Baked Pumpkin Donuts
45 comments »
I like pumpkins. We carved four fat, round jack-o-lanterns tonight. The table piled high with seeds and entrails. The faces of four custom-created characters emerging from orange canvas. Snaggle toothed and triangle eyed, I fell in love with every one, their funky faces seemed somehow familiar. A breath of childhood memories snickering a hello through their crooked smiles.
I like pumpkins. Like, a lot. I know there’s a whole club of you pumpkin haters out there. I respect that. I can’t eat banana’s with brown spots or leftovers that have sat in the fridge for more than 6 hours. But, to you, my pumpkin eschewing friends, I must admit my undying allegiance to the Unified Order of Pumpkin Likers. I cry over my first autmn bite of pumpkin pie. I toss a heel kick or two in the air when it’s time to bake loaves of pumpkin bread. I make pumpkin enchilada’s, and pumpkin pancakes, and a hundred other pumpkin recipes.
Did I mention I like pumpkin? I might have understated my devotion a teensy bit.
I love pumpkin. Love it. Love it. Love it.
Second only to my own little pumpkins, of course, all four of whom I shall now go smooch goodnight on their round, sleepy cheeks.
Oh, yes. I do so love pumpkins. Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.
Baked Pumpkin Donuts
These soft donuts are combined together and popped in the oven, a significantly more healthful option than frying. Can oven baked donuts possibly taste as good as the oil-laden ones? Yes, indeed. The secret t0 giving these sweet, cakey pastries true donut flavor is a quick dunking in buttermilk glaze. Serve these for breakfast, dessert, or to your Halloween revelers for the ultimate taste of the season.
Ingredients:
FOR THE DONUTS:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin pureeFOR THE BUTTERMILK GLAZE:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanillaDirections:
FOR THE DONUTS:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, spice and sugar. Whisk together all of the remaining ingredients in a second, medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir them around the bowl until the mixture is well combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, rolling the donut dough to approximately 3/4" thick, then cut with donut cutter. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or just until the donuts are cooked through. Dip immediately into buttermilk glaze. Eat warm & enjoy!FOR THE BUTTERMILK GLAZE:
Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth. Dip hot donuts in the glazed, then allow to air dry on a cooling rack.
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Michelle on October 25, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Oh, my! I am a HUGE pumpkin lover, and bake with it all year. I can't wait just until the fall to use it. I think I'm going to try these donuts tomorrow, and we won't be surprised if I eat all of them myself.
By the way, I have a pumpkin cookie recipe that is TO.DIE.FOR! If you are interested just let me know and I'll send it your way. It's like eating an individual little pumpkin cake with brown sugar glaze.
Thank you for this!
Vittoria on October 26, 2010 at 7:18 am
These look delicious! I love that they are baked!
SweetThingsTO on October 26, 2010 at 7:39 am
ooooh…. a healthy donut! You did say healthy right? :-)
The Urban Baker on October 26, 2010 at 8:00 am
i am all over the baked doughnut thing right now. and the fact that yours are pumpkin doughnuts…puts a smile on my face!
Jess on October 26, 2010 at 9:04 am
Thank you, thank you – not only do I adore and crave all things pumpkin, but I've been looking for more baked doughnut recipes. I need to get some more use out of my doughnut pans!
Jennifer (Savor) on October 26, 2010 at 9:18 am
ohhh…..why didn';t I make these the other night?! wait…i do have a can of puree!
RecipeGirl on October 26, 2010 at 9:28 am
These are great! I did baked Apple Cider donuts last weekend. So yummy, and they don't make you feel gross like the deep fried version, right?
Elle Belles Bows on October 26, 2010 at 10:07 am
Cannot wait to try these! Thanks! Kerri
Fay on October 26, 2010 at 10:29 am
I am *sooooooooo* psyched! I *love* pumpkins, and my hubby *loves* doughnuts. –Sounds like a match made in Heaven to me! :-D
Cupcake Activist on October 26, 2010 at 10:36 am
I love everything pumpkin…who possibly wouldn't like pumpkin desserts?
