batter to create gluten and you will end up with a cakey donut. Oil keeps the donuts tender and airy like a fried donut.)

Switch to the paddle attachment or a large spoon and add half of the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Don’t over-mix!

Grease whatever pan you are using. I just used pan spray. Then coat the pan with cinnamon sugar.

Spoon the donut dough into your selected pan. If you are using a mini bundt, be careful not to overfill. I filled mine less than half full and made sure not to cover the middle separation so that I would get a real donut shape.

Bake at 325 for 10 to 15 minutes. My mini bundts needed the full 15 minutes. While they are baking, prepare a small bowl with cinnamon sugar. When donuts are done baking, loosen the edges with a knife and then turn out into your bowl of cinnamon sugar. Completely coat all sides.

I do not miss the greasy fried donut when I eat these! And they are every bit as tender and light and even more flavorful. There is also a lot less guilt when you think about the yogurt and whole wheat. So eat two! I did.

Enjoy!