Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze

When I (finally) got my stock of pumpkin puree this fall, I knew that one of the things I had to make was pumpkin doughnuts. My doughnut pan was practically begging to be filled with pumpkiny deliciousness. So when Deborah posted her recipe for baked pumpkin doughnuts, I of course made them that very weekend.

My family absolutely loved these doughnuts – shocking, I know. We are pumpkin people. The earthy flavor of pumpkin is such a perfect pairing with the sweetness of maple syrup. In fact, I loved the glaze so much that I may have eaten dozens a few fingertips full of it. This recipe makes a dozen doughnuts but I only have a six-doughnut doughnut pan, so I used my mini muffin pan to make doughnut holes out of the rest of the batter. They were delicious and adorable, and also disappeared too quickly for me to photograph them.

You can probably see that my glaze isn’t very thick. This is because I’m incredibly impatient when it comes to dunking doughnuts. I just can’t seem to wait until they’re cool. I’ve come to accept this about myself.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze
adapted from Taste and Tell

For the doughnuts:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the vanilla and milk. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

4. Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and milk. When the doughnuts are cool, dip them in the glaze. Return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set.