CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The fall season is the busiest time of year for apple orchards, and that's not just because of the fruit itself. 

What You Need to Know

  • Grandad’s Apples is an orchard located in Hendersonville
  • Their bakery is known for their mouthwatering apple cider donuts
  • The secret ingredient in these tasty treats is 100% apple cider made right from their orchard 

Every weekday at 5:30 a.m., Leslie Lancaster turns on the lights and starts cooking in the bakery at Grandad’s Apples. She starts early because they can get extremely busy as the day goes on.

“On our busiest day, we probably sold 600 dozen donuts,” Co-owner of Grandad’s Apples Leslie Lancaster said.

Six hundred dozen donuts equates to about 7,200 individual ones. It’s quite a feat for the crew at work.

“People were waiting in line for two hours just for donuts last year,” Lancaster said. 

It’s not the sugar that makes these donuts special. Lancaster said the secret ingredient is fresh apple cider made directly from their apple orchard.

“We make our apple cider out of the apples that we grow,” Lancaster said. “We make it on Tuesdays and bottle it on Wednesdays so we have it fresh every single day until the day we close.”

Each batch of donut mix has 12 ounces of fresh cider. It’s then whipped together with their secret flour mix and finally poured into the fryer by hand. The finished product attracts people from hundreds of miles away. Gladys Ford purchased seven dozen donuts and has a long trip back home.

“I came all the way from Louisiana to get them,” Ford said. “They are the best, we haven’t found any that compare.”

While the farm has been in the family for four generations, this bakery is rather new. It’s 12 years old, and Lancaster hopes it lives on for many years to come.

“We hope to be passing it on to the next generation of grandchildren,” Lancaster said.

Grandad’s Apples is located in Hendersonville. They are open five days a week from 8- 5p.m.