November 2023:
RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, GAIL BLAKELY
Jesse Sheehan is one of my favorite cookbook authors. She has written The Vintage Baker as well as Snackable Bakes, both of which I use on a regular basis. Currently she is hard at work on a book that focuses on savory baking—she occasionally runs some recipes from that on her blog, Jesse Sheehan Bakes.
For this time of year, I thought her pumpkin donut holes with cinnamon sugar might be a good recipe for you to try. The photo is from her website, but you might recognize these as “dirt bombs,” one of the recipes we featured in a class last year. They are simple to make, and you will have two dozen donut holes that you can package in cellophane and give as gifts, or keep them all to yourself. They also freeze well, should you want to keep them on hand for a quick snack.
Pumpkin Donut Holes
Ingredients
For the donut holes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree about 2/3 of a 15 ounce can
For the cinnamon sugar coating:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 stick unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or softened butter.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium-sized bowl.
- Place the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, and continue whisking until smooth. Add the pumpkin and whisk again.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold to combine. Do not over mix.
- Evenly fill each cavity in the mini muffin tin with a tablespoon and a half of batter.
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the donuts in the center of the pan comes out clean.
- While the donuts bake, make the cinnamon sugar coating. Whisk the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl with some depth. Place the melted butter in another small bowl.
- Once the donut holes have cooled enough to handle, but are still quite warm, remove them from the pan and begin dipping them one at a time in the bowl of butter and then rolling them in the cinnamon sugar.
- Transfer the coated holes to a wire rack. Serve immediately.
- The donuts are best eaten the day they are made, but will last a day, or so, on the counter wrapped in plastic wrap. They also freeze beautifully: once they are at room temperature, place them into the freezer on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, transfer them to zippered plastic bag and keep in the freezer for up to a month.
- Let them come to room temp before serving.
Notes
Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spay
or softened butter.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium-sized
bowl.
Place the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk to
combine.
Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, and continue whisking until smooth. Add
the pumpkin and whisk again.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold to
combine. Do not over mix.
Evenly fill each cavity in the mini muffin tin with a tablespoon and a half of batter.
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway mark, until a
toothpick inserted in the center of one of the donuts in the center of the pan
comes out clean.
While the donuts bake, make the cinnamon sugar coating. Whisk the sugar and
cinnamon together in a small bowl with some depth. Place the melted butter in
another small bowl.
Once the donut holes have cooled enough to handle, but are still quite warm,
remove them from the pan and begin dipping them one at a time in the bowl of
butter and then rolling them in the cinnamon sugar.
Transfer the coated holes to a wire rack. Serve immediately.