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Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

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I’ve been wanting to post this donut recipe for quite a while. I actually came up with the recipe for these back in July, and I’ve been (im)patiently waiting to share them with you. I wanted to create a donut that’s old fashioned, comforting and was abundantly Fall. So when I was planning the recipe for these mulled apple cider cake donuts, I decided to go the traditional route of frying them. They absolutely did not disappoint. These donuts are crispy on the outside, tender and cakey on the inside and made with apple cider, mulling spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves and orange, and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Perfect with a cup of coffee on a cool autumn morning.

Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

What are mulling spices?

Apple cider is delicious all on it’s own, but steep some mulling spices in it, and it’s next level amazing. Mulling spices are simply a combination of spices, usually whole, that are used to add flavor to many seasonal autumn and winter drinks, such as mulled wine, apple cider, or wassail. Any combination of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom or star anise can be considered mulling spices. Additionally, fruit is also used as well as a flavoring with mulling spices, such as orange, lemon or cranberries.

I prefer using whole spices – cinnamon sticks, allspice berries and whole cloves to steep in the apple cider. They provide more of a subtle and pure flavor, and I don’t like how much of the ground spices are left behind in the cider.

Choosing an apple cider and steeping the spices

When choosing an apple cider, choose a fresh one, usually found in the produce area or seasonal section of your grocery store. You don’t want to use the one that apple juice from the juice aisle. The best kind of apple cider is opaque with little apple bits at the bottom. This kind of apple cider is more flavorful and has a more concentrated and true apple flavor. Also, note that this is non-alcoholic apple cider.

To get maximum apple flavor, a cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice berries and some orange slices, are steeped in two cups of apple cider that simmers on the stove until the cider is reduced to 1/2 cup. The spices and orange slices are removed and the cider cools to room temperature.

Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

How to make the donuts

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and spices. In a measuring cup, add the milk, melted butter, vanilla, egg and the warm apple cider. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture, then pour in the milk/cider mixture. Stir until it’s well mixed, and scoop the dough out onto a parchment lined sheet pan or non-stick baking mat. Give the dough a few gentle kneads to make sure the dough is sticking together. It will look pretty rough and craggy, like biscuit or pie dough. Pat the dough into a disc shape, between 3/8″ to 1/2″. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for an hour, or the freezer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 6 cups of vegetable, canola or peanut oil in a heavy bottom pot. I use my dutch oven for frying, as it is sturdy and conducts heat well. Clip a deep fryer thermometer to the side, making sure the glass isn’t touching the bottom of the pot. I misplaced my thermometer, and used a candy thermometer that worked just as well. You can find the equipment I use under the store tab in my website menu.

Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

Heat the oil over medium heat until the oil reaches 370-375F. This will take some time. As the oil heats up, cut out the donuts. You can make any size you want, but for a standard size donut, use a 2 1/2″ to 3″ round cutter, or biscuit cutter. For the donut holes, you can use a 1 1/2″ round cutter, or as my mom used to do, use a floured soda bottle cap to cut out the centers. Combine the sugar and cinnamon together and whisk to combine. This will be used to roll the donuts in once they’re fried.

Once the oil is to temperature, fry two or three donuts at a time, about a minute/minute and a half on each side, taking care to not overfill the pot with donuts so the oil temperature doesn’t drop. I used a stainless steel frying spider, but you can also use the end of a wooden spoon to flip the donuts and remove from the fryer. Be super careful not to drop the donuts to avoid splashing crazy hot oil all over you.

Let the donuts drip off excess oil on a paper towel lined cooling rack for 20 seconds before rolling them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

Serve the donuts warm or at room temperature with your favorite warm beverage.

