Glazed Applesauce Donut Recipe

This Applesauce Donut Recipe is low in fat and big in flavor. Treat yourself to these easy doughnuts for breakfast!

What makes these applesauce donuts healthy?

Donuts are not generally considered a healthy breakfast. They are really a dessert in my mind and the fact that most are high in sugar, high in fat and fried makes them a pretty indulgent dessert. Don’t get me wrong I love donuts. A Krispy Kreme opened 3 blocks from me and it takes a lot of will power for me to not stop every time I pass and the fresh donut neon sign is on. But let me show you why this recipe is different and about as healthy as you can get for donuts.

• These donuts are baked and not fried.
• These donuts use applesauce to help replace the use of oil or butter in the batter.
• The recipe works well with all purpose flour, spelt flour (gluten free), or whole wheat flour. The apple sauce helps add a lot of moisture so it works well with hearty flours.
• You can make them without the glaze and they still have great flavor and a little sweetness.

Why I love these apple donuts?

Come fall I love to use as much apple and pumpkin as possible. They really just help me get in the fall mood and make me want to break out my sweaters and cook some delicious cozy dishes and treats. These donuts are no exception. They are one of my fall favorites for weekend breakfasts. These donuts are easy to make despite the longer looking ingredients list. Another fun fact is you can also use this recipe to make apple pancakes. It is not perfect but I had extra batter and my little kids gobbled them up. If you love extra fall flavors you can swap the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice.

What to serve with applesauce donuts?

Coffee! Of course coffee is perfect with donuts, but if you want to have something a little more interesting and fitting with the fall apple and cinnamon flavors check out this list of my favorite pumpkin drinks. Or for simplicity hop over to your grocery store and grab some pumpkin coffee creamer to pour in your coffee and make what I call a lazy man’s pumpkin spice latte.

Do you need a donut pan to make donuts?

Yes, you will need to get a donut pan for this recipe. If you don’t already have a donut pan, visit Amazon to see the one I used. I like that this one comes as a two-pack so you can make 12 at a time, which is what this recipe yields. If you only have one you can always cut the recipe in half or cook in two batches.

Glazed Applesauce Donuts

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This Applesauce Donut Recipe is low in fat and big in flavor. Treat yourself to these easy doughnuts for breakfast!

• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 12 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour (I used spelt)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Cinnamon Applesauce Glaze
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened applesauce
• 4 teaspoons water (added one at a time as detailed in instructions)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray donut pan(s) with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together egg, milk, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
3. Spoon batter into prepared baking pan. Each donut opening should be filled almost to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. (If you only have one donut pan, you will need to repeat this step when the first six are done.)
4. Allow donuts to cool in pan for a few minutes, and then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment, wax paper, or a silicone mat. (This lining will help in the next step.)
5. When donuts have cooled completely, whisk together powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, applesauce, and ONE teaspoon water. If mixture is too dry to mix in all the sugar, continue adding water ONE teaspoon at a time just until a thick glaze forms. (If you make the glaze too thin, it will just soak into the donuts.)
6. Dip the top of each donut into the glaze, and twist back and forth a couple times to get a good coating. Lift the donut straight up and let the excess drip off, then place the donuts glaze-side up on the lined baking sheet. Allow to rest about 15 minutes to let the glaze set before serving. Best eaten within a few hours.

Notes

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts.

I know this recipe looks long, but it really is easy! I just wanted the instructions to be clear and detailed so they would be easy to follow.

• Author: Andi Gleeson
• Prep Time: 10
• 10:
• Cook Time: 15
• Category: Breakfast

Have you been to a wedding or party lately with one of those photo booths? They usually have costume pieces and props so you can take fun pictures to commemorate the occasion. Here’s an example from a wedding Matt and I attended a couple years ago:

Sometimes taking food photos for my blog reminds me of those photo booths. Instead of just taking a picture of the food I want to show you, I try to gussy it up with props and stuff to make it prettier. Do you think I really stack linens and use garnishes and have ingredients and kitchen tools lying around while I cook and eat? No way! I am very simple when it comes to food. I just want it to taste good, and I don’t care that much about how it looks on the plate. I try my best to make my dishes look good for you here, but it’s against my nature to get too fancy.

For these tasty applesauce donuts, I didn’t have time to even make my usual lame attempt at getting fancy. I made them on Sunday morning and glazed half of them for us to eat right away. By the time I got a chance to glaze and photograph the rest, it was 4:30 in the afternoon. I had to make a casserole to deliver and take pictures of these tasty donuts in a hurry, so that’s why there aren’t any cute napkins or carefully placed spoonfuls of cinnamon or anything else in these photos. Just donuts!

I hope these little O’s of sweet, cinnamon goodness speak for themselves and you try them soon!

If you love apple cinnamon, you’ll also love these recipes!