Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts

I couldn't help myself. I had to make pumpkin doughnuts. Had to. I've had these doughnut pans sitting in my cupboard for months now and I haven't used them. They've been staring me down. In my defense they were a good deal, just two George Washingtons! Can you believe that?! What a bargain. Anyway, I had some pumpkin puree hanging out in the fridge so I thought that while the pot roast was simmering away I'd toss in a few pans of doughnuts. Turns out that was the best idea I've had in a while. They came out looking amazing and tasting fantastic too! Nice and moist with lots of pumpkin flavor. I snacked on a few before dinner and a few more after. Yeah, they're addicting. Oh, and since I couldn't decide on glazed or sugared, I did both. The recipes below for the toppings are enough for you to do all of one kind☺

Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts

Ingredients

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. pumpkin puree

½ c. brown sugar, packed

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 egg

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

¾ tsp. vanilla bean paste

For the cinnamon sugar:

½ c. sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

For the chocolate glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

1 tbsp. corn syrup

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 tbsp. (½ stick) butter

3 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Pinch of sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray doughnut pans with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt, set aside.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, egg, oil, butter, pumpkin, and vanilla bean paste. Using a spatula mix until smooth. Gradually add dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

4. Pour mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip (the bigger the better). Pipe into prepared doughnut pans. Place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (standard size) or 9-10 minutes (mini), or until doughnuts are slightly springy. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes before transferring doughnuts to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, to prepare the cinnamon sugar, combine cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin pie spice into a large ziplock bag. Shake to combine. When doughnuts are slightly warm, place in bag and shake to coat.

6. To prepare the chocolate glaze, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Once butter has melted add corn syrup, vanilla and sea salt. Add chocolate and whisk. Turn heat off and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, add milk, then powdered sugar. Dip doughnuts into the mixture, swirl to remove any excess. Garnish with sprinkles, nuts or sea salt.

Adapted from Turntable Kitchen, Baked Pumpkin Donuts | Makes approximately 8 standard doughnuts or 18 mini doughnuts ( I did 6 large and 8 mini)