I hope that you enjoy these mulled apple cider cake donuts as much as I do! If you make them, let me know and leave a comment or tag me on Instagram.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more autumn recipes, check out these posts:

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Chai Spiced Apple Cranberry Pie

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Mulled Apple Cider Cake Donuts

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Chilling1 hr
Total Time1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 12 donuts

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (480ml) apple cider
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 whole allspice berries
  • 2 orange slices, optional
  • 3 ¼` cups (410g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 6 cups vegetable, canola or peanut oil
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

  • Stirring occasionally, simmer the apple cider, cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice and orange slices, if using, in a small saucepan over low heat until the cider is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Start checking at 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc until you have 1/2 cup (120ml).
  • Remove the apple cider from the heat, and remove the spices and orange slices. Pour the cider into a measuring cup, and let it cool until warm or room temperature.
  • Meanwhile, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Set aside.
  • To the room temperature cider, whisk in the whole milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla.
  • Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the cider/milk mixture in the center of the well and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.
  • Scoop out the dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a non-stick mat. Give the dough a few light kneads to ensure everything is sticking together. The dough will be craggy.
  • Pat the dough to 3/8" - 1/2" thick and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or freeze for 15 minutes.
  • In a shallow bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Meanwhile heat the vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 370-375 degrees F.
  • Once the dough is chilled, cut out donuts with a 2 1/2" - 3" round, biscuit or donut cutter. Use a 1 1/2" round cutter to cut out the centers.
  • Working in batches to not overcrowd the oil, carefully add donuts to the oil and cook until evenly golden and crispy, 1 minute per side. I use a stainless steel spider to drop in the donuts and remove them from the oil. You can also use the handle of a wooden spoon.
  • Transfer the donuts to a paper towel-lined cooling rack for 20 seconds; then roll warm donuts in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Serve warm.

Notes

The donuts can be stored for up to four or five days in an airtight container. Note that the outside will soften a bit and won't be as crispy.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

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I have been making these overnight cinnamon rolls with brown butter cream cheese frosting, and variations of these rolls for my family for many years. I’ve always sort of viewed cinnamon rolls as a special baked treat reserved for holiday mornings, or for big breakfasts when guests are over, but since we have all been at home these past several weeks, I have been making these often. My kiddos LOVE them. They are crazy delicious.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into a warm, gooey cinnamon roll only to find that the dough is tough or crumbly. Cinnamon rolls should be soft and fluffy, with a sweet brown sugar cinnamon filling, no skimping on the cinnamon, with a cream cheese frosting that drips into the rolls making those gooey centers that might be the absolute best part of the cinnamon roll.

I use a buttery, soft and fluffy brioche dough for my cinnamon rolls that I adapted from Joanne Chang’s book Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe.  Brioche is a buttery and tender enriched dough that is perfect for all sorts of sweet and savory shaped and filled breads, buns, rolls, and more. This is my go-to recipe when making any sort of brioche pastries.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

How to make brioche

Brioche is fairly straightforward to make, albeit a bit time consuming due to the mixing and kneading. Luckily, most of the tedious work of making brioche takes place on a stand mixer. I do not recommend making this brioche by hand, or with a hand mixer. It needs a powerful mixer to be able to knead it properly, and it would take substantially longer to knead by hand. Bread flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast, milk and eggs are placed into the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a scale to weigh your ingredients for the best and consistent results, and it’ll be a one bowl wonder dough.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

The dough is mixed together for several minutes, and then the softened butter is added. Do not rush these first few steps of mixing before the butter addition. Once the butter is added, gluten formation is slowed down, which is why mixing times are longer for enriched doughs (doughs with a high fat content and contains butter, eggs, etc.) and also why gluten formation needs to occur in these first couple steps. No gluten strands = tough, dense and crumbly rolls. Softened butter is then added a piece at a time, and set to mix for a good amount of time until the dough has pulled away from the bowl, and has mixed into a smooth, shiny and elastic dough. Pop the brioche into the fridge to deepen its flavors and cold proof overnight.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

In the morning, remove the brioche from the fridge, then make the filling. Mix the softened butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt into a smooth paste. This filling is so good and I think of the amazing cinnamon sugar toast it would make. YUM. But back to the recipe….Roll out the cold dough into a 18×12 rectangle and spread the filling over the dough, leaving about 1/4″ border around the edges. Tightly roll up the dough, cut off 1/4″ off both ends and cut into 12 equal size rolls.

