Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

I may or may not have bought new donut pans specifically for this recipe. Ok, so I did. But I swear I'll use them for lots of other delicious donuts too! It's pumpkin season and I've had a hankering for donuts, but when did donuts get to be $1.29 each from the bakery at the grocery store? That definitely is highway robbery. So really, the pans are an investment. And they were rightfully christened with these delicious, cakey, pumpkin gems. Ok, first the donuts: perfect, tender, just the right amount of spice to enhance the pumpkin but not overdone and so soft and fluffy inside. Then they're topped of with a simple glaze (and some of them got double dipped because I had extra glaze!). Yes these are the baked pumpkin donut you've been waiting for.

Last month Kristan posted these donuts at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and I promptly pinned them then immediately bought myself two donut pans, so I could have big donuts, since I only had a mini pan before. Totally worth it. The recipe is simple and I didn't make any adjustments, but you could certainly load up on the spices, adding more cinnamon, maybe some pumpkin pie spice, or other fun stuff to get a pumpkin spiced donut. Or add a little cinnamon to the glaze. Or forgo the glaze and dip them in cinnamon sugar instead. Ok, so I might need to make these again a little sooner than I thought now that I have all these good ideas! Kristan says you'd get 12 donuts, but I ended up having a lot of extra batter, so I made 12 regular donuts and 12 mini donuts. The wells were only filled 3/4 of the way (and all my donuts had holes, which is a first since I usually overfill and they end up baking over the center), so I don't know what I did wrong. And since I had extra glaze, I did double dip as many as I could--a little more than half--and the extra glazed are so stinkin' good. Really, you need these donuts. So you probably need to get the pans. I promise I'll bring you more donut recipes to help you break them in!

Glazed Pumpkin Donuts

Ingredients for donuts

15 ounces pure pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

In a medium saucepan, stir together pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves. Heat over medium-low heat until simmering and the pumpkin thickens, about 3-4 minutes.

Transfer pumpkin to a mixing bowl and whisk in brown sugar and oil until combined. Let cool a few minutes then whisk in eggs.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together.

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir to combine.

Transfer batter to a piping bag.

Pipe batter into lightly greased donut pans, about 3/4 full.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully--they are done when tops are set, bounce back when touched, and a tester inserted comes out clean. Mine were done at about 6 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool in pans sitting on wire racks for 3-5 minutes before turning out of pans to complete cooling on wire racks.

Ingredients for glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place powdered sugar in a small bowl and whisk to break up any chunks. Add water and vanilla and whisk to a smooth consistency.

Place parchment, waxed paper or a flexible cutting mat under your wire racks. Dip donuts in the glaze, one at a time, letting excess drip off before returning racks to set. Repeat with remaining donuts. If extra glaze remains, dip donuts a second time.

Allow to set before serving or storing.

Makes 18 regular donuts.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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