Thanksgiving is coming soon, and your whole extended family is going to ask you to bring a fall dish to the table. What are you bringing? 

Every year, we are startled and awed by the fall nature of pumpkins. Pumpkin spice coffee, bread, pie, soup, you name it. However, I think my favorite treat is apple cider donuts. It seems like a classic dessert, but living in the city, it’s very uncommon and difficult to find a good, authentic apple cider donut. Far from any local farms, it can be challenging. As a suburban girl from New Jersey, I grew up apple-picking and waiting in line for freshly baked apple cider donuts, paired with my apple cider. The combination and vibes are immaculate. Maybe it’s just a northeast style.

Those many years of apple-picking weren’t for nothing. I learned a valuable lesson from it: If someone or something can’t make you happy, you make yourself happy. Since New York City lacks my favorite dessert, why not make it myself? 

To start, making donuts requires only a few basic ingredients. It’s more about the time and dedication it takes. All you really need are apple cider, flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, soda and the spices — cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. However, I personally like to add a fun twist to this. Condensed milk! Why, you might ask? Did you know that adding milk to baked goods helps amplify the flavor, moistens the batter and creates a more cloud-like texture? According to the Centre of Excellence, which describes how to make a fluffier cake, milk creates a more stable emulsion and improves the overall texture. The fat in the milk slows down evaporation, preventing the cake from drying out during baking and contributing to the structure of the cake. Who knew science was so intertwined with baking?

I learned this technique from my favorite cake, tres leches cake. Also known as the three-milk cake, condensed, evaporated and whole milk. Anyway, I do this in order to avoid the dryness of the donut. I have noticed that within one to two days, donuts can become dry and may need to be reheated to achieve a cake-like texture. However, if a donut is genuinely a good donut, it can stand on its own, still consisting and evolving as a cake. That is how I judge a delicious donut. 

So, you have all your ingredients. Let’s start with the apple cider. 

Step 1: Heating the cider will help thicken the consistency and make it easier to incorporate the juice into the dough. 

Step 2: As you heat the cider, whisk together all the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the wet ingredients, including eggs, butter and cooled cider. 

Step 3: Once cooled, mix the batter and refrigerate until it is firm enough to shape. 

Step 4: After the dough has firmed, divide it in half. On a floured surface, pat each portion to half an inch thickness and cut each piece into three-inch circles with a donut cutter. Now, if you don’t have a donut cutter like I do, don’t fret. You can shape these with cookie cutters or into munchkins to make your life easier. Use what you have; it all tastes the same in the end. 

Step 5: As you shape each one, heat the oil to 325°F in an electric skillet or deep fryer. If you prefer a healthier option, you can also air fry or bake these. As a traditional suburban girl, I like my donuts the original way: fried up, crunchy on the outside and like a cloud inside. Fry the donuts a few at a time, until golden brown and cooked through. I recommend a minute on each side. 

Step 6: Once finished, drain the donuts on paper towels, removing any excess oil — then, the final finishing touch: cinnamon sugar! 

Step 7: Mix together cinnamon, sugar and some apple pie spice, if desired. Dunk the donut generously in some butter then into the sugar mixture. Now, there you have it. Your very own traditional apple cider donut from the comfort of your home! Let me know what you think. Is it good enough to bring to your family’s Thanksgiving this year?