5 Store-Bought Apple Cider Donuts Ranked From Worst To Best

The apple cider donut is such a singular representative of fall. You can even find these donuts at pumpkin festivals and coffee houses where pumpkin spice latte (PSL) is a way of life. It's a harbinger of sweater weather, shorter days, and the need for a sweet treat that makes perfect use of autumn's natural sweetness. It's also one of the most amazing ways to cook with apples once the season is in full bloom.

If you're not up for hauling out your favorite easy apple cider donut recipe and you can't find them fresh at a farmers market or local bakery, store-bought apple cider donuts come to the rescue. Rather than finding them among the other selections in the standard donut case, these seasonal beauties get their own spot on the specialty tables among the other apple bakes that juice up the possibilities.

To figure out which grocery store apple cider donuts are your wisest purchase, I did the run-around on my grocery store circuit and picked up all the versions I could find. Some were out of stock when I arrived, a testament to their popularity that made my list short and sweet. What I did find represented a broad range of options that show a spectrum of possibilities, though not all received the seal of approval.

It seems a safe bet that the high quality of Aldi's best pumpkin foods and drinks sets up shoppers for an equally smashing time when the apple items start showing up on shelves. I had those same high hopes when I learned there were Bake Shop apple cider donuts available at the deep discount grocer. It isn't often that a treat made of flour and sugar disappoints me, but there's a first time for everything.

What goes so wrong here? For starters, there's no frosting or glaze to lend extra sweetness to the donut itself. Considering that the cake ring has very little apple or spice flavor to conjure the sensation of apple cider, there's not much else to look forward to. The ingredients clearly state that apple solids are included, and they're high up on the list even. But they're so undetectable that you might as well dip a plain cake donut in a mug of real apple cider instead.

For about $3.29, you get a six-pack of what should be much better apple cider donuts. I've come to depend on Aldi and its Bake Shop label in particular to do exceptional things with baked goods. This time, it feels like the elves in the workshop phoned it in rather than sprinkling everything with their usual magic.

Walmart gets its apple cider donut game rolling with a Freshness Guaranteed six-pack that only vaguely resembles the baked good it's supposed to be. You could easily pass the package over thinking these were just ordinary donuts inside, if it wasn't for the label telling you what you were getting. Even with the name prominently displayed on the sticker, these apple cider donuts are a pale imitation of the real deal.

The cake donut base is present and accounted for, a not-too-shabby version that isn't greasy or heavy. A dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon on top adds a nice stroke of spiciness and gives the cooling sensation the best powdered donuts provide.

Beyond that, these sweet rings are suspiciously devoid of any telltale signs that the donut you've bought will be the donut you meant to buy. They taste like just a plain doughnut, with no apple presence detected. This feels like one of those cheap attempts by a store to upgrade an existing product into a seasonal specialty by adding an extra layer without addressing what a real apple cider donut tastes like. There are better ways to spend your four-ish bucks.

Apple cider donuts from the Favorite Day bakery line are exactly as average as I expected them to be. This specialty grocery label from Target is so hit-or-miss with its baked goods that there's no dependable traits to be found among any of the products. I always try to go in with an open mind when giving the brand a shot, and inevitably, the products leave me wanting something a little tastier.

The same is true of these donuts. They're spice-forward more than apple-forward, a tender cake-like donut soaked in a glaze that sinks below the surface. The donut is as moist as possible and sweet as anything, but it still offers a faint resemblance to an apple cider donut.

Target prices a set of six just around the $4 mark, which might make the package attractive. While it's a serviceable donut overall, it may only be a dim reminder of how bright and juicy a solid apple cider donut should be.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when shopping at Sprouts is not checking for hidden items stuck around the backside of the display. Usually, there are at least a few products that deserve a more prominent spot in the store. Freedom gluten-free apple cider donuts are the find for this fall, a small but mighty pack of flavorful fun that everyone can enjoy, even those who are accustomed to a more traditional donut.

With little to identify them as apple cider donuts, these simple, bite-size Hostess Donettes copycats could easily be mistaken for fried calamari. But their simplicity doesn't mean they're not fantastic; they actually offer more apple flavor than many of the other donuts I tried. The gluten-free texture makes them a bit denser and chewier than full-gluten flour donuts, which is also a nice change from the usual texture. And the sugary glaze on top makes the donuts just moist enough and sweet enough to be a top two selection. 

The one drawback with this Sprouts specialty is the price. At around $7.99 for less than a dozen tiny donuts, they're definitely a high-priced indulgence. But if you're a gluten-free eater hoping to join in on the fun with your apple cider donut-eating friends, this option gives you something tasty to chew on.

This dependable boxed baker conjures up an apple cider donut that does the best job of bringing sweet satisfaction to your autumn plans. It's a partner product to the obvious pumpkin spice donut, but the apple spice version stands on its own as a superior creation that doesn't need to be fresh baked for its goodness to shine through.

The quintessential Entenmann's buttermilk donut shape and texture are present and accounted for; the sharp top edges and super solid interior of the donut itself are exactly what you love in other Entenmann's creations. The flavor comes through in spades, too. There are abundant apple and spice elements in the donut itself, while a generous coating of glaze amps up the sweetness and lends a crispy texture. With the sturdy crumb found even in the best Entenmann's donuts being prone to easy breakage, it also helps hold your treat together when you bite into it — an unexpected bonus that minimizes the mess on your plate.

Priced at $3.99 or so for a box of eight (which may differ in your area, obviously), Entenmann's apple cider donuts provide an affordable top-shelf goodie to get your autumn into full swing. It's my indisputable top pick, one I'd call the apple cider donut of my eye.

Rather than downing an entire donut for each brand, I did a one-bite test to let a single slice tell me what I needed to know. I gauged freshness first, which was peak in every selection. Then, I assessed the topping situation; each producer has its own concept of how an apple cider donut should be adorned, so it was easy to start creating a separate profile for each. Finally, I broke down the taste of each donut, qualifying the apple cider essence, discerning what the topping added to the recipe, and taking the two together as a whole donut moment.

I was expecting a more authentic apple cider donut experience from at least one of the stores where I found my selections. My ideal blueprint features a cake donut with real cider in the batter and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar all around the exterior. None of the selections entirely fit that template, a perception shift that opened my eyes to what passes for apple cider donuts in the grocery world. They may not measure up fully to your expectations, either, so proceed with caution when shopping.