APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS, Gluten Free!

I don't know about you, but I was never a big doughnut fan.  I guess it was the 'after taste' that got me.  Please do not misunderstand, I have definitely eaten my share!  Back in the college days, my friend Helen and I would close the library on many a night, and proceed directly to a Dunkin' Donut shop that was near campus.  We would settle in with hot coffee (no matter what the season), and each time visiting the shop, would try a different flavor of doughnut.  I think we actually tried several different kinds of doughnuts each time.  ;  )  So, it's not that I'm a doughnut 'avoider'.  I have found a few GF recipes that I have tried, but this one I present for you today is SO good and tasty, it has helped propell me into the 'I love doughnuts' catagory.  A former patient of mine sent me the recipe.  Ruth Ann sends me different recipes each letter she writes.  She is now in an assisted living facility, but has yet to slow down her letter writing or her life!  Thanks Ruth Ann, this was a winner!

I have taken a few liberties with her recipe, and hope you will try these, and enjoy them as much as I have.

You can halve the recipe...it will then make only 10.  I would recommend you make the whole batch because they disappear very quickly.


Gluten Free Apple Cider Doughnuts (recipe makes about 20-24)

Ingredients

4 cups GF flour blend  (Featherlight Rice Blend)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 pkgs. (1/4 oz. each) rapid-rise yeast
1 TBSP. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
13/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup warm water (~115 degrees)
12 TBSP. melted butter
1/2 cup MacIntosh applesauce or any variety will do (room temp)
2 TBSP. vanilla

**how can ANY recipe go wrong with 2 TBSP. vanilla!!

GLAZE

2 cups apple cider
2 TBSP. softened butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar


In a large bowl, mix the first 10 ingredients.  In a different bowl, whish together the water, butter, vanilla, and applesauce.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir/mix until well blended.  The batter will be thick and almost bread like.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dry towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

After the ten minutes are up, place the dough in a large plastic food bag (2 gallon size bag works great).  Cut the bottom corner of the bag to form a small hole.  Pipe the dough into a doughnut pan (mine have room for 6 doughnuts per pan...).  I got my pans from Amazon.  Wilton Nonstick 6-Cavity Donut Pan.

Fill each cavity about 3/4 full.  The dough should fill about 20-24 doughnut cavities.

Bake at 325 degrees for 14 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack in the pans about 5 minutes.  Then remove and cool about 30 minutes before glazing.

For the glaze, boil the cider down until it is reduced to about 1/3 cup.  Pour the reduction into a small bowl with the butter.  Stir until melted.  Then slowly add the powdered sugar until you get the consistency you desire.  I liked mine sweet and thick.  Dip the doughnuts into the glaze so half the doughnut is submerged.  I dipped the side that was facing up while cooking in the glaze...looked more rustic, and absorbed more glaze.  Put back on rack and let cool completely, if you can wait!  The glaze will harden a bit. 

They smell heavenly, and so will your kitchen and house.  Reminded me of an autumn kitchen when pumpkin and apple pies are being made.

These might not be from a traditional bakery, but you will find these even better!  The work to make these is not tough, and they are SO worth it.  Give them a try, and as always, let me know what you think!

-Scott