Pumpkin Doughnuts

Last night was my dinner party and we had a great time. I tried a new dessert recipe - pumpkin doughnuts. I know what you are thinking - doughnuts for dessert? I would agree that doughnuts are not the first thing to come to mind when you think about dessert but the recipe seemed simple and fast so I said why not. The recipe came from Cuisine at Home issue no. 71 October 2008.

Cuisine at Home is one of my favorite food magazines. Instead of annoying and lengthy advertisements they have product feature pages. They explain the difference of a particular product - for example, a cast iron skillet. They will discuss the features, price, and uses of several name brand cast iron skillets out there.

My absolute favorite thing about the magazine are the recipe layouts.  They are very simple to follow with detailed instructions and pictures. Most of the recipes also come with a short history lesson about that particular dish which can be fascinating.

This particular recipe was fairly simple to follow. I made a few substitutions - Splenda instead of regular sugar and regular brown sugar and low fat buttermilk.

They came out ok. They were not as flavorful as I thought they would be. Full fat might be the way to go next time.  I was also thinking about adding in some cinnamon or some cayenne pepper for a kick.

Recipe
Makes about 18 doughnuts and wholes
Total time: 1 hour

1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 T unsalted butter melted
4 t baking powder
2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 t table salt
1/2 t baking soda

Fold in; Pat Out
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Fry in:
Vegetable oil

Whisk egg and yolk together in a large bowl until frothy. Add pumpkin, sugar, buttermilk, brown sugar, and butter; whisk until combine. Stir in baking powder, pie spice, salt, and soda. Fold flour in gradually until a sticky dough forms; cover with plastic wrap and freeze 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 2" oil to 370 degrees in an electric skillet, deep fryer, or straight-sided pan over medium heat. Pat out dough on a well-floured surface to 1/2" thick, then cut with 3" and 1" biscuit cutters dipped in flour. Transfer doughnuts and holes to a floured baking sheet using a spatula that's been dusted in flour. Fry doughnuts and holes in batches in the oil until browned, about 3 minutes, turning once. Drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Coat in sugar if desired.