It’s the prime season for pumpkin patches and corn mazes. But mostly we’re just excited about the apple cider doughnuts. Here are some places—near and far—where you can get your fix.
Apple House
4675 John Marshall Hwy, Linden, Va.
Heading to Shenandoah? Don’t miss this 61-year-old comfort food restaurant, which—as the name might suggest—is famous for its apple butter cinnamon doughnuts. You can stock up on apple butter, cider, and more Virginia-made products in the gift shop as well.
Bread Furst
4434 Connecticut Ave., NW
The James Beard Award-winning bakery offers apple cider doughnuts as an afternoon treat every weekend starting at 2 PM. The recipe incorporates cider from Pennsylvania’s Quaker Valley Orchards, a staple at farmers markets around town.
Cox Farms
15621 Braddock Rd, Centreville, Va.
Come for the pumpkin patch and hayrides, stay for the farm-made doughnuts. The Centreville getaway uses Virginia-made Rinkler’s Apple Cider in its cinnamon-sugar-rolled treats, and fries them up around the clock during Fall Festival weekends to keep up with high demand.
Donut Run
6904 4th St., NW
Fans get up early for fresh vegan doughnuts from this Takoma DC shop. Apple cider doughnuts made with real apples and apple cider are an extra incentive not to hit the snooze button.
Gaver Farm
5501 Detrick Rd, Mt Airy, Md.
Washingtonian critic Ann Limpert counts herself a big fan of these straight-from-the-fryer treats, which she reports have “the airiness of a yeast doughnut but the flavor and crumb of a cake doughnut.” Bonus: cider slushies, which you can get layered with soft-serve ice cream, to enjoy in between corn mazes, pedal carts, and picking your own apples and pumpkins.
Hartland Orchard
3064 Hartland Lane, Markham, Va.
This low-key family-run orchard just off I-66 doesn’t host a mega fall festival like some other local farms, but it does have apple-picking (no tickets necessary) and a farm stand with excellent apple cider doughnuts. The cinnamon-sugar-dusted treats, warm from the fryer, stand out for their strong apple flavor. Freshly dipped candied apples are also available.
Miller Farms
10140 Piscataway Road, Clinton, Md.
This 267-acre Prince George’s County farm—with a corn maze and farm animals—makes a wide variety of cake doughnut flavors, from red velvet to toasted coconut. But it’s the apple cider variety, baked fresh each morning, that’s the real attraction. The farm’s bakery offers them glazed or rolled in cinnamon sugar, alongside apple pies, cakes, and soft-serve ice cream.
Rock Hill Orchard & Woodbourne Creamery
28600 Ridge Rd, Mt Airy, Md.
This orchard and creamery grows more than 30 varieties of apples for picking plus “cow to cone” ice cream (you can watch the cows being milked and pet the calves). Naturally, they’ve got apple cider doughnuts at their farm market to go along with a slew of other family-friendly activities.
St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub
2300 Mount Vernon Ave.; 529 Montgomery St.; 1536 Kenwood Ave., Alexandria
These Alexandria cafes all carry apple cider doughnut from Ashbank Farm in Markham, Virginia. Grab one or a half dozen while you can—they often sell out before the end of the weekend.
Have another favorite spot for apple cider doughnuts that we missed? Let us know.
This story was last updated Sept. 19, 2024.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