At this point, you can freeze the rolls. I do this often to only bake what we will need. Once you are ready to bake them, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight, then leave them to proof a couple hours before baking.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

How to make the brown butter cream cheese frosting

While the rolls are baking, prep the brown butter cream cheese frosting. We love lots of frosting so this recipe makes just the right amount for us. If you like less frosting, you can cut the recipe in half. Brown the butter in a saucepan until deeply browned, but not burned. It will be more browned than what you are probably used to, but trust me on this, the browner the better. Let the brown butter cool to room temperature. Mix the cream cheese, confectioners sugar, vanilla, salt together then add the brown butter. Whip until fluffy. Those flecks in the frosting are from the brown butter and vanilla bean paste. You will want to eat the whole bowl with a spoon, but… you should frost the cinnamon rolls with the brown butter cream cheese frosting while they are still warm.

Then eat them. It will be hard to eat just one. But, eat at as many as you want. No judgement here.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

For more breakfast recipes, check these out:

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Scones

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
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Overnight Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

These cinnamon rolls are soft, buttery and tender filled with a brown sugar and cinnamon filling and topped with a brown butter vanilla cream cheese frosting that is deeply flavorful and delicious.
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time35 mins
Total Time1 hr 35 mins
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Overnight Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Servings: 12

Ingredients

Brioche Dough:

  • 2 1/4 cups (315g) all purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 cups (340g) bread flour
  • 3 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (82g) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup (120g) cold milk Any kind of milk will work. I use 2%.
  • 1 cup + 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature cut into 10 pieces

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

  • 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter
  • 8 ounces (224g) block cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups (210g) confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or paste

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the all purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, salt, sugar, milk, and eggs.
  • Fit the dough hook attachment to the mixer. Miix the ingredients on low speed for 3-4 minutes until the ingredients are thoroughly combined, and pockets of dry flour have been fully incorporated.
  • Mix for an additional 3-4 minutes. The dough will be stiff and dry.
  • Add the butter, a piece at a time, mixing after each addition until each piece is mixed into the dough.
  • Mix on low speed for 10 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl every so often to fully incorporate the butter. The dough will look like a gooey mess, but that's ok.
  • Once the butter has been completely incorporated, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 15-18 minutes. The dough will go from gooey and shaggy to smooth and cohesive.
  • Turn up the speed to medium high and beat for 2 minutes. You should hear the dough making a slapping sound against the sides of the bowl.
  • The dough should have a little bit of stretch and should be able to be picked up in one piece. If the dough breaks when you pull at it, mix on medium speed for an additional 2-3 minutes.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap against the surface of the dough so that it doesn't form a skin.
  • Proof the dough in the fridge overnight.
  • In the morning, remove the dough from the fridge and set aside so you can prepare the cinnamon sugar filling.
  • Combine the softened butter, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix into a smooth paste. Set aside.
  • On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a 18x12 rectangle.
  • Make sure the long side is facing you. Starting on the long side of the dough closest to you, tightly roll up the dough into a log. Pinch the seams together so that the log doesn't become unrolled when cutting into rolls.
  • Trim 1/4" off of each end of the log. Cut the dough using a sharp knife, a bench scraper, or unflavored dental floss into rolls, about 1 1/2" wide.
  • Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper. Place the rolls evenly in the pan, leaving space between each roll.
  • Cover the pan with plastic wrap and proof in a warm spot for two hours, until the dough has risen, is puffy and the rolls are touching each other.
  • Heat the oven to 350F. Remove the plastic wrap from the rolls. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the rolls reaches 190F.
  • While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. Place the butter in a light-colored sauce pan over medium-low heat. Once melted, the butter will begin to pop and sizzle around the edges. In about 5-8 minutes from when you started, the butter will turn dark golden brown. The majority of the popping will subside and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan will be a dark toasty brown. It will smell buttery and nutty, but not burned. Let the butter cool to room temperature.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla. Add in the room temperature browned butter and mix to combine. When all the ingredients are combined, turn the speed up to medium. Whip until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  • Once the rolls are out of the oven, let them cool for about 5 minutes before adding the frosting. Spread the frosting over the warm rolls and serve.

Notes

Brioche recipe adapted from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang.