Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Ever since making Cinnamon Sugar Donuts with a borrowed donut pan I have been obsessed with having one of my own.  I finally bought one and have a dozen recipes that I want to try.  Considering the season, I thought I'd break it in with a batch of Pumpkin Donuts based upon a recipe that I found at Tasty Kitchen for Pumpkin Mini Muffins.  It stood to reason that if this recipe made great little donut-type mini muffins that it would work just as well for donuts.  It did.  I made these this morning while my husband was showering.  By the time he got to the kitchen, all dressed and spiffy, the coffee was ready and a batch of warm cinnamon and sugar-coated donuts were waiting for him on a plate.  Move over Krispy Kreme, I don't need you any more!  Yes, I still love your pumpkin donuts, but these homemade gems are lighter, BAKED instead of fried, made with all-natural ingredients and are so delicious I'm sure to make them again and again.  And with pumpkin as one of the main ingredients they just HAVE to be good for you...right?

[Baked] Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Makes 12 donuts

For Donuts
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup low-fat milk

For Coating
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Spray each cup in a 6-cavity donut pan with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices (through cloves). In a separate, large bowl whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined -- do not over mix!

Divide batter evenly among sections.  (I filled up a disposable pastry bag and used a large round tip that made this a breeze.) Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the donuts bake, melt butter in one bowl and combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in another Remove donuts from oven and cool for 2 minutes, then invert pan onto a cooling rack. Dip each donut in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee (in a Dracula mug, if you have one) and enjoy!

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

I have been enormously intrigued by the glut of donut recipes, cookbooks, and other accoutrements that have appeared on the market of late.  All of these new products take me back to my youth when, on the occasional Saturday morning, my mother would make us homemade donuts.  They were a lot of work as I recall.  First she had to make the dough, then painstakingly cut out the donuts and holes, heat up the deep fryer, fry them to a golden brown, and then drain them on stacks of paper towels, all while my nose was as close to the operation as I dared.  But boy, were they good.  Still, all of that just seems like too much work when a Krispy Kreme is a mere two miles away.  So when my cousin offered to loan me her donut pan (thanks, Kel!) I jumped at the chance.  This morning I took it for a spin.  I am sold!  In less than an hour I had a dozen hot, fresh, delicious donuts stacked on a plate.  No cutting, thanks to this clever pan, and no deep frying!  I didn't have a recipe for donuts, so flipped through my files and adapted a cakey muffin recipe.  I can't tell you how delicious these were.  When my husband got home from breakfast with his cronies he asked where I'd gotten the donuts.  He couldn't believe that I'd made them while he was gone.  Yep!

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

 1/3 cup Crisco shortening (not butter flavored)

½ cup sugar

1 extra large egg

1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup whole milk (do not use 2%)

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Cream shortening, sugar, and egg together in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to the shortening mixture.  Fill greased donut pan wells half full and bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  (I used a teaspoon to fill the wells, spreading it evenly all of the way around, because I'd run out of pastry bags, but this dough is thick enough to pipe beautifully, so that would be my suggestion.)


While donuts are baking, stir together remaining ½ cup sugar with the cinnamon, to blend.  Melt butter in a wide, microwave-safe bowl.  Remove donuts from pan to wire rack, then immediately dip them one-by-one, first into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon and sugar mixture, coating well.  Place back on the wire rack to cool thoroughly.

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