With how busy our farm is in October, I rarely get to bake as much as I’d like to during my favourite time of year. However, this year I was able to whip up some cute pumpkin doughnuts, and am so pleased with them. You can make them Halloween themed, or simply roll them in pumpkin spice sugar for a more “anytime” kind of snack.

My initial goal had been to fill some of these doughnuts with an espresso whipped cream filling, but alas I ran out of time and energy. It would have really brought my “pumpkin spice latte” doughnut dream home. So, if you have some whipping cream on hand, I would add a bit of espresso powder to it once you’ve whipped it, and then pipe it into a few doughnuts! I’m jealous just thinking about out.

These doughnuts are very pumpkiny!! So be prepared for a strong pumpkin flavour, or simply swap out some puree for water. They come out beautifully fluffy, and are so light and delicious.

pumpkin spice doughnuts

PRINT RECIPE HERE

recipe: Kelsey Siemens

yields: about 12 doughnuts (dependent on size)

ingredients

1/2 tbsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water (not boiling - you don’t want to kill the yeast)

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice

3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups (407-469 g) all purpose flour - note, this may vary a bit, see instructions below

For frying - a neutral oil: I always use canola oil

For rolling:

1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice

For glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-3 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

To make the doughnuts

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, about a teaspoon of sugar, and hot (but not boiling) water, and let rise for about 5 minutes. If this mixture doesn’t get nice and foamy, discard and try again to ensure the yeast is active.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the remaining sugar, the oil, pumpkin puree together on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, salt, and pumpkin spice in, and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add in the foamy yeast mixture, and mix on low until incorporated.

Switch to a dough hook, and add in 3 cups of flour to start, mixing on low. Continue mixing, adding more flour by the tablespoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. The dough should still be a bit tacky, so try not to add more flour than you need to. If using a stand mixer, allow to mix on low for 5 minutes, if using a handheld mixer, switch to kneading by hand, and knead for 8-10 minutes. The dough has been kneaded enough when you can stretch a small portion of the dough between your fingers and it stretches like a window, and doesn’t just snap off.

Place the dough into a clean, greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel, and place in a warm spot for about an hour until the dough has doubled.

Roll out the dough to ½-inch thickness, and use a round cookie cutter to cut out doughnut shapes. Mine was 3-inches in diameter, but you can choose whichever size you would like. Use a smaller cookie cutter if you’d like to make some doughnuts with holes in them.

Place the doughnuts onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover with a clean dish towel, and let rise for about 30 minutes. You’ll know the doughnuts are ready to fry when you press your fingertip into one, and the indentation stays. About 20 minutes into the rise time, begin heating your oil. There should be enough oil that your doughnut will float about 2 inches above the bottom, while being about half immersed. You will also want to set up a wire rack directly beside the fryer, line it with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Tip: A deep fryer works best, although I’ve used an electric frying pan for many years as well. These both control the temperature for you, and I find them safer and easier to use compared to using a pot on the stove. If you use a pot on the stove, make sure it’s a heavy bottomed one, which will absorb and distribute heat more evenly and help keep the temperature steady. You will need a candy/deep fryer-thermometer on hand to keep an eye on the temperature.

Pumpkin spice sugar:

Stir together sugar and pumpkin spice - double recipe if needed. Store extra in an airtight container for future use.

To fry

Once the oil is heated to about 375 degrees F (it will fluctuate a bit while you fry-that’s normal), carefully place a doughnut in to test your cook time. After 45 seconds of frying time, carefully check the first side, if it’s golden brown then flip, if not, let it go for 15-20 more seconds. Repeat for the other side. The doughnuts should be fully cooked within 2-3 minutes.

Remove the cooked doughnut using a slotted spoon or spider strainer, and place onto the wire rack. Allow to cool for a minute, and immediately roll in the pumpkin spice sugar if desired.

Repeat the frying process for all of the doughnuts. You may be able to fry several at once depending on your frying vessel of choice, just use caution as this can cause the temperature to drop quite a bit if overloaded.

Glaze the doughnuts once they’ve cooled.

For the glaze:

Mix the powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of milk to start, as well as the vanilla extract. You want the glaze to be super thick, so it doesn’t run off the doughnuts, but you should be able to dip the doughnuts into it, and have it gently settle on the surface of the doughnuts. Add more milk if needed, but if the glaze starts running off the doughnuts you’ll need more powdered sugar.

Split glaze into separate bowls and add food colouring if desired.

Tips:

For the test doughnut, cut open to check doneness once it’s cooled off for a minute or two.
If your oil is too hot, it can cause your doughnut to brown too quickly while leaving the middle raw.
If the oil is not hot enough, it will soak up more oil while cooking more slowly, and can result in a greasy doughnut. You may need to adjust your oil temperature if necessary.