The perfect autumnal treat, pumpkin spiced donut recipe 

This recipe started off life as a serious craving for a Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte. My boyfriend Sam had told me, to my horror, that he had never tried one and since they came out this week I immediately marched him down to our nearest Starbucks to take his pumpkin spiced virginity. But apparently autumn had yet to arrive at our local store and they weren’t available yet. On the way home, disheartened I had him stop at a supermarket and I decided to make use of the donut pans I have, but have only used once.

It can be hard to find pumpkin puree in the UK, I have seen that Tesco stock it online sometimes but I have seldom come across it in stores. You can buy real pumpkins in October but I’m not about chopping up, boiling and pureeing a pumpkin, nor am I about to wait until October for my fix. My salvation came from McCains frozen cubed pumpkin, boiled for a few minutes and popped in the blender, it did en excellent job of substituting canned pumpkin.

These baked donuts are moist, spiced and utterly delicious. Topped with a sticky caramel glaze and filled with warming spiced they are guaranteed to get you in the mood for short days, crisp leaves and pumpkin spiced lattes by the fire.

Ingredients – for the donuts

1. 55g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2. 60ml vegetable oil
3. 200g caster sugar
4. 2 large eggs
5. 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
6. 350g plain flour
7. 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
8. 1/2 tsp salt
9. 1/4 tsp baking soda
10. 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
11. 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
12. 1/4tsp ground ginger
13. 240ml buttermilk
14. 340g puree pumpkin

For the pumpkin puree you can either buy it tinned if you can get it or buy frozen pumpkin, defrost it and puree it yourself in a blender. In the past I have found it hard to find pumpkins at all here in the UK but I have tried this recipe with frozen then blended butternut squash and it has worked just as well. They are from the same family and once baked practically taste the same.

Ingredients – for the glaze

1. 200g brown sugar
2. 60g butter
3. 1tsp vanilla paste or extract

Method – for the donuts

1. Pre heat your oven to 200C and grease 2, 6 hole donut pans with non stick cooking spray. I use 8 hole donut pans as I like smaller donuts but its your choice.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar together until combined. Add the eggs one at time, beating each one into the batter well before adding the next. Add the vanilla and whisk until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices and fold together to combine. Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, followed by the buttermilk and stir well until everything has combined. Your batter should be quite thick.
4. At this point stir in your pumpkin puree.
5. Transfer the batter into a disposable piping bag or plastic sandwich bag with a small corner cut off. Pipe the batter into the pans, filling the moulds only 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until donuts spring back when pressed. Set the donuts on a wire rack to cool while you make the glaze.

    

   Method – for the glaze

7. In a pan on a medium heat melt the butter and vanilla together.
8. Once melted add the sugar and simmer gently, stirring constantly until the sugar has fully dissolved.
9. Once the glaze has thickened, this should take 10-15 minutes take the pan from the heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
10. Once the glaze has cooled a little give it one final vigorous stir and you are ready to glaze.
11. Dip one side of the donut into the glaze, let it drip slightly then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  The glaze will still be VERY hot so be very careful not to get any of the glaze on your hands.
12. Once all of the donuts have had a generous coating of glaze and are cool, serve and enjoy.

And there you have it, perfect baked pumpkin donuts, a real autumn treat! If you have a go at making these yourself make sure to let me know how it goes by tagging @whatseatingmanchester in your social media post.

Sarah x