Daring Bakers: DONUTS!

When I saw the challenge for this month I was super excited! Donuts have been on my "to try" list for as long as I can remember but I have never had that push to make them. I logged on to the Daring Bakers website on October 2nd to find out what the challenge was and made these October 3rd. Can you tell I was excited?

I decided to make a pumpkin cake donut coated with spiced sugar, pumpkin donut holes coated in powdered sugar, and yeasted donuts with a chocolate glaze. All of them were delicious but my favorite was the pumpkin with spiced sugar. SOOOOOOO good!

Everything was really easy to prepare and I think they turned out great. The only thing I would change next time is to let the yeast donuts rise a bit more before refrigerating them overnight. They were a little on the small side but still delicious!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Pumpkin Doughnuts
Yield: About 24 doughnuts & 24 doughnut holes

All Purpose Flour 3.5 cup
Baking Powder 4 teaspoon
Table Salt 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, ground 1 teaspoon
Ginger, ground ½ teaspoon
Baking Soda ½ teaspoon
Nutmeg, ground ¼ teaspoon
Cloves, ground 1/8 teaspoon
White Granulated Sugar 1 cup
Butter, Unsalted 3 Tablespoon
Egg, Large 1
Egg Yolk, Large 2
Pure Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon
Buttermilk ½ cup + 1 Tablespoon
Pumpkin 1 cup
Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)

Spiced sugar

1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg


1.Whisk together the first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (the mixture will be grainy and not smooth). Beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk; beat in pumpkin. Using rubber spatula, fold in dry ingredients in 4 additions, blending gently after each addition. Cover with plastic; chill 3 hours.

2.Sprinkle 2 rimmed baking sheets lightly with flour. Press out 1/3 of dough on floured surface to 1/2- to 2/3-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2-inch -diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Arrange on sheets. Repeat with remaining dough in 2 more batches. Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.

3.Using 1-inch diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes.

4.Line 2 baking sheets with several layers of paper towels. Pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F. Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Cool completely.

5. Mix spiced sugar ingredients and roll donuts in mixture.