Skip The Fried Dough With This Hack For Light Chocolate Apple Doughnuts

Although you could celebrate fall with a basic apple cider doughnut recipe, you could also get creative and take the apple cider doughnut concept to a whole new level. Instead of struggling to make traditional doughnuts, why not make a faux doughnut that negates the need for baking or frying?

Making a chocolate apple faux-nut is as simple as slicing and coring apples to be doughnut-shaped. Tarter apples, like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, are ideal because they balance out the sweetness of the chocolate. Melt chocolate in a bowl and give your apple faux-nuts a generous dip, coating every millimeter. This will keep your apples from turning brown and mushy.

Once your apple slices are completely sealed in chocolate, you can make a drizzle by mixing condensed coconut milk with apple pie spices (such as nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon). Be sure to use condensed coconut milk, as its flavor is less sweet and less overpowering than regular condensed milk. After you've added the drizzle to your faux-nuts, you can decorate them with sprinkles or chopped nuts.

If a chocolate-dipped apple isn't your idea of a tasty fall treat, no worries. You can still enjoy an apple faux-doughnut with a different coating. For instance, how about a caramel apple-inspired faux-nut?

First, you'll want to pick the best type of apple for caramel apples –- ideally Granny Smith, but Honeycrisp and Fuji are also good options. Next, you can make an easy caramel sauce by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk. Just as you would with the chocolate version of this treat, dip your apple faux-nuts fully.

If you so choose, you can continue with the same drizzle mentioned previously or you can go straight to decorating. Popular caramel apple toppings include chopped peanuts, sprinkles, and mini M&M's, but the possibilities are endless. You can also dust your faux-nuts with apple pie spices to amp up the caramel apple pie vibes. Whichever route you take, you can't go wrong with an apple faux-nut.