Apple Cider Donuts Recipe – French Cruller
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Spiced French Apple Cider Donuts Recipe aka French Crullers – the best easy fall treat for the cozy season! Soft and airy on the inside with a crispy outside and a hint of apple cider flavor intensified by an apple cider maple glaze!
Go to fall heaven with these Glazed Spiced Apple Cider Donuts aka French Crullers!
It is the season for all things apple cider! Have you ever had an Apple Cider Donuts? No? They are the best! Dunkin’s put them on their fall menu, go have one, then get ready for the next level: Apple Cider French Crullers!
Nope, these are not the cake donut kind but their light, eggy, fluffy cousin made with a choux dough? Life-changing!
To get some fall flavors going, I use a dry cider in place of water, which gives the pastry that apple undertone. And while we’re talking fall flavors, why not add some cinnamon and nutmeg! Yep, now we’re talking fall coziness!
What is a French Cruller?
French crullers are light and airy on the inside with a crisp crunchy outside that is a gorgeous golden hue.
An authentic French Cruller is traditionally made from fried choux dough. This crullers recipe isn’t really too different from the Spanish doughnut treat, churros. In fact, it’s all pretty much the same thing. Crullers are shaped into rings rather than straight lines.
Because these Apple Cider Donuts are made with a “oh la la” choux pastry, they are considered French crullers.
Choux mistakenly has the reputation of being tricky to make – trust me, it really isn’t. Using choux pastry instead of yeasted donut batter makes the process actually so much quicker than yeasted donut batter. You just make the pastry, pipe it into a circle, and fry it. No fussing over yeast, proofing, or cutting.
Since it’s a wet batter, the moisture from the apple cider quickly evaporates as the cruller hits the hot oil. This is what causes the air pockets inside.
How to make Fried Apple Cider Donuts aka French Crullers:
How to make Choux Pastry:
Traditional French crullers start with a homemade quick choux pastry. You might not have heard of this pastry but if you have had desserts like cream puffs or beignets you already know it.
Don’t be intimidated by the French name, it’s very easy to make. You start by heating butter, sugar, salt, ground spiced, vanilla, water and apple cider in a heavy-bottomed pot. Then dump in the flour and quickly stir until a dough forms. Keeping the pot on the burner, keep stirring the choux until it forms a large ball. You know your choux is done when it starts to leave a white residue on the bottom of the pot.
Take the pot off the heat to cool then mix in the eggs one at a time. Continue adding the eggs until you get a smooth, pretty thick, yet glossy paste. When you lift up your whisk it should fall after roughly 3 to 4 seconds. It should be able to fall from the spatula on its own but not be too wet that it can’t hold its shape. Remember you want to pipe it.
To get the consistency just right, you may not require the entire amount of eggs stated in the recipe!
Using a star tip, pipe the homemade choux pastry in rings that you already drew onto sheets of parchment paper. Now we want to freeze the baking trays with your crullers so they get easier to handle and hold their shape better when frying. I do this while I heat up my oil.
How to fry your French Apple Cider Donuts:
Now on to frying: Drop the choux rings into your hot oil (375 F – use a kitchen thermometer). Fry them for 3 minutes per side. Once done, transfer the crullers to a drying rack and then dunk in icing. There you have it! Fresh French crullers.
Now all you need to do is stir together the ingredients for the apple cider maple glaze.
Tips for making the best fried apple cider donuts / French Crullers:
- Use a good apple cider for this Apple Cider Donuts recipe. I recommend unpasteurized ciders.
- Cut up the butter into small pieces so that they will melt evenly in the choux mix. If you place a whole block in the pot, the cider and water could evaporate before your butter has melted.
- The longer you cook the choux ball in the pot, the more eggs you would need to add as you would have cooked out a lot more moisture.
- Let the choux cool down about 4 minutes before adding the eggs. It should not be painful to touch.
- Continue adding the eggs bit by bit until you get a smooth, thick, glossy paste.
- You may not need all of the egg listed in the recipe. Once the choux mixture is smooth and falls reluctantly from the spatula to form a V-shape, it’s ready to be piped.
- You will need to use a piping bag and the right tips in order to make the crullers of your dreams.
- Like most fried treats, crullers should be eaten right away. This is because you will lose that crisp outside as they sit on your counter.
