When we lived in Vermont my family used to often take Sunday drives. It seems that the art of the Sunday drive has been lost. Who can blame people, seeing what the price of gas is nowadays, but I can’t help but feel saddened. People don’t know what they are missing. I loved those Sunday drives, at least in hindsight. I’m not so sure that I particularly enjoyed them at the time, but now I look back on them with fondness. Sunday drives are about the trip and not the destination. Sometimes my parents had destinations in mind and at other times we’d just drive, look at the scenery, and if we happened upon something cool or a neat little store then it was a bonus. Most times I think my dad just pointed the car in a direction and just drove randomly, though I bet he’d never admit it.

I was always thrilled when our trips wound their way down to Waterbury Center, because I knew a stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill was imminent. It might be a tourist trap, but I loved and still love that place. As a kid, I was fascinated by watching the giant cider press turn out gallons and gallons of cider from the apple pulp they’d load in to it. I could have sat there for hours watching them press that apple pulp into one of life’s greatest treasures-cider.

The other reason I looked forward to the trip was the hot cider donuts. Crisp on the outside, soft and moist on the inside. Colored a deep brown, these donuts were packed with the flavors of autumn, from the variety of warm, sweet spices they used to the rich cider reduction used to moisten the dry ingredients. With a bribe of a few hot donuts and a couple glasses of cider my parents were assured of a little piece and quite from my brother’s and my endless verbal barrage, and I believe they took full advantage.

Over the years, I have found reasons to return to Vermont, on occasion, and when I do, I always plan for a stop at Cold Hollow. The place has changed owners and has expanded into a full tourist destination, but I was glad to see they still make their cider donuts, and they taste as good as they did all those years ago.

Over the years, I have attempted to recreate their recipe a couple of times. My attempts have come out tasting good, but kept missing the mark. I couldn’t quite seem to recapture Cold Hollow’s exact flavor and eventually gave up. A few years ago, I was given a bag of cider donut mix from Cold Hollow, by a family member. While I appreciated the sentiment, I didn’t think I’d ever make them I as I figured that donuts from a mix would be a disappointment, so they ended up at the back of one of the kitchen cabinets.

Recently, while the wife and I were cleaning out the cabinets we came across the bag of donut mix and my wife suggested I make them for breakfast some morning soon. I agreed and Sunday morning found me mixing up a batch of Cold Hollow cider donuts, thinking at least they couldn’t be all that bad.

To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. One bite and I was transported back to those days of Sunday drives. I was amazed that they were able to capture that exact flavor that I remembered so well. So often foods translate so terribly between freshly made and being packaged for the masses. I was glad to see that Cold Hollow did it right.

It’s not often I can or will recommend a prepackaged mix. So often they are just pale imitations of the original, but this time I have to admit I that I plan on ordering a few more packages to have on hand. Just a couple of things that I would recommend if you consider checking this out. First off, just like Krispy Kremes, these donuts are at their best fresh and hot. Sure they are good when cool also but when hot, they are taken to a whole new level, besides as they cool down the outside loses that wonderful crispness that plays so nicely against the soft, moist interior. Secondly, the recipe call for 1 cup of cider per package of donut mix, I double that to 2 cups and then reduce it down to 1 cup. Allow the cider to then cool to room temperature before using.

I apologize to those of you hoping for a recipe. Sorry to disappoint, but luckily there are plenty of sites out there offering cider donut recipes. There seems to be one out there that is making the rounds on a number of sites, you’ll know the one when you come across it for the 5th & 6th time. It is very similar to the one I used as my base for trying to recreate Cold Hollow’s donuts. There is nothing wrong with any of these recipes, they just didn’t recreate the taste I was looking for.

If you are interested in trying the Cold Hollow cider donut mix, their website is here.

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