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Extra-Spiced Apple Cider Doughnuts

SERVES: Makes 10 doughnuts and 10 doughnut holes, plus some scraps PREP: 20 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1 hour, 35 minutes (including dough resting time)

Extra-Spiced Apple Cider Doughnuts

SERVES: Makes 10 doughnuts and 10 doughnut holes, plus some scraps PREP: 20 minutes TOTAL TIME: 1 hour, 35 minutes (including dough resting time)

You'll dough nuts for this festive fall dessert.

Pumpkin spice is nice, but what you should really get excited about this fall is apple cider season! Mulled Apple Cider is a must, and its best friend is apple cider doughnuts. This extra-spiced version of the dessert actually uses that mulled cider boiled down into a flavorful syrup, and the classic cinnamon-sugar mixture gets an extra pop from Chinese Five-Spice powder. Farmstand doughnuts are great and all, but nothing beats freshly fried, warm ones at home. Pepper's Wok & Tool Set is our current go-to for frying because of its deep sides to help prevent splatter and stainless steel to keep the oil at the perfect temp for crispy goodness.

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INGREDIENTS DIRECTIONS

⅔ cup Mulled Cider Syrup (see Mulled Apple Cider recipe)*
¾ cup white sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus a generous pinch
½ teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice powder (or more cinnamon!)
2 ⅓ cups flour, plus more for flouring and rolling
¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (or more Chinese Five-Spice)
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
+ Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
+ Special equipment: 2 ½-inch cookie cutter and 1-inch cookie cutter

*If you don’t have time to make the syrup, combine ⅓ cup each apple cider and maple syrup, or use ⅔ cup defrosted frozen apple juice concentrate.

Combine the white sugar, 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon of the Chinese Five-Spice in a shallow dish.
In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, remaining ¼ teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice, and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon. In a third large bowl, combine the melted butter, eggs, and Mulled Cider Syrup—or cider and maple syrup combo, or defrosted apple juice concentrate—and whisk until incorporated. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until everything is just combined.
Divide the dough into two equal-sized pieces, place each piece in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until the dough firms up, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Heat 3 inches of oil in the Cravings stainless steel wok (or another large pot) over medium heat until it reaches 360°F. (Test with a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer if you have one. If you don't, throw a small piece of dough in the oil. If it instantly starts to sizzle and bubble on contact, you're good to go.)
Generously flour a clean work surface and rolling pin (or wine bottle). Remove half the dough from the fridge, uncover, and roll the dough to ½-inch thickness. Use a floured 2 ½-inch cookie cutter (or a glass around that width) to cut five circles from the dough, then use the 1-inch cookie cutter (or a paring knife if you don’t have the cookie cutters) to cut a hole in the center to make doughnut shapes.
Arrange a rack over a baking sheet for the doughnuts to cool on. Gently lower the doughnuts and cutouts (these make great doughnut holes!) into the hot oil a few at a time and fry until dark golden, about 2 minutes per side for doughnuts and 2 minutes total for the holes. (Note: They will crisp up more as they cool!)
Lift them out of the hot oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon, drain for a minute on the rack, and then toss them in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Remove the other half of the dough from the fridge and repeat—doing it in batches keeps it from drying out. You can either reform all the scraps into a ball, re-roll, and cut out 1 more doughnut, or simply fry the freeform scraps and coat them in the cinnamon sugar. Whatever you do, serve them warm—ideally with a mug of Mulled Apple Cider or a Mulled Apple Cider Latte on the side.