My oldest son Chase is obsessed with donuts and every year for his birthday he asks for a donut tower instead of a cake. I usually get a variety of Krispy Kreme Donuts to fill the tower and after everyone sings Happy Birthday, the kids all grab their favorite flavor. It’s a great tradition that we started and now everyone expects the Krispy Kreme donuts at his parties for dessert.
This particular donut recipe screams fall, Halloween and all the pumpkin spice things. Pumpkin and chocolate are a good combination and being that Chase loves hot cocoa, I wanted to incorporate that into the recipe. My other son Cameron claims he is a “chocolatarian” so he is all in favor of this chocolate glaze idea. While this is not a birthday donut recipe, there is no reason why you couldn’t throw some sprinkles on top to make it festive.
I have to warn you though, these mini donuts are dangerous. They are so easy to just pop in your mouth and without realizing it, you have consumed five of them. I guarantee, you can’t have just one.
- Prep Time: 10m
- Cook Time: 20m
- Total Time: 40m
- Yield: 33 mini donuts
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- chopped chocolate for topping
- chopped pecans for topping
Glaze
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon coffee extract or cooled espresso
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 6-cup doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease with butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup, canola oil, pumpkin puree, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until the batter is smooth.
- Spoon the batter into the doughnut molds, filling to just below the top of each mold, 1/8 to 1/4-inch (3 to 6 mm) from the top. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown around the edges. The doughnuts are supposed to have a gooey center. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Slide a thin spatula around the edges of the doughnuts to help loosen them out. Then place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before glazing. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Glaze
- For the glaze, whisk the milk, coffee extract, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, just add more powdered sugar until your desired thickness is reached. If the glaze is too thick, thin with more milk.
- Once the doughnuts have cooled, invert the doughnut into the glaze and let the excess drip off. If desired, sprinkle with chopped chocolate and pecans. The doughnuts can be stored, in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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