Pumpkin Spiced Baked Donuts

Fresh from the oven

I couldn't wait to try it 

Rainy Saturdays are perfect days for baking

Sorry folks, but it is starting to feel a lot like fall! With all the hype about Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte- aka PSL, I figured it was as good a time as any to start with some pumpkin baking. You do need a donut pan to make these donuts, otherwise I am sure you could make muffins with the same batter.

I haven't made donuts since I made these chocolate glazed ones a while back. For those of you who follow me on pinterest I have a whole board dedicated to donuts and they all look so good! This recipe was inspired by Eat Drink Love  and modified.

Ingredients:

• 
  
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon; 1/2 tsp. nutmeg; 1/2 tsp. allspice; 1/8 tsp. ground cloves or 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/3 cup canola oil 
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup milk

Cinnamon Sugar coating 

• 1-2 T butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

I love cinnamon sugar, I used to always eat it on pancakes or French toast. Add lemon..delicious!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  If your donut pan isn't non-stick make sure to grease with butter (I hate non-stick spray but that is just my personal preference. If you like it feel free to use it)
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
3. In a separate, larger bowl, stir together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
4. Put the batter into a ziplock bag or a piping bag. Then pipe the batter into each cavity of the pan. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool about 10 minutes before removing from the pan. 
5. If you want to do a cinnamon sugar coating, melt the butter. In a separate bowl, stir together sugar and  cinnamon. Dip each donut into the butter until completely coated and then dip into the cinnamon and sugar. Repeat with each doughnut.

Delicious baking project for a rainy fall day.. enjoy!!!

Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Or rather- Chocolate Cake Glazed Donuts

Doesn't the name just ooze healthiness? Well whatever, these donuts are really not THAT bad for you, with only 1/2 cup of sugar and some cocoa powder. Plus they are baked and not deep fried, so that aint too bad!!

This week I decided to cook some stuff on Sunday so that dinners during the week would be a lot easier! I was up early anyway (with the rest of Canada) watching the big Canada- Sweden hockey game so figured I might as well make use of the time. I ended up making a big batch of jerk chicken, which can keep for a few days. I also made some rice with peas.. cheat version using a grocery store package.. and it's so good!! One of these days I will make it from scratch.

At any rate, I had some extra time Monday night since dinner just needed to be heated up and the plantain was ready to be fried! D was coming for dinner and was running a bit late and I was starting to get hungry. To distract myself I decided to make these donuts, based on a pinterest recipe I had bookmarked ages ago. Since I got my donut pan, I have a whole pinterest board for donut recipes, just waiting for me to bake!!! Anyway I have a sweet spot for chocolate so this recipe from Buns in My Oven (woow just checking the site and it looks like there are a lot of great recipes!!) jumped to the top of my list. They were really quick to whip up.  I adjusted the recipe for the glaze, as the original made way too much and it was a bit wasteful.

 

Ingredients:

For the donuts:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
6 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze:
1  cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons milk- the recipe called for whole but again I used skim
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
To make the donuts:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and baking soda.
In a small bowl, beat together the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
 Put in a donut pan- I used my non-stick one and didn't need to grease it. I also used a piping bag to put the batter into the pan. If you don't have anyjust cut a whole in the bottom of a ziplock.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.
Let the donuts cool in the pan before glazing.
To make the glaze:
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Remove from the heat.
Dunk the donuts in the glaze to fully coat and place on a wire rack to set.

So go for it. Whip these up, and then get them out of the house ASAP, before you eat them all.

I used these cute bags I got from Michaels on the weekend. They have a whole stand with such cute chalk labels, bags, books, cards etc.. I wrote on them with chalk markers that I bought to write on my jars (I had painted chalk labels on them). The markers are easier to handle than regular chalk and don't wipe off as easily, but can still be erased using water. I brought  these in to colleagues at work!