Light and flavorful Baked Applesauce Cake Donuts with Cinnamon-Vanilla Glaze are a fun
and unexpected twist on the classic cake recipe.
Baked Applesauce Cake Donuts with Cinnamon-Vanilla Glaze
Delicious and family-friendly, this donut recipe can easily be made at home. All you need is a donut pan and an oven (they’re baked versus fried). The result is a light, moist, and flavorful apple-kissed donut. I love to top these sweet apple donuts with a simple cinnamon-vanilla glaze. Or for some crunch, sprinkle with granola for a decadent.
Let’s dive in and learn how to make them!
Applesauce Cake Donuts
These donuts use all of the traditional ingredients you would expect in an applesauce cake–butter, sugar, flour, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and of course, applesauce. For a healthier twist (in addition to these being baked versus fried donuts), I added rolled oats to the batter. The result is a light and flavorful donut with the perfect amount of spice expected in an applesauce cake.
You’ll be delighted to know that while the ingredient list may seem a bit long, you likely have all of these ingredients in your pantry or spice cabinet. However, there are a few things to note so let’s quickly address them…
The Ingredient List: The majority of the ingredient list is your pantry, refrigerator or spice cabinet. For example cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, brown sugar, eggs, baking soda, flour…
Donut Pan: If you don’t have donut pan then the same recipe will work in a muffin or cake tin. You can find a high-quality pan for less than $10. I recently purchased one at ALDI but you can also find them online or at any cooking supply store.
Stand Mixer: Save your arm strength for lifting the donuts to your mouth (unless you really need a workout) and use a stand mixer to cream together the butter and brown sugar.
More Applesauce Recipes
If you love using applesauce in recipes then I have a treat for your…2-Ingredient Applesauce Cupcakes! They’re seriously simple and absolutely amazing!
Light and flavorful Baked Applesauce Cake Donuts with Cinnamon-Vanilla Glaze are a fun and unexpected twist on the classic cake recipe.
Scale
Ingredients
For the donuts:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce (about 16 ounces)
1 cup rolled oats
For the glaze and topping:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tsp unsweetened coconut milk
¼ tsp cinnamon
Granola (optional for topping)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Spray donut pan with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, baking soda, powder, salt and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ground ginger).
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on, beat butter and dark brown sugar for 3 minutes, or until lightened in color. Add eggs one at a time; stir to combine. Add molasses and vanilla extract, and stir until combined. Add applesauce and combine. Add flour/spices mixture slowly to mixer, on low, scraping down sides with spatula until evenly combined. Stir in rolled oats until combined.
Pour batter in ¼-cup scoops into donut pan. Evenly spread into donut indentations, and wipe off any extra batter that falls on the center of the hole.Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
While donuts are baking, make glaze: whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla extract, coconut milk, and cinnamon until combined.
Let donuts cool for 15 minutes. Run a butter knife or small spatula around the rim of the donuts and turn out onto cooling rack. Let cool completely. Once cooled, drizzle glaze on each donut; top with granola, if desired.