Pumpkin Doughnuts

I have had this recipe in my head since I saw it several weeks ago, late in September, at Annie's Eats. I love a homemade doughnut, but really pretty much limit myself to Soul Cakes and Fastnachts -- doughnuts twice a year. Not that we only eat them twice a year, ha! We love our doughnuts, so why not make them instead of buy them? I saved my oil from the Soul Cakes and planned to make them right away. I don't have storage space for used oil, so I just covered the pot with paper towels and placed the lid on top, leaving it on top of the stove. I knew if I stored it away Pumpkin Doughnuts wouldn't happen.

Anyway, back to the recipe. What's not to love? Pumpkin doughnuts. Delicious pumpkin cake with rich pumpkin spices, and buttermilk to make them tender. I finished half off with sugar cinnamon and half with glaze -- definitely my favorite. The kids couldn't decide which they liked best. I made a simpler glaze than Annie -- just powdered sugar, milk and vanilla (no spice).

 I followed the doughnut recipe exactly, except I chilled the dough all night. It was still a little soft, but I worked with half the dough at a time and just floured the surface and dough so it didn't stick to my hands. Just don't over flour. And flour the cutter as well. Mine is a biscuit/doughnut cutter -- you can take the middle out and just use it to cut biscuits -- or you can take the middle out and just cut holes, which I did when there was little dough left.

Pumpkin Doughnuts

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Yield: about 16 doughnuts and doughnut holes

3½ cups all-purpose flour
4 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
½ t. ground nutmeg
¼ t. ground cloves
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 t. vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree

Canola oil or peanut oil, for frying (I used a vegetable blend)

Cinnamon sugar mix:

½ cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
several tablespoons of half & half or milk

1/2 t. vanilla

To make the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl.  Whisk to blend, and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and butter and beat until well blended.  Stir in the egg, then the egg yolks, and then the vanilla until incorporated.  Combine the buttermilk and pumpkin in a liquid measuring cup and whisk together.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Once the dough is mixed, cover and chill for at least 3 hours or until firm.  (I chilled it overnight.) 

On a well-floured work surface, roll or pat out the dough to a ½-inch thick round (I pat it to prevent them from getting too thin).  Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour.  Using a 2½ to 3-inch round doughnut cutter, cut out doughnuts.  Reroll and cut the dough scraps as necessary.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven (a depth of about 2-3 inches).  Attach a thermometer to the side of the pan and heat the oil to 365-370˚ F.  Add the rings and balls of dough to the hot oil so that they are in a single layer and not touching.  Fry, turning once, until both sides are golden brown and doughnuts are cooked through, about 3-4 minutes total. 

 Use a skimmer/strainer to remove from the oil and transfer to a paper towel-lined rack.
 

To make the cinnamon-sugar, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and stir to blend.  When the doughnuts are just cool enough to handle, dip half of them in the cinnamon-sugar to coat completely, shaking off the excess.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and half & half in a small bowl, until a thick glaze is formed.  If necessary, add a bit more half & half to thin the glaze out.  Dip the remaining half of the doughnuts in the glaze (I only dipped the tops).  

Source: modified slightly from Annie's Eats

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