Mochi donuts, but make them ~fall~! I’ve experimented a few times with mochi recipes before, but donuts have always seemed way too intimidating. But in honor of the kickoff to pumpkin spice season, I decided to break out the mochiko and my trusty donut baking pan to make apple cider mochi donuts! These are SO flavorful and light – my least favorite thing about baked donuts is how heavy they can feel, and the lack of gluten in these bad boys really keep them light and airy. They’re flavored with apple cider and cinnamon for those ~fall vibes~ and are perfect for breakfast with a nice hot cup of coffee. While most mochi donuts have the traditional pon de ring look, these look like your classic everyday donuts and are really easy to whip up using a few basic ingredients and a donut pan. Definitely keeping this recipe in my back pocket – what other flavors should I try?
Mochi Apple Cider Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups sweet rice flour, like Mochiko (320g)
- 3/4 cup whole milk (185g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar (55g)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Pour the apple cider into a medium saucepan and heat over medium low until simmering. Allow the cider to simmer and reduce for ~40-45 minutes, until it's down to 1/2 cup. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for ~20 minutes.
- While the cider is cooling, preheat the oven to 350°F and prep the dough.
- Add the rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, add the butter (make sure it's cooled a bit since melting) milk, both sugars, and vanilla. Whisk together until combined, and then whisk in the eggs. Once combined add the reduced apple cider.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Rice flour can take a bit of time to accept moisture, so don't worry if this takes a bit of time to get the dough mixed smooth.
- Spoon the dough into a Ziploc bag, or a piping bag if you have one. Generously grease a 4" doughnut pan, and pipe the dough into the pans, filling them until ~1/4" shy of the lip. Once all the doughnut wells have been filled, smack the pan down on the counter firmly a few times to help work out any air bubbles.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes; a toothpick should come out clean.
- While the doughnuts are baking, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the coating in a medium sized bowl (make sure it's large enough to easily fit one of the doughnuts)
- Once the doughnuts are done, remove from the oven and quickly and carefully release them from the pan onto a wire rack. Then, one at a time toss the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar mix to coat. If the doughnuts are too hot to handle, use two forks to gently place it into the bowl and a spoon to scoop the sugar over top of the doughnuts. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.
- Allow the doughnuts to cool for ~10 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!
