Duxbridge Mysteries, book 1 is with the editor after the first round of rewrites. I think there will be a little more tweaking and then a final edit and it should be off to the publisher.
Meanwhile, I’m working on another series that takes place in Colorado, the first in the series is in the fall, so this seemed appropriate, although this recipe may also show up in the third of the Duxbridge series (yes, we have planned and outlined THREE so far. The third in the series will be a Holiday Special and since it Duxbridge is in Massachusetts, it seemed appropriate our first holiday edition would be Halloween! Boo!

It’s the time of year when folks go out to orchards; spend the day filling bags with apples, going on hay rides, running through corn and bale mazes, before finishing up with cider and cider donuts. In honor of that, I decided to try and make my own. Baked, not fried.
I haven’t purchased cider in a while and was a little shocked at the cost – but I bought from a local orchard, so it was worth it. Excellent flavor.
These turned out pretty good – unless you’ve got donut tins, these are going to be a little lopsided, not perfectly round as the dough is more like muffin dough. They are much lighter than muffins, more like a good cake donut, and once you coat them in cinnamon and sugar, no one will notice their little flat bottoms.
This recipe made about 3 ½ dozen holes or 2 ½ dozen mini muffins.
Apple Cider Donut Holes
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
Wet ingredients:
- 2 cups of apple cider (reduced to ½ cup)
- 2 cloves
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- ½ cup buttermilk (or 2 tbsp buttermilk powder and ½ cup water)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 small apple, shredded or 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
Topping:
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- ½ granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Saucepan, large mixing bowl, Mini-muffin pan or donut pan (these usually make mini-donuts), two small bowls



