These fried cake pumpkin donuts are packed with pumpkin flavor. Topped with a simple glaze these donuts are a perfect fall recipe. They are perfect with a nice cup of coffee or your favorite fall beverage.
Once fall rolls around two flavors that come to mind are apple and pumpkin. These pumpkin cake donuts are a favorite of mine during this time of year. While they do take a bit of time to make the effort is well worth it. Especially when you pair them with your favorite fall drink or a nice cup of coffee. The donut holes are a perfect treat for the little ones or when you don’t want to share.
In this recipe
All of these ingredients are found in a cake, however the recipe but the ratios will be a bit different.
Flour:Â bread flour is the key to this recipe as it has a higher gluten content. When you can use all-purpose flour bread flour works better.
Nutmeg: this is one of the key ingredients in cake donuts that gives them their unique flavor.
Pumpkin: you want to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. That contains additional spices and will impact the consistency.
Making the dough
This dough is going to be stiffer than that of normal cake batter to allow you to roll them out. There are a couple of tricks to help this turn out well. The first is to pour the liquid ingredients over the dry. This will make it easier to mix. You can do this in a stand mixer, but I prefer it by hand. After that you want to set the dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. This allows the flour to absorb all other liquid as well as makes rolling it a bit easier.
Cutting the pumpkin donuts
There are a few ways to do this. If you have a donut cutter that will be the easiest way as it cuts everything at once. Another option is to use a biscuit or round cookie cutter that is 3 inches in diameter and a smaller object like the back of a large piping tip or small cookie cutter. If you don’t have either of these then you can use a glass and the end of a fruit corer. Whatever option you use you want to dip the cutting edge in flour first. This will help the dough release easily.
Fry them up
Once your oil is hot you want to have everything on hand since these don’t take very long to cook. The key to this is to not overcrowd the oil. Based on the size of your pot or fryer you are using add 3-6 donuts to the oil at a time. They will at first sink to the bottom and then float to the top. Cook for 2 minutes per side. Then place on a baking rack to drain and cool. You will need to do this several times to cook all of the donuts.
Looking for other pumpkin recipes?
Cake Pumpkin Donuts
Equipment
- Deep fryer or Dutch oven
- Spider skimmer or slotted spoon
- 2 Mixing bowls
- Donut cutter, or a biscuit cutter and large piping tip
- Rolling Pin
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Lined sheet pan with baking rack
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable oil
Pumpkin donuts
- 3½ cups bread flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1½ tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice blend
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 2½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
Making the dough
- In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In another mixing bowl whisk the eggs, then add the sugars, pumpkin, pumpkin spice blend, butter, and buttermilk and whisk to mix well. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and using a spoon or spatula to mix until combined.
- Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Cooking the donuts
- Preheat the oil in a Dutch oven or deep fryer to 350F or 177C and like a sheet pan with paper towel and place a baking/cookie rack on top.
- Once the dough is ready, on a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to about a ½ inch thickness. Using the donut cutter or biscuit cutter cut out the donuts by dipping in flour first and then cutting out the donut hole. Repeat this process trying to cut out as many donuts in the first roll.
- Gently combine the dough, you can add the holes back in, and roll out to ½ inch thickness and repeat cutting out donuts. After the second roll discard any remaining dough or turn into donut holes.
- Add 4-6 donuts into the hot oil depending on the size of pot or deep fryer. Cook for 2 minutes before flipping onto the other side and cooking for another 2 minutes.
- Set the cooked donuts on the baking rack. Continue the process with the remaining donuts and donut holes.
Glaze the donuts
- In a bowl combine the powdered sugar, milk, and nutmeg. Stir until combined. Dip the donuts into the glaze and set back onto the cooling rack. Repeat until each donut has been glazed.
Nutrition
