The 8 Best Warm Apple Cider Donuts in the Hudson Valley and Capital District

Fresh cinnamon sugar apple cider donuts served with a cup of apple cider. Photo: Kenishirotie / Shutterstock.com

There is an unspoken rule in New York when late September arrives: you do not judge an apple orchard only by its gift shop, petting zoo, or parking lot. You judge it by the warm brown paper bag in your hands.

Apple cider donuts have become one of the great fall rituals of the Hudson Valley and Capital District. The best versions are made fresh on-site, have enough apple and spice flavor to stand on their own, and are at their peak when they are still warm from the fryer or bakery. This ranking weighs freshness, local reputation, farm history, cider connection, and the overall experience of stopping for a donut at the source.

1. Golden Harvest Farms (Valatie, Columbia County)

Golden Harvest Farms earns the top spot because apple cider donuts are not a seasonal side business here; they are one of the farm’s signatures. The Route 9 roadstand dates to 1957, and the bakery began making cider donuts in 1988 with a single donut machine and mixer. Today, Golden Harvest says it operates five donut machines on its busiest fall days and makes its cider donuts fresh every day.

The strongest part of the story is the cider itself. Golden Harvest presses cider from apples grown on its own farm, and the bakery says that cider is part of the donut recipe along with cinnamon and other ingredients that remain secret. The farm has repeatedly promoted its donuts as award winners in Capital Region Living. Harvest Spirits, the farm distillery created in 2007, is located on the same property, making Golden Harvest an easy place to turn a donut stop into a longer fall visit.

2. Lakeside Farms (Ballston Lake, Saratoga County)

Lakeside Farms has been tied to cider since 1948, when Robert Pearce bought the Ballston Lake property in part because of the old cider press inside its barn. The family began producing cider there and later expanded into a farm store, bakery, restaurant, apple barn, and event space. More than three generations later, the business remains family operated.

Apple cider donuts remain one of Lakeside’s fall staples, and the farm specifically promotes pairing its fresh hot donuts with seasonal fresh-pressed cider. The early opening time is part of the appeal for serious fall visitors: Lakeside opens at 7:30 in the morning, making it one of the better stops for anyone who wants cider donuts before the midday orchard crowds build.

3. Jenkins-Lueken Orchards (New Paltz, Ulster County)

Jenkins-Lueken Orchards keeps the focus on the farm itself. Located in New Paltz beneath the Shawangunk Ridge, the orchard operates a roadside farm stand and bakery where baked goods are made using fruit grown on the property. The farm’s cider donuts are made fresh every day during the season.

The natural pairing here is simple: a fresh cider donut and a glass of the orchard’s apple cider. Jenkins-Lueken grows more than twenty apple varieties and presses cider at the farm, which gives the stop a strong working-orchard identity rather than the feel of a separate bakery attached to an attraction. It is an especially good choice for anyone spending the day around New Paltz or the Shawangunks.

4. Indian Ladder Farms (Altamont, Albany County)

Indian Ladder Farms has been part of the Capital District’s fall tradition since 1916. The farm grows more than forty apple varieties and operates a large farm store, bakery, pick-your-own operation, and cidery and brewery beneath the Helderberg Escarpment.

The farm store bakery makes apple cider donuts fresh daily, and Indian Ladder sells them year-round rather than limiting them to autumn weekends. Visitors can order them plain or coated with sugar, and the farm has even extended the flavor into a seasonal hard cider inspired by its cider donuts. In the 2025 Times Union Best of the Capital Region poll, Indian Ladder placed second in the single-location doughnut category, giving the farm one of the strongest documented regional reputations on this list.

5. Fishkill Farms (Hopewell Junction, Dutchess County)

Fishkill Farms combines a historic Hudson Valley orchard with one of the region’s better-known modern farm markets. Founded in 1913, the farm now produces a broad range of sustainably grown fruit and vegetables while operating Treasury Cider, a farm store, pick-your-own fields, and seasonal harvest events.

The cider donuts are made fresh every day and sold year-round. During peak fall weekends, Fishkill even opens a dedicated donut window, offering the donuts plain or coated in cinnamon sugar. The farm warns that lines can become long in late September and October, which tells you how central the donuts have become to the fall experience. A donut followed by a glass or flight from Treasury Cider makes this one of the more complete orchard-and-cider stops in the Hudson Valley.

6. Bowman Orchards (Rexford, Saratoga County)

Bowman Orchards is one of the Capital District’s largest pick-your-own destinations, with more than 98 acres overall, including more than 65 acres of apples and over sixty varieties of dwarf apple trees. The farm combines orchard picking with a store, bakery, farm attractions, and seasonal activities.

Apple cider donuts are sold from the farm store and bakery and remain one of the standard treats visitors encounter after leaving the picking fields. Bowman’s appeal is partly the setting: this is a full-scale apple orchard where the donuts are part of a larger day built around picking, produce, and fall activities. The farm also placed third in the Times Union’s 2026 Best of the Capital Region poll for apple orchards.

7. Tantillo’s Farm Market (Gardiner, Ulster County)

Tantillo’s Farm has one of the strongest documented cider-donut pedigrees in the Hudson Valley. The fourth-generation family farm operates an orchard, market, bakery, and ice cream shop in Gardiner beneath the Shawangunk Mountains. Its baked goods are made daily on-site from May through November.

The farm says its apple cider doughnuts were voted Best Apple Cider Doughnuts in the Hudson Valley by readers and editors of Hudson Valley Magazine. That recognition alone makes Tantillo’s worth including on any serious regional donut list. The bakery also produces pies, breads, cookies, and other farm-market staples, but cider donuts remain one of its signature products.

8. Altamont Orchards (Altamont, Albany County)

Altamont Orchards replaces the previously listed Windy Hill Orchard because the Windy Hill Orchard that could be verified is located in York, South Carolina, not Castleton-on-Hudson, New York. Altamont Orchards, by contrast, is a long-established Capital District farm with a documented cider-donut tradition dating back decades.

The Abbruzzese family has operated the farm since the late 1960s, and the current farm market includes a bakery known for apple cider donuts, pies, breads, and pastries. The orchard’s own history notes that making cider donuts for the Altamont Fair has been a tradition since the 1960s. The farm also presses its own pasteurized cider without added preservatives, making it a fitting final stop on a list built around one of autumn’s most enduring New York combinations.

The Apple Cider Donut Field Guide

For more New York food traditions, see 20 Foods That Were Invented in Upstate New York. Readers planning a fall drive can also explore 10 Historic Small Towns in Upstate New York Worth Visiting.