I don’t know how the weather is in other parts of the country right now, but in central Texas, it’s not good. Torrential rains, high winds, flooding, and tornadoes. So, not my favorite way to start off a Friday. J is at home, and I hear on the radio as I’m headed to work, that a tornado has touched down about 20 miles from our home. Cue panic. Thankfully, it did not go near our house but the rains and winds continued, blowing things all around our yard, off the porch, etc. They’re closing roads and highways down in places because of all the standing water. I hope I can get home!!
Last Saturday it rained and we stayed home all day. I had grand plans to be productive, but the gloomy weather lazies got me and I didn’t get much of anything done. But on Sunday, I redeemed myself. I baked. Pumpkin-y stuff, even. These donuts were first on the list to be baked. I’ve only used my cute little donut pans once before, and only the mini ones at that time, so I was excited to try them out!
Getting the batter into those little donut wells is a little more tricky than one might think. It doesn’t go so well with a spoon, as the batter is a little thick. I recommend using a large piping tip and either a ziploc with the corner cut off, or if you have a decorative/frosting bottle, that is what I used. Perfect size and gets the batter in there smoothly and with no “lumpy” spots. Either way, they’ll be delicious, lumpy spots or not!
These donuts baked up beautifully. They came out of the oven and were moist, but light and fluffy. Some baked donuts can turn out very dense, but these thankfully did not! And then the light dusting of cinnamon sugar just paired perfectly with the pumpkin. I’m not a huge pumpkin fanatic, but I really enjoyed these donuts. Which means those of you who are lovers of all things pumpkin, are going to lose your mind over these. You’re welcome!
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts
As seen on Cooking Classy
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (measure 2 cups remove 2 Tbsp)
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Coating
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter or spray your donut pans with cooking spray. I used a combination of regular and mini donut pans.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine the sugars, making sure there are not clumps of brown sugar remaining (use fingers to break if necessary.)
- Add the oil, eggs, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and mix until well blended.
- Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, in two batches, mixing well after each batch.
- Using a spoon or piping bottle or bag, fill each donut well about 3/4 full. I found it easier to use a small frosting bottle with a wide tip, for a smoother outcome.
- Place in oven and bake about, 13 – 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool, only slightly.
- While the donuts are baking, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a large, resealable plastic bag and shake until well combined. Add the still-warm donuts, one at a time to the bag, seal and shake to coat. Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. **Note that if the donuts cool too much, the cinnamon-sugar won’t stick to them very well. If you bake mini donuts, they will cool much more quickly than the regular sized donuts. Make quick work of getting them coated! 🙂
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