Baked Pumpkin Donuts

Ah, Sunday morning. I love to get up late, know there is nothing vital that has to be done, and spend my time baking and reading. As promised, here is a recipe to use up your leftover pumpkin after making pumpkin cookies. After I made these all I heard from my family was, "mmmmmm." Then, "can I have another one?" These donuts (doughnuts) are super easy, baked instead of fried, made with whole wheat, and incredibly delicious.

You will need:

2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (I only had 3/4 of a cup and it worked perfectly)
2 eggs
2 T milk
1/4 cup butter (Smart Balance)
1 tsp vanilla



Put your Smart Balance (room temperature), pumpkin, and sugar in a large mixer bowl.



Mix until combined.



Then add your eggs, one at a time.



Stir together the 2T of milk and the vanilla and add it to your pumpkin, sugar batter.



In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.



With mixer on the first setting, slowly add the flour mix.



When it just starts to come together, turn off the mixer and use a spoon or spatula until combined. Don't overmix!





If you have a donut pan, awesome! You can use it. If not, you can use a muffin tin. Just make sure to grease it really, really well. Don't use the little paper linings or you will lose half your doughnut when removing them. I have a nifty little pumpkin cake pan that was a gift one year from my recently married friend. It is perfect for this recipe. I greased it really well, even though it is non-stick.



I got nine little pumpkin donuts. If you use a muffin pan you will get 12. I kept filling my pan until the batter was gone.



Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. I had to bake mine for 12 minutes because they were so large.



Cool your doughnuts on a wire rack and when they are ready, grab a small bowl and mix together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/2 T milk.



Mix until no lumps remain and the glaze is runny. You want to be able to pour it onto the doughnuts.



I spread wax paper under my wire rack and just spooned the glaze over the doughnuts.



These doughnuts are fluffy, soft, and moist. The cinnamon glaze is light and adds the perfect amount of sweetness without being overwhelming. I'm not big on frosted doughnuts. I like them lightly frosted or not frosted at all. If you like more frosting, double the glaze recipe and dip each doughnut into it. My kids wiped their doughnuts all over the wax paper that was covered in glaze. :)



Enjoy!