Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Last night I posted a recipe I tried for Apple Cider Caramel.  Yummmmmm

Now today, the recipe I made to go with it:  Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (based off the recipe from King Arthur's Flour)!  I don't have a doughnut pan (yet), so made them in my mini-muffin pans to resemble doughnut holes.  It worked pretty well, I think!

Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons boiled cider
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
1/8 teaspoon ground clove*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour

* The original calls for just cinnamon; I added more for the flavors I like.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Put 1/2 C cider into a sauce pan, bring to a boil, and reduce until just a few Tbsps are left.  Set aside to cool.
3. In the stand of a mixer, combine all the ingredients except the flour and mix until well combined.
4. Add the flour and fold in gently until just mixed.  Lumps are ok; overmixing is bad.  Overmixing = tough nuggets that resemble doughnut holes but are no fun to eat.
5. Spray mini muffin pans (for doughnut holes) or doughnut tins with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Fill pans.
   
7. Bake ~10 minutes for doughnut holes or 15-18 minutes for doughnut pans.  A toothpick inserted at the end should come out clean, like with cake.
8. Loosen doughnuts from pan and let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Turn out onto cooling racks to cool.
10. (Optional) While still warm, but not hot, toss in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar to coat.
11. (Optional) Drizzle/glaze/dunk in the Apple Cider Caramel sauce from last night.

I skipped the sugar coating once I tasted them. SO yummy without the extra sweetness.  The caramel is a nice addition instead.