Baked Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Baked Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Just because Halloween is over doesn't mean pumpkin has to go away! I like to allow my pumpkin obsession to continue t's take over until Thanksgiving, and then its straight Christmas cookies and peppermint hot cocoa from there. Today, I'm sharing my new favorite recipe with you guys for these easy baked pumpkin donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar. They literally are SO EASY to make that I thought I must be doing it wrong. From start to finish this was maybe a half-hour project, and I was so happy with how they came out. They so remind me of getting fresh donuts at apple farms when I was a little girl. They're SO GOOD! Alex came home the day I made them and literally ate FOUR. Out of a SIX donut test batch. I love him though, and I think that just goes to show how gosh darn irresistible these little guys are! These are the kind of donuts that give you street cred for being such a great cook. And you'll be like "Oh these easy things? I whipped these up lickety split!" and feel like a badass. So grab a donut pan and come bake with us!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup all purpose (AP) Flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/3 cup pumpkin pureé
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
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1/4 cup melted coconut oil or vegan butter
1 cup organic sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

​DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a donut pan.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, almond milk, pumpkin purée, coconut oil and vanilla.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to combine. Batter should be a little thick, not pourable. Once mixed, use a spoon to place batter into the donut pan, distributing the batter evenly between each donut mold. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes clean and donuts spring back lightly when pressed. Cool on a wire rack.

While the donuts cool, pour the 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter into a shallow bowl. In a separate shallow bowl, mix together the sugar + cinnamon. When the donuts have cooled, dip one side lightly into the oil or butter, then dip it into the cinnamon sugar mixture, shaking off the excess. Flip the donut over and repeat the process, trying to coat the edges as well so that when you cinnamon sugar the other side the whole donut becomes covered in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat this process with all the donuts before moving them to a wire rack or stuffing them in your mouth. 

Donuts are best served fresh, but if you have leftovers you'd like to save my best recommendation is to line a ziplock bag with paper towels, place the donuts (not touching) into the bag, and put them in the fridge overnight. If left on the counter the oil could make them soggy overnight. Makes 6 donuts.
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NOTES
If you don't have a donut pan, you can try to arrange the dough into donut shapes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They won't look exactly the same and might be a little wonky, but still delicious! 

If you don't have any pumpkin pie spice on hand (available at most grocery stores in the spices section), you can substitute with a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.

If you have some freshly roasted pumpkin go ahead and use that. If not, canned pumpkin purée works great, too!

Whole Wheat flour works here too, but it does result in a slightly denser donut.

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