Jacksons Journey Journal on October 26, 2010 at 3:26 pm
okay so I made these and you only used 1/2 C. pumpkin puree?….Mine didn't turn out nearly as pumpkiny colored looking as yours…they tasted fine but didn't look as festive as yours kinda blander looking, maybe I'll try them again and up the pumpkin puree or the pumpkin pie spice a bit? Thanks for the fun recipes!
Cheeky Kitchen on October 26, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Jacksons…
THANK YOU for catching that! I did, indeed use 1 cup of puree. I've made the official change on the recipe. So sorry to botch your batch with my mistype!
rustic rooster interiors on October 26, 2010 at 8:12 pm
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME… I'm trying to be so good & eat really healthy! Why, Why, Why… OK I'll run an extra mile for these yummy donuts! Thanks for sharing!
xoxo,
Alexandra
I run for cake! on October 26, 2010 at 8:24 pm
These look delicious and I LOVE pumpkin too, so I will definitely be making this very very soon!
savvy_homegirl on October 26, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Oh my. These look just amazing. I have a friend that makes pumpkin donuts at their farm-market. I never thought I'd attempt such a task myself, but this recipe totally has me noshing to try them!
Michelle on October 26, 2010 at 9:11 pm
I made these today and everyone loves them. The funny thing is that I only used the 1/2 cup of puree like you originally posted, too. I'll try them again tomorrow with the full cup, but they were delicious with only 1/2, too.
Anonymous on October 27, 2010 at 8:13 am
hi, would love to read through your blog but i can't find a link to go to the previous page on your homepage. makes reading difficult. is there a button that i missed?
happyowlglass on October 27, 2010 at 9:25 am
Ooooh, hello heaven! What a delicious recipe!
Suzie Button on October 27, 2010 at 9:58 am
Oh my, you're my long lost Pumpkin Sister! Hallelujah, you totally understand the love of pumpkin! Me too, me too!!! I have to force myself to not bake pumpkin pies as I'll eat a whole one by myself, breakfast, lunch and dinner! Thanks for these baked pumpkin donuts, i must try them this week! Suzie
Shaina on October 27, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I've been loving me some pumpkin this week. Now, if only I could finish all the computer stuff and get back in the kitchen. Bring me a donut, won't you, neighbor? What? Why don't we live next door to each other?
screwdestiny on October 27, 2010 at 4:28 pm
I LOVE LOVE LOVE pumpkin, too! And I'm considering making these since they're not fried. They sound great!
Angela on October 28, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Ooh, I just made these absolutely delicious! I had to add 2 tablespoons of milk to make the dough absorb all the flour, but I dipped the flour instead of sifting it to measure so probably ended up with too much. The kids love them. 2 thumbs up. I linked to you from my blog so others will find it.
Michelle on October 30, 2010 at 6:26 am
Brooke,
I'm totally confused now. I made these the first time with the original recipe that you had posted, using only 1/2 cup of the puree, and I'm pretty sure you didn't have buttermilk in the dough part, too. They were very good. I made them again this morning (or tried to) using the new recipe that you posted, and the dough was unmanageable. It was basically the consistency of thick cake batter-way too runny to be able to roll out and cut. Is there really supposed to be the 1/2 cup of buttermilk in the dough, too? If so, what can I possibly do to thicken the dough up enough to be able to roll and cut it? I had to throw the entire thing away this morning (bummer).
Cheeky Kitchen on October 30, 2010 at 10:08 am
Michelle-
Oh, I'm so sorry! After your first email, I went back and looked at my original recipe notes and realized that I'd not only mistyped the amount of needed pumpkin puree, I'd totally forgotten to add the buttermilk when I posted this recipe. (It was late. I was, apparently, nearly unconscious).
My best guess is that real, actual buttermilk will make a difference in this recipe. If you made your own buttermilk (by adding vinegar to milk), you won't get the same uber thick consistency that real buttermilk has. Therefore, when adding it to the dough, you'll get a much sticker dough that before.
So, to that I would reccommend reducing the amount of homemade buttermilk to half when adding it the recipe.
I'm SO sad you had to toss away a whole batch this morning. The posted recipe (with increased pumpkin & buttermilk included) is the exact recipe I used to make the donuts you see pic of. So…it worked for me. Fingers crossed it will work as beautifully for you!
