These baked apple cinnamon donut holes are super soft on the inside with an irresistible crispy cinnamon-sugar coating. They make a fun fall breakfast treat!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time12 minutesmins
Total Time22 minutesmins
Yield: 36donut holes
Ingredients
For the donut holes:
1 ¾cupswhite whole wheat flour (see notes)
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonsalt
¼cupunsalted butter, softened
½cupbrown sugar
1large egg
1cupunsweetened applesauce
½cupmilk of choice
1teaspoonvanilla
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
¼cupunsalted butter, melted
½cupgranulated sugar
1teaspooncinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. (I think a hand mixer works best for this but you can use a fork and just beat it really well.) Add the egg and mix again. Add the applesauce, milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Add the batter to the muffin tin, filling each about ¾ full.
Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes, until set. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a baking rack or paper towels and let cool.
Meanwhile, melt the butter for the coating in a small bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon until well mixed.
Dunk the top of each mini donut hole into the melted butter and then cover in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Set back on the baking rack or paper towels and let sit for a minute to set up.
Notes
I use white whole wheat flour, but you can also use regular whole wheat flour or even all-purpose flour instead.I usually let these cool completely before dunking them, but you can serve them warm as well.Need to make these ahead? You can bake the mini donut muffins the day before and then wait until you are ready to serve them to dunk them into the butter and cinnamon-sugar coating.If you have some very little kids, you can just leave off the cinnamon-sugar coating and have a healthier apple mini muffin for them.These are best stored in the fridge after the first day, so they don't get too soft/soggy. They'll keep there for an additional 2-3 days. You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.