Can I make these Apple Cider Donuts in advance?
If you need to make these French Crullers in advance, you can pipe the rings and freeze them. Pop them into the fryer just before serving.
These Apple Cider Crullers are actually much easier to make than they look. But be warned, you won’t be able to keep them around for long as they are highly addictive! But they are best eaten fresh anyway so go nuts!
More delicious apple desserts for fall:
- Apple Cheddar Crisp
- German Apple Fritters Recipe
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- German Apple Cake Cookies
- Apple Pie with Rosemary Caramel
★ Did you make and love this apple cider donuts recipe / French apple cider crullers recipe? Give it your review below! And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Apple Cider Donuts - French Crullers Recipe
Glazed Apple Cider Donuts ( French Crullers Recipe) - the best easy fall treat you will ever make! Fried, airy and light apple cider donuts with a delicious apple cider and maple syrup icing that will make you want to lick your fingers!
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 3/4 cups apple cider 180 ml
- 1/2 cup water 120 ml - or milk
- 1/2 cup butter 120 g
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour 130 g
- 4 eggs M
- 1 egg yolk
For the glaze
- 2 tbsp apple cider
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 cup icing sugar 125 g
- 1.5 l oil for frying
Instructions
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Mix the first eight ingredients in a medium-sized heavy pot and place over medium heat. Let heat up and stir constantly until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot.
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Take a wooden spoon. Add all the flour to the pot in one addition and mix in the flour with your wooden spoon. Keep mixing. The batter should form into a large mass - it will form a ball eventually. Keep it on the heat for another 3 to 5 minutes and keep stirring. The dough ball should start to leave a white residue on the bottom of the pot.
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Remove the pot from the heat and keep mixing until it’s no longer hot to the touch. This should take another 3 to 4 minutes. Maybe even a bit longer.
Mix in the eggs one at a time. At first, it will look like the dough does not want to combine but just keep working at it. You might not need all the eggs.
Once your pastry is ready, set it aside and prepare your baking trays. Line them with parchment paper and draw circles of 6 to 7 cm. This will be your template for piping the crullers. This recipe makes about 12-14 crullers so make sure you have enough squares to accommodate them.
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Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with your cruller/choux dough. Pipe large circles on each parchment square. Freeze them on the tray until your oil heats up.
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In a large and heavy-bottomed pot, heat your oil to 350F. Keep your thermometer closeby so you can adjust the temperature as needed.
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To fry, place each cruller in your hot oil. I recommend using a spider strainer to add and remove them from your pot. Don’t fry more than 3 crullers at a time.
Fry the crullers for about 3 minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re done when they have a deep golden and small bubbles form on the edges. They should also feel lighter than the frozen ones.
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Transfer them on a cooling rack. Place your cooling rack over a big sheet pan lined with paper towels so the oil drips onto that and not your counter.
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For the apple cider maple glaze, simply whisk all of the ingredients together. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of apple cider or rum. If too thin, add more icing sugar.
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While the crullers are still warm, dunk them into the glaze and return to the cooling rack.
Continue frying and glazing the rest of your crullers. Serve them right after they’ve had time to cool down a bit.
Recipe Notes
- Use a good apple cider for this Apple Cider Donuts recipe. I recommend unpasteurized ciders.
- Cut up the butter into small pieces so that they will melt evenly in the choux mix. If you place a whole block in the pot, the cider and water could evaporate before your butter has melted.
- The longer you cook the choux ball in the pot, the more eggs you would need to add as you would have cooked out a lot more moisture.
- Let the choux cool down about 4 minutes before adding the eggs. It should not be painful to touch.
- Continue adding the eggs bit by bit until you get a smooth, thick, glossy paste.
- You may not need all of the egg listed in the recipe. Once the choux mixture is smooth and falls reluctantly from the spatula to form a V-shape, it’s ready to be piped.
- Like most fried treats, crullers should be eaten right away. This is because you will lose that crisp outside as they sit on your counter.
Omg where have these donuts been my whole life! I am obsessed with french crullers and can’t wait to try this festive fall version!
oh my. I think I was drooling the whole time I was reading this post. Sadly, we no longer have Dunkin’ Donuts here in Alberta. We have very few good doughnut shops and I think I just need to get my doughnut fix by making my own. You make it look easy! Excellent instructions, I really feel like I can tackle this project.