Baked Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

Doughnuts? Donuts? I went so far as to take a poll. Opinions seem to be fairly evenly split but doughnuts did get a slight edge. Either way, they are seriously delicious. So, have you been seeing these "doughnut muffins" all over Pinterest? The taste of doughnuts without the deep frying. If, you, like me, are tragically afflicted with DFP (deep fry phobia) then you probably have a few of those recipes pinned. They were on my long, long list of treats to try when I happened upon a pumpkin version in an adorable doughnut hole size and the recipe quickly shot to the top of my list. So now that I've made them, let's discuss.

First of all you should know that, if you make these, you will hate me because you'll blame me for the fact that you ate half of them standing up in the kitchen while dunking them in the cinnamon sugar. For heaven's sake, no matter what you do, DO NOT taste one of these while you're doing that because you will forgo putting them on a plate and just move them straight from the sugar into your mouth. In fact, while I was licking buttery cinnamon sugar off my fingers I tried to think of a technique that would prevent you from eating half of these standing up in your kitchen. As far as I can tell, the only option is that you make them and then toss them directly into the garbage. But if you insist on trying one just remember that you've been warned.

OK, my conscience is now clear but you're still going to make these, aren't you? Of course you are.  I made them twice. The first time I followed the recipe and the second time I tweaked and experimented. So here is the recipe along with some advice to get you started. And will I make them yet again? Oh, yeah. Enjoy!


Ingredients (adapted from The Craving Chronicles)
1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 Cup canola oil
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon vanilla
3/4 Cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 Cup milk (I used low fat)

Coating:
1/2 Stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 Cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree and milk until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin with non-stick spray and scoop 1 oz. of batter into each cup. I used a 1 oz. scoop for even distribution. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for approximately 12 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. While the doughnuts are baking, prepare a bowl with the melted butter and another with the sugar and cinnamon combination. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and allow to cool just enough to handle. Dip each doughnut quickly into the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat. I found, though, that even if I removed the doughnuts quickly they still soaked up a lot of butter. They were delicious but became quickly soggy. When I made the second batch I used a pastry brush and got better results.

The second time I made them, I also divided them into three groups. The first got the butter and cinnamon sugar coating, the second got only powdered sugar and the third got a glaze. Both the powdered sugar and the glaze gave less of that freshly fried doughnut taste but were lighter and less greasy. Brian and I both agreed, though, that the glazed version wasn't very interesting, the powdered sugar version was good and the butter and cinnamon sugar version was worth eating half of standing up in your kitchen.