Soft and fluffy donuts that taste like apple pie in donut form. The donut dough is just 3 ingredients and doesn’t require any yeast or eggs. These donuts are quick and easy to make. You can have fresh homemade donuts in about 15 minutes.
These apple donuts are soft and moist. They taste of apples and cinnamon and remind me of apple pie. I love how easy they are to make.
Ingredients
- Apples
- Self-rising flour
- Cinnamon Applesauce
Apples: Fresh apple pieces are folded into the dough to add apple flavor. The apple pieces also make these donuts taste more like apple pie because you’ll taste soft apple pieces with every bite. I recommend you choose a sweet apple variety like Gala, Fuji or Honeycrisp.
Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is all purpose flour that is already premixed with baking powder and salt. I always keep self-rising flour on hand because it saves me a few minutes of preparation, but you can also easily make your own self-rising flour by mixing all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
Cinnamon Applesauce: Cinnamon applesauce gives these donuts more apple flavor and cinnamon flavor. If you can’t find cinnamon applesauce, you can also add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to regular applesauce. You can use sweetened or unsweetened cinnamon applesauce. I chose to use sweetened because then the donuts are a little sweet on their own so you can enjoy them plain. But if you plan on adding a glaze or rolling them in sugar, you can use unsweetened applesauce.
How to Make Apple Pie Donuts
The self-rising flour and applesauce are first mixed together until a sticky dough forms. The apple pieces are then folded in. Your dough is then ready to be cooked. For best results, the donuts should be fried. Frying the donuts in hot oil allows the donut dough to become very soft and light. You can air fry or bake the donuts, but the donuts will be denser and taste more like bread rather than donuts.
Donut Texture and Sweetness
These donuts are soft and fluffy, like traditional donuts made with yeast. They are lightly sweetened on their own so you can enjoy them without any toppings or garnish. However, if you prefer sweeter or you like donuts with garnish, then you can either dip them in glaze or roll them in cinnamon sugar. I rolled mine in cinnamon sugar to give them an even stronger cinnamon flavor.
More Donut Recipes
3 Ingredient Apple Pie Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup (129 g) self-rising flour see note before starting
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (144 g) sweetened cinnamon applesauce
- 1/4 cup (28 g) apple pieces cored, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
- canola oil for frying
Instructions
- Add 2 inches of oil to a medium saucepan. Bring to medium heat (350°F/177°C)
- Add flour and applesauce to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until flour is completely incorporated and a dough forms. The dough should be a little sticky. Fold in the apple pieces until they are evenly incorporated.
- Once dough is ready, scoop dough with a 1 tbsp cookie scoop. Try to make sure any apple pieces are covered in dough. Gently release dough balls into the preheated oil. Do this in small batches because adding too many donuts at once will cause the oil temperature to drop too much. Cook donuts a few minutes on both sides, flipping halfway through, until both sides are golden brown. Remove donuts from oil and place onto a plate lined with paper towel to soak up excess oil. If you are finding that the donut dough is not releasing well off the cookie scoop, you can lightly coat your cookie scoop with nonstick cooking oil spray before scooping.
- Let donuts cool a few minutes before eating. You can also roll donuts in cinnamon sugar or dip in glaze before eating. Donuts are best enjoyed soon after they are cooked. Any uneaten donuts should be stored in the fridge.
Notes
- Self-rising flour amount. There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) flour and one that has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Brands like King Arthur Flour and White Lily make the low protein flour. Brands like Gold Medal and most store/generic brands contain a regular protein amount. The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, I tested it with Gold Medal self-rising flour* (regular amount of protein). If you are making this recipe with a low protein self-rising flour, you will need to add more flour to get a workable dough that isn't too sticky or wet. Or make your own self-rising flour with the recipe below.
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- Homemade self-rising flour: Whisk together 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Make sure your all purpose flour has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Most brands in the US contain this amount but there are some brands with higher protein (4 grams per 1/4 cup) such as King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill. You do not want a high protein flour for these donuts. It will make the dough dry and the donuts will be dense and bready.
- Your dough should be a little sticky when finished but you should be able to easily release it off of a cookie scoop into the oil. If your dough is so sticky and wet that it is not releasing like a ball, you will likely need to add a little more flour. If your dough is sticking slightly to the cookie scoop causing a few little tails on your donut round, you can spray the cookie scoop with nonstick cooking spray and this should help the donut dough release easily and produce nearly perfect round donut balls.
- We recommend that these donuts be fried for best results. Frying the dough will allow it to become light and soft, like traditional donuts. These can be cooked in the air fryer or baked but the donuts will taste more like bread. For the air fryer, the donuts should be coated in cooking oil spray and cooked for about 5 minutes in a preheated 350F air fryer. For the oven, the donuts should also be coated in cooking oil spray and baked for about 12 minutes in a preheated 400F oven.
- You can use unsweetened applesauce but I like using sweetened so that the donuts are sweet on their own and don't need glaze or toppings. If you can't find cinnamon applesauce you can add 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the applesauce.
- I recommend you choose a sweet apple variety, such as Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp. Keep the pieces small, 1/4 inch cube or smaller. Otherwise, they will stick out of the dough.
- These donuts are already a little sweet on their own so they can be enjoyed plain if you prefer your donuts less sweet. If you want to add more sweetness, you can dip the donuts in glaze or coat in cinnamon sugar.
- Cinnamon Sugar Coating: I rolled my donuts in cinnamon sugar. I used McCormick cinnamon sugar*. I added 2 heaping tablespoons into a large ziploc bag, added the donuts, sealed the bag and then tossed the donuts in the bag until they were evenly coated. You can also do a homemade cinnamon sugar with 2 heaping tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- Nutrition estimate is for the dough only and does not include cinnamon sugar coating or oil absorbed by the donuts during frying. It is very difficult to determine the amount of oil absorbed during frying so I am unable to provide that information.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Love how easy these were!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Thank you. Mine didn’t come out as round but they tasted good
It is a little tricky to get them perfectly round, but I’m glad you liked them!
Cheaper than getting them at the pumpkin patches. Tasted pretty good
So glad you liked them!
These were easy. Made them with my kids.
I’m glad they worked well for your kids!
This is a super easy recipe, and it even worked with oat flour! I used my donut tin for baking and it worked great!
We’re so glad you loved this recipe!!
I followed the recipe but I cooked them in my baby cakes donut maker. (It makes 12 mini donuts wiht 1 1/2 T batter.) They were great!
We’re so glad you loved this recipe!!
P.s i also used Applesauce with strawberries as I needed to use up. Spectacular.
Sounds great! We’re glad that worked for you!
These were so very good. Thanks for the always reliable recipes!
Thank you! We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe!