Where to Get Apple Cider Doughnuts in Houston This Fall

The onset of fall brings a new season of decadent treats, with many restaurants dishing out pumpkin-spiced lattes and desserts as soon as (or even sooner than) the fall equinox hits. But one iconic autumn dessert remains hard to come by in Houston — until now. Enter, the elusive apple cider doughnut.

Unlike New England and the Mid-Atlantic, where apple orchards abound, Texas’s heat, humidity, and warm winters make for an unfriendly terrain for apples. This can also mean that all the delicious concoctions made using apple cider — the unfiltered, sweet, sometimes tart result of pressed apples — aren’t as readily on hand. But one Houston restaurant is coming through with some sweet comfort.

Adair Kitchen has kickstarted Houston’s version of autumn with its apple cider doughnuts. Made using North Coast Organic Apple Cider, a cider sourced from a historic apple cannery in Sebastopol, California, these brown sugar and cinnamon-dusted doughnuts are available through Thanksgiving at both Adair’s West U and Uptown locations by the dozen for $8 or in a box of six for $5.

The doughnuts have been a part of Adair’s annual tradition for the past five years, according to Roberto Ozaeta, Adair Concept’s vice president of facilities and culinary operations. In a statement to Eater Houston, Ozaeta says that Adair’s culinary team initially searched for a special for the cafe that would elicit that autumnal warm, cozy feeling for its diners in anticipation of the holiday season. They settled on serving the doughnuts, and the year following Adair’s apple cider doughnut debut, diners flooded the restaurants with requests to bring the doughnuts back. And so a tradition was born.

Just as the seasons change, Adair’s doughnuts will only be available for a limited time, so make sure to get your fix sooner rather than later.

Other places to score apple cider doughnuts this season

City Orchard, a local cider bar and brewery, is offering apple cider doughnuts on weekends through the holiday season. Awesome Bites Co., a bakery that offers allergy-friendly baked goods, has occasionally featured apple cider doughnuts this season during its Donut Wednesdays specials.

Check back here for updates on other restaurants serving up this fall specialty.