Anonymous on October 30, 2010 at 11:32 am
I was so excited to make these but I made the original version that came to me in your RSS feed. They obviously didn't work out very well and I came back here to see why. I see the recipe has changed. I'm so disappointed. :(
Heather on October 31, 2010 at 7:12 am
Hi Brooke! These look amazing and I think I'm going to give them a try. One quick question is the butter melted into the wet ingredients?
Great recipe and looking forward to trying it. Have a Happy Halloween!
Cheeky Kitchen on October 31, 2010 at 8:29 am
Heather-
The butter should be soft, but not melted. If you're using homemade buttermilk, be sure to use only 1/4 cup! Good luck! Happy baking!
Anonymous on November 7, 2010 at 2:15 am
I made these this afternoon for myself and my two teenage boys.Oh my gosh! I ate two and they ate the rest- at one sitting! I'm saving this recipe. Thanks.
leanne on November 12, 2010 at 11:04 am
Yum! I made these this morning and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe:)
Sunshine4daisy on November 16, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Anyone tried these with white whole wheat flour or part whole wheat flour? If so, I'd like to hear how they turned out prior to making them.
Lesley on February 21, 2011 at 9:07 am
I love, love, love pumpkins…pumpkin pies, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies anything pumpkins. In fact I use the pumpkins from halloween and can them for the year. I can’t wait to make this recipe, yummy!
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Rebecca on October 2, 2011 at 1:19 pm
I don’t know WHAT I’m doing wrong, but I just could not get these to tun out. The batter was always WAY too sticky to roll out or cut. Did not hold their shape. Experimented with different sizes/shapes of cutters, rolling strips and looping them into a ring, putting down copious amounts of flour, sticking the dough in the fridge for a while… I have no idea what you did to get them to look like they do in the picture, because they never did for me. Came out tasty, if a little plain. I upped the spice and pumpkin to try and get the gorgeous orange color like the picture, but that just made the batter EVEN harder to work with. So much promise, but really I am disappointed with how these turned out.
Wendy on October 30, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I love this recipe ! How would I adjust the baking time if I wanted to make donut holes? Thanks !!
Brooke replied: — October 30th, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
Just cook them for 7-9 minutes, or until barely golden brown! Good luck!
Tedi P on November 16, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Love these! Found the recipe off of pinterest. Thanks for the lovely recipe! :)
Jusa on November 23, 2011 at 12:39 pm
You might take a look at the npr story, “Thanksgiving Secrets: Cook’s Tips From Chris Kimball.” He talks about draining some of the liquid out of canned pumpkin, for a cheesecake. It might solve some problems with the consistency of the batter for these doughnuts. I imagine every can has a different amount of water mixed in, so this may explain why some people are having more luck with this recipe than others.
Nia on December 9, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I don’t have a donut cutter, so I just made these square and called them scones. And they are amazing! I am not an experienced baker so it means a lot to me to have a recipe I can handle that turns out so well. Thank you!
I gotta say, though, mine don’t have that appealing pumpkin color. They’re much lighter, almost white. I wonder why that is?
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Jewel on September 29, 2012 at 9:25 am
I am going to try these today. I am curious as to how many donuts I can get out of this recipe? :-)
Jul on October 14, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Ok well I made these and must have done something wrong because the dough was sticking and I could not just “roll” it out without adding about another cup of flour…is it the higher altitude???? Mine also did not look like the picture…they were more like pumpkin bread in donut shape…is it because I added more flour? They taste ok…
Jen on October 21, 2012 at 12:09 pm
The dough did not turn out. I had to add 1 1/2 c. extra flour for it to come together, and it was not due to my pumpkin being “too moist.” Loved the buttermilk glaze though! Your pic looks yummy!
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Katia on November 18, 2012 at 10:30 am
To those having problems with dough consistency, try covering it with plasic and chilling in the fridge for a good 2 hours *or* you can buy doughnut trays (I know Wilton makes them) and pipe the dough right into the mould.
lucy pinder christmas on May 6, 2013 at 12:14 pm
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or
copyright infringement? My site has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being stolen? I’d certainly appreciate it.