This apple cider donuts recipe gets its orchard flavor from cider boiled down until it coats a spoon, then fried at 350°F (175°C) so the crust cracks instead of turning greasy. I skip apple juice here – even reduced, it stays one-note sweet and never tastes like a cider mill. If you want a faster fried bite without rolling dough, I already have fried apple cider glazed donut holes, and leftover fruit from a cider run goes into air-fryer apple crisp.

Ingredients

For the donuts

• 2 cups (480 ml) nonalcoholic apple cider, preferably unfiltered
• 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus extra for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ⅓ cup (67 g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) buttermilk
• Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

For the cinnamon sugar

• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Reduce the cider. Bring the cider to a boil in a wide saucepan, then simmer until reduced to ⅓ cup (80 ml), checking after 15 minutes. Measure in a heatproof cup: simmer longer if needed, or add a little water if reduced too far. Cool until lukewarm.
2. Make the dough. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Separately, whisk the brown sugar, eggs, cooled cider, melted butter, and buttermilk, breaking up any sugar lumps. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry just until no flour remains. The dough should be soft and sticky.
3. Chill and prepare the coating. Cover and refrigerate for 45–60 minutes, or until firm enough to handle with floured hands. Chill longer if it still smears when lifted. Mix the coating sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
4. Shape the donuts. On a lightly floured surface, gently pat or roll the dough to ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick. Cut 3-inch rings with 1-inch centers, flouring the cutters as needed. Transfer the rings and holes to a lightly floured baking sheet with a spatula. Reroll scraps once, then refrigerate the cut dough while the oil heats.
5. Heat the oil. Add 2 inches (5 cm) of oil to a Dutch oven, filling it no more than halfway. Heat to 350°F (175°C), using a frying thermometer with its tip clear of the pot’s bottom. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet nearby.
6. Fry and check. Fry one ring first, about 60–75 seconds per side, until golden. Let cool briefly, then cut it open: the center should have a cake-like crumb with no wet dough. Adjust the cooking time if needed. Fry the remaining rings 2 or 3 at a time, keeping the oil near 350°F and letting it return to temperature between batches.
7. Coat while warm. Lift the donuts out with a slotted spoon, drain on the rack for 15–30 seconds, then gently turn in the cinnamon sugar. Fry the holes separately for about 1–2 minutes total, turning frequently, until golden and cooked through. Drain, coat, and serve warm.

Pan bake, glaze, and overnight dough

• A donut pan at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 11 minutes gives a muffin crumb, not the cracked orchard crust. Brush those with melted butter before the cinnamon sugar or it won’t cling. If you’d rather bake a fall breakfast than heat oil, I make pumpkin muffins.
• For a glaze instead of cinnamon sugar, whisk 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of the reduced cider until it ribbons, then dip the donuts after they cool 5 minutes.
• Covered dough keeps overnight in the fridge. If it’s stiff the next morning, leave it on the counter 10 minutes before you roll.

These are best the day you fry them, while the crust still cracks. Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, then reheat on a rack at 325°F (165°C) for about 8 minutes so the outside dries again. I don’t freeze fried cider donuts – they thaw soggy.

This tater tot casserole goes soggy when the tots sit in the filling or bake under foil. I brown and drain the beef, keep the mix thick enough to mound on a spoon, then set frozen tots in one layer on top and bake uncovered until the edges are deep gold. I put a scoop of classic coleslaw next to the pan if I want something cold against the bake, or a slice of golden garlic bread to swipe the sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1½ lb (680 g) ground beef, 90% lean
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 can (10.5 oz / 298 g) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can (14.5 oz / 411 g) cut green beans, drained well
• 1 cup (140 g) frozen corn (no need to thaw)
• 2 cups (226 g) sharp cheddar, shredded, divided
• 32 oz (907 g) frozen tater tots (do not thaw)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease a 9×13-inch (3-quart) baking dish. Leave the tater tots in the freezer until you need them; thawed tots sit wet and steam instead of browning.
2. Brown the beef: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, breaking the meat into small crumbles, until the beef is browned with no pink left and the onion looks translucent, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, then spoon off the fat until only a thin sheen remains in the pan.
3. Mix the filling: Stir in the Worcestershire, salt, and pepper, then add the cream of mushroom soup, drained green beans, corn, and 1 cup of the cheddar. Fold until the soup coats the beef and the mix mounds on a spoon instead of pouring. Taste and add salt if the soup flattened it, then scrape the filling into the baking dish and spread it even.
4. Arrange the tots: Scatter the remaining 1 cup cheddar over the filling. Set the frozen tater tots on top in a single layer, leaving a small gap between them so hot air can move around each tot. Don’t press them into the sauce, and don’t cover the pan.
5. Bake uncovered: Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, until the tots are deep gold at the edges and the filling bubbles at the corners of the dish. If the tots are still pale, give them 5 more minutes so the edges brown. Let the pan stand 5 minutes so the filling thickens a notch before you scoop.

