Happy November! I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween. We took our 2-1/2 year old trick or treating for the first time, enduring unusually frigid winds and rain. It was a good thing both she and our 3-month old wore warm fleecy costumes, or it would have been kind of miserable. We had a blast!
I don't think I have to tell you why I made these mini donuts. This crisp chilly air has paved the way for warm woolly sweaters, tall boots, chunky scarves and other things that make you cozy (and hot chocolate). For me, it's cooking soups and baking with pumpkins, cinnamon, apples and nutmeg – they're the loveliest ingredients during this season. If you're more of a summer person, you may not enjoy them as much as I do, but I can't help but fall in love with the vibrant fiery hues, and the shift from warm to cool always feels so refreshing.
As soon as I discovered that mini donut tins existed, I knew I needed to get one. I love donuts (well, who doesn't?) and the fact that they are baked makes me feel slightly less guilty eating them. Let's just ignore the fact that they're slathered in melted butter and dipped in cinnamon and sugar. Just try them. They are melt-in-your-mouth good, and so hilariously easy.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- cinnamon and sugar, for rolling
- 1/2 cup butter, for dipping
Instructions
- If using a donut maker, turn it on to preheat. Otherwise, grease a mini donut pan or baking sheet and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together the dry ingredients.
- Beat in the pumpkin, eggs, milk, and butter until well combined.
- Fit a pastry bag with a large tip and fill with the donut batter. Alternately, fill a large ziploc bag and snip off the end.
- Pipe into the donut maker, donut pan, or just pipe in circles on a greased cookie sheet. The dough is thick enough that it should stay in the general shape you pipe it in while in the oven.
- If using the donut maker, cook for about 3-5 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.
- If using the oven, bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- Melt the 1/2 cup of butter in a small dish and mix together cinnamon and sugar in a second dish for dipping.
- Dip the donuts in the butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Store in an air-tight container. Try not to eat all of them at once!