~ Applesauce Donuts ~

It's apple harvest time here, which makes me want to spend all day in the kitchen, tinkering away on possible recipes. These donuts were a recent creation that my family fell in love with right away. Imagine a cake donut, but tastier, with the added moisture of applesauce and a deliciously spicy flavor.

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tablespoons sour cream
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 1/4 cups flour

Combine sugar, applesauce, sour cream, and butter together in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in beaten eggs, until all combined. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir until mixture is completely combined. (The mixture will be thick). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a really well floured counter. Roll out dough to 1/2" thick and cut into donut-sized circles, with a hole in the center. (Since I don't have a donut cutter, I used a circle cookie cutter, and for the center - the bottom of a large pastry decorating tip.)
Fill a saucepan with vegetable oil or shortening and heat over medium-high heat until oil is hot for deep frying. Cook 1-2 donuts at a time, depending on the size of the pan, turning once the bottoms are deeply golden browned. Once both sides are browned, remove from oil, and drain on a cooling rack, with paper towels underneath. Once donuts are slightly cooled, dredge each in the Cinnamon/Sugar coating. (recipe below).

Cinnamon/Sugar Coating
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Makes approximately 20 donuts.

Recipe is from this great blog “The Farm Chicks”