If the tots steam instead of crisp

• Pale, floppy tots mean the pan was covered or the tots were stacked. Take the foil off if you used it and give them 8 to 10 more minutes at 375°F until the edges brown.
• A greasy puddle under the tots means the beef wasn’t drained, or it was fattier than 90% lean. Spoon off the fat next time and leave only a thin sheen in the skillet.
• Soggy tot bottoms mean the filling poured like soup. It should mound on a spoon before the tots go on; if it’s loose, simmer 1 to 2 minutes to thicken.
• Bland bites mean the meat went in unseasoned. Salt the beef after draining and taste the mix before it hits the pan, because canned soup stays quiet on its own.

Storage

Cool leftovers and refrigerate in an airtight container within 2 hours. They keep 3 to 4 days. Reheat uncovered in a 375°F (190°C) oven until the center is hot and the tots crisp again; a covered reheat steams them. I freeze the assembled filling without the tots for up to 2 months, thaw it overnight in the fridge, then add frozen tots and bake as written. USDA leftovers and food safety covers the 2-hour cooling window and the 165°F (74°C) leftover reheat target.

This pumpkin cookies recipe starts by blotting canned pumpkin until it packs like paste, then mixing it with brown sugar and egg yolks so the cookies bake chewy instead of puffing into muffin tops. I leave the whites out on purpose – that extra water is what turns the dough into cake. If you already made a pan of pumpkin muffins, these use the rest of the can, and a loaf of chocolate chip pumpkin bread uses the same puree if you’d rather slice than scoop.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (122 g) canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
• ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tablespoons (38 g) granulated sugar, for rolling
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, for rolling

Instructions

1. Blot the pumpkin: Spread the ½ cup puree on a plate in a thin layer. Press a paper towel onto it, lift, and repeat with fresh towels until a dry towel comes away with almost no orange stain and the puree looks like thick tomato paste. You should have about ¼ cup (60 g) left. If you skip this, the dough bakes up puffy and pale, more like a mini muffin than a cookie.
2. Heat the oven and mix dry: Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C) with a rack in the center and line two baking sheets with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until the spice looks even. Spoon the flour into the cup and level it off, because a packed cup is the fastest way to a dry, sandy cookie.
3. Cream butter, sugar, and yolks: Beat the softened butter and brown sugar with a hand mixer on medium-high until the mixture looks lighter and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the yolks and vanilla and beat 1 minute more, until it looks pale. Beat in the blotted pumpkin on low just until combined. The mixture may look slightly curdled from the pumpkin hitting the fat, and it smooths out when the flour goes in.
4. Scoop and roll: Add the dry mix and mix on low just until the last streak of flour disappears. The dough should hold a scoop, not slump like batter. If it slumps, chill it 10 minutes. Scoop 2-tablespoon balls, roll them in the granulated sugar mixed with the remaining ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and set them 2 inches apart on the sheets.
5. Bake until puffy, then cool: Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 13 minutes, until the edges look set and the centers are still puffy and pale. Cool on the sheet 5 minutes, then move to a rack. As they cool, the centers fall and the tops wrinkle, which is the chewy texture setting, not a collapse.

Chocolate chips, pecans, and a plain top

• Fold ¾ cup (130 g) semisweet chocolate chips in after the flour and skip the spice-sugar roll so the chips stay put instead of sliding off in the oven.
• Use ½ cup (60 g) chopped toasted pecans the same way. Start with already-toasted nuts, or they taste raw in the center of a 12-minute bake.
• Leave the sugar roll off if you want a plainer top to frost later. Frost only after they are fully cool or the frosting slides.

Keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Let them cool completely before you lid the container or the tops turn sticky. Freeze cooled cookies for up to 2 months and thaw on the counter.