The Best Apple Cider Donuts When You Can’t Make It to the Orchard

If you’ve never had fresh apple cider donuts from an apple orchard on a crisp fall day, you’re really missing out. But the good news is that if you’ve heretofore opted out of that transcendent autumnal ritual, you won’t know what you’re missing when you buy apple cider donuts from the grocery store. 

There aren’t a lot of apple cider donuts at the grocery store—and sadly that means there aren’t a lot of good apple cider donuts at the grocery store. If you’re not familiar, apple cider donuts are fried cake donuts with cooked-down apple cider in the batter. They’re usually coated with cinnamon sugar and infused with other warm spices. They should be a treat. 

What we wanted from the best apple cider donuts 

• Moisture. I know cake donuts can have a tendency to be dry, but it was stunning to me how many of the apple cider donuts we tasted were downright crumbly. These should be good for dunking in coffee or even hot apple cider, but you shouldn’t have to dunk them to enjoy them.
• Fall flavor. Apple cider donuts don’t need to taste apple-y—and they certainly shouldn’t taste faux apple-y—but they should have enough spice to differentiate them from other cake donuts. 

The bad news: We only found two brands of apple cider donuts that we thought tasted good enough to include on this list. The good news: One of them is gluten free! Here are the best apple cider donuts to buy this fall. 

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Best Mini Apple Cider Donuts

Freedom Gluten Free Apple Cider Doughnuts

Sprouts

When I was taste testing these mini apple cider donuts, my colleague Mythical Chef Josh tried one and said that they have “the perfect walking texture for beach sand.” Yes, there’s something sandy about the experience of eating these—but it’s nice, moist, sweet sand. Freedom’s GF apple cider donuts are coated in A LOT of cinnamon sugar, and the crumb is definitely small, but they taste great. They’re moist (you know, like wet beach sand), and the texture reminded me a little bit of baked mochi donuts, which makes sense given that they’re made with a blend of alternative flours that includes rice flour. In addition to being gluten free, these little dudes are dairy free, soy free, and nut free. I know they’re some of the best apple cider donuts because I ate almost the whole container. 

Credit: Merc / Sprouts

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Apple Cider Donuts

Entenmann’s Apple Cider Doughnuts

Walmart

If you’re on the hunt for full-size apple cider doughnuts, I’m pleased to report that Entenmann’s—a nationally available brand—is doing a lovely job, even if they’re sort of non-traditional. Instead of cinnamon sugar, these are drenched in glaze. Still, you can definitely detect warm spices in the mix. The best part is that these aren’t dry. The apple cider donuts from Trader Joe’s and Aldi left me groping around for my Stanley. Perhaps it’s the preservatives in these, but they’re nice and squishy and moist and don’t turn to dust in your mouth. And that’s about all we can ask for in the best apple cider donuts at the grocery store.

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Other grocery store apple cider donuts we tried

Bake Shop Apple Cider Donuts, Trader Joe’s Apple Cider Donuts