I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to making fried doughnuts.
The process goes a little like this: I come across a recipe I want to try and I put it on the list and then put it off for weeks, using the excuse that I don’t have enough time. Eventually, I convince myself it’s not that time consuming and make the recipe. As I’m making it, I get frustrated because even though the recipe isn’t hard, it is time-consuming to cut-out the doughnuts and fry them and the process always takes longer than I anticipated. By the end, I decide I’m never going to do this again and it’s easier to just drive out to the nearest donut shop and buy some. And then I take a bite… and my vow is suddenly broken. Because the donuts come out so great. Fluffy, chewy, with just the right amount of sweetness.
This is exactly the story of these doughnuts. I had been wanting to do a fried pumpkin doughnut recipe because I knew it would taste fantastic. I found a recipe that looked easy enough and doesn’t use yeast. However, the dough did need to sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours to firm up. Even though I prepped ahead of time, it still took longer than I anticipated. The dough was a bit sticky and I had to add a lot of flour to coat the cutting board and the rolling pin. I think one of the reasons donuts are so time-consuming is that you don’t just stick it in the oven and wander off to do other stuff. Instead, you have to stand there, cutting out each donut, then frying each one, and the icing them at the end.
Despite my initial difficulty with the dough, these donuts fried up perfectly. And the taste was simply incredible. I thought they would be more cakey donuts since there is no yeast, but the donuts managed to be quite fluffy too like yeast donuts, so they weren’t as dry and dense as typical cake donuts.
These donuts disappeared ridiculously fast in my house. I had a few of course..but when I woke up the next morning they were completely gone except for one.
I used a recipe found on Annie’s Eats. I followed the recipe exactly. The only thing I would note is that the dough is quite sticky and I had to add quite a bit of flour to the rolling pin and pastry board.
Pumpkin Donuts
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- canola oil or peanut oil for frying
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- dash of ground nutmeg
- dash of ground ginger
- dash of ground cloves
- 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar and butter until combined. Add the egg, additional egg yolks, and vanilla and stir to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and pumpkin puree. Mixing at a low speed add some of the dry ingredients, followed by some of the pumpkin mixture. Repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture until well combined. Cover the dough and chill it for at least three hours or until it’s firm.
- Roll out the dough into a circle approximately 1/2" thick. Cut out the donuts and reroll any scraps to cut out more.
- Heat two to three inches of oil in a large pan to 365-370°F. Fry the donut holes in batches until they are golden brown all over and cooker through, about three to four minutes. Transfer the donuts to a paper towel lined rack to drain the excess oil.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the glaze in a shallow bowl or dish. Once the donuts are cool enough to handle dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze. Let them sit on a baking rack to allow the glaze to harden.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Yum!!
Baked donuts are good and all, but they simple don’t care to the fried ones.