the backlog: mini pumpkin spiced donuts (baked)
Sara, my reader of many food blogs, showed me this recipe when summer was winding down. So I stopped by Crate and Barrel over my break at work one day and bought two little adorable mini donut pans. Little baked mini donuts. You can't resist them. Kelly and I meant to bake them over her Fall Break, but truly we enjoyed so much other good food we decided just to wait for the next tailgate. When your football team is less than stellar, you play the noon games which means breakfast/brunch too.
These are just fine plain, but dipping them in a little melted butter and rolling them in cinnamon sugar makes them amazing. Go for amazing!
Listening to my new Needtobreathe album while I post. "The Reckoning" is a must-listen (www.needetobreathe.net). They opened this summer for Taylor Swift (of all people, I mean she's great, just not my cup of tea). I saw them 3 times in 2011: WTTS private concert with about 40 people where I literally sat on the floor right in front of them and of course did not have my camera, opener for Train at White River State Park and you know how the opener for summer concerts plays in daylight and almost no one pays attention (not me, great pictures from the front row because I did remember my camera that time) and with the whole family at their last concert before they went into the studio for the current album. That last show was amazing. Blew it out. Crazy good. Think kind of Kings of Leon. Southern rock version of Avett Brothers or Mumford and Son. Preacher father. Brothers and cousins. You get the idea. Don't miss them if they come to your town.
Mini Pumpkin Spiced (Baked) Donuts
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
6 T milk
1/2 C pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)
1/4 C sugar
3 T unsweetened applesauce (I make my own and it's lightly sweetened-I freeze it every Fall and have apples that have been waiting for a month in my basement refrigerator, but that's another story)
2 T packed light brown sugar
2T unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour (I actually have that, but if you only have all-purpose wheat flour that's fine)
1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C white sugar (baker's ultra-fine sugar is my favorite)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two mini doughnut pans with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, milk, pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, brown sugar and butter to blend well. In a small bowl, whisk together baking powder, baking soda, spices, kosher salt and flours. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and fold to combine completely.
Grab a zip-lock bag (quart size works well) and use scissors to trim one bottom corner on the diagonal to make a pastry bag (if you have a pastry bag of course that works too). Spoon the batter into the bag and close the top. Work the batter to the bottom of the bag and squeeze gently to fill the donut pans. Only fill the holes to just below the top. You can smooth the batter with a wet finger for a prettier donut.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. Cool in the pan 10 minutes and use a table knife if needed to turn them out onto a cooling rack.
They are pretty delicious warm, so while they are cooling in the pan melt the butter for the cinnamon sugar dipping and combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl for the rolling. When you can remove the donuts from the pan dip them in the melted butter and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
These are just fine plain, but dipping them in a little melted butter and rolling them in cinnamon sugar makes them amazing. Go for amazing!
 |
| yum, and yes if you overfill your donut pans they look like little muffins |
Listening to my new Needtobreathe album while I post. "The Reckoning" is a must-listen (www.needetobreathe.net). They opened this summer for Taylor Swift (of all people, I mean she's great, just not my cup of tea). I saw them 3 times in 2011: WTTS private concert with about 40 people where I literally sat on the floor right in front of them and of course did not have my camera, opener for Train at White River State Park and you know how the opener for summer concerts plays in daylight and almost no one pays attention (not me, great pictures from the front row because I did remember my camera that time) and with the whole family at their last concert before they went into the studio for the current album. That last show was amazing. Blew it out. Crazy good. Think kind of Kings of Leon. Southern rock version of Avett Brothers or Mumford and Son. Preacher father. Brothers and cousins. You get the idea. Don't miss them if they come to your town.
 |
| Needetobreathe at White River State Park, Indianapolis 8-31-2011 |
Mini Pumpkin Spiced (Baked) Donuts
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
6 T milk
1/2 C pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)
1/4 C sugar
3 T unsweetened applesauce (I make my own and it's lightly sweetened-I freeze it every Fall and have apples that have been waiting for a month in my basement refrigerator, but that's another story)
2 T packed light brown sugar
2T unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour (I actually have that, but if you only have all-purpose wheat flour that's fine)
1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C white sugar (baker's ultra-fine sugar is my favorite)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two mini doughnut pans with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, milk, pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, brown sugar and butter to blend well. In a small bowl, whisk together baking powder, baking soda, spices, kosher salt and flours. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and fold to combine completely.
Grab a zip-lock bag (quart size works well) and use scissors to trim one bottom corner on the diagonal to make a pastry bag (if you have a pastry bag of course that works too). Spoon the batter into the bag and close the top. Work the batter to the bottom of the bag and squeeze gently to fill the donut pans. Only fill the holes to just below the top. You can smooth the batter with a wet finger for a prettier donut.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. Cool in the pan 10 minutes and use a table knife if needed to turn them out onto a cooling rack.
They are pretty delicious warm, so while they are cooling in the pan melt the butter for the cinnamon sugar dipping and combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl for the rolling. When you can remove the donuts from the pan dip them in the melted butter and roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
 |
| ingredients |
 |
| dry ingredients |
 |
| pumpkin mixture |
 |
| Sara and her unique whisking technique |
 |
| ready to go |
 |
| filling the pans too full in the middle there! |
 |
| look at me go! |
 |
| all baked, see this is why you might want to smooth the tops before baking |
 |
| but they are adorable! |
|
| and so delicious! |
Comments
Post a Comment