Pumpkin Doughnuts w/ Spiced Buttermilk Glaze

It's chilly outside.  And I love it.  I love adding layers and being able to peel them off.  Colorful scarves, fuzzy slippers, leaves changing amazing shades of Autumn, football and tailgating, the emergence of comfort foods, apple picking, and of course pumpkins!  And might I also mention my affinity for doughnuts?  I don't fall for just any old doughnut.  It has to be a particularly soft and yeasty doughnut with a thin crust of glaze that shatters when you take a bite and gets sticky fingerprints from being held.  Unless, of course, it's a soft, cakey doughnut with the warming spices or flecks of blueberries or dipped in glaze and topped with light and fluffy strings of coconut.

Yeah.  Picky, yet not picky.  I enjoy all sorts of varieties of doughnuts.  As long as they're good and fresh.  Stale I can do without.  Has anyone seen The Five-Year Engagement?  I don't care what Jason Segel's character says.  I mean yes, they're still doughnuts, but they're not DOUGHNUTS!  Am I blathering?  Of course.

So what better thing to do than combine two of those things I love about Autumn and turn them into one thing.  A Pumpkin Doughnut.  Come on.  Plus, you can eat one warm while standing outside in the chilly air wearing layers that include a flashy scarve, while wearing fuzzy slippers, and sipping freshly pressed apple cider.  You see where I'm coming from here?  These are the reason for the season, baby.

So. It's Autumn. Break out the pumpkins. Make a batch of doughnuts. All will be well with the world.

Now. Time to go watch some football...

Pumpkin Doughnuts w/ Spiced Buttermilk Glaze

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 15-20 minutes (+ up to overnight rest time)

Cook Time: ~15-20 minutes 

Keywords: fry breakfast snack dessert pumpkin buttermilk spice Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas doughnut American fall winter

Ingredients (13 (3½") doughnuts and 13+ doughnut holes)

for the doughnuts:

• 5¼ c. all-purpose flour
• 6 tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• 1½ tsp. fine salt
• 1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ¾ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. + ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
• 4½ Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ c. packed light brown sugar
• ¾ c. sugar
• 1 large egg + 2 large egg yolks
• 1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
• ¾ c. buttermilk
• 1½ c. pure pumpkin puree
• Oil, for frying

for the glaze

• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
• ~½ c. buttermilk

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (first 8 ingredients listed); set aside.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk and pumpkin puree together; set aside.

Using the paddle attachment (a hand-mixer will work if that's all you have), cream butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolks, and vanilla until well combined.

Turn mixer to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the wet mixture in between. Beat until just combined. Dough will be wet. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight.

Pour oil into a heavy-bottomed, deep pot to a depth of 2-3 inches (or use a deep fryer), and bring oil to a temperature of 365°-370° F. Line a couple of sheet trays with foil/parchment/wax paper and set metal cooling racks on top of them. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the glaze in a large, wide dish. Mixture should be not too thick and not too thin. Adjust as needed with more buttermilk or powdered sugar. Set aside.

While the oil is preheating, turn dough out onto a well floured work surface, and pat out into a ½-inch thick round. Using a 3½-inch doughnut cutter or 3½-inch circle cutter and a smaller one to cut the hole from the center, cut circles out of the dough. Re-roll any dough scraps, pat out, and continue to cut out doughnuts. Once you've gotten down to the "bare bones" of the scraps (too small to form another doughnut), simply roll it up into a final doughnut hole or two (or more).

Carefully lower dough into hot oil, taking care not to overcrowd the pot. How many to fry at a time will depend on the size of the pot that you used. I fried one ring at a time, but a whole bunch of holes at a time. Fry until the doughnuts and holes are cooked through and are deep, golden brown in color. For the doughnut rings, this will take anywhere from 3-5 minutes and for the doughnut holes, it will take anywhere from 1-3 minutes. How long really depends on the size of your doughnuts. You may want to break one open to make sure that it is cooked all the way through and use this as your test doughnut.

Use a slotted (metal, like a fish spatula) spatula or a strainer to lift out doughnuts onto prepared trays. Once cool enough to handle, but while still warm, dip one side of the doughnuts into the glaze, flip so the glaze is on top, and set back on the racks to let the glaze set. For the doughnut holes, drop the whole thing into the glaze and roll around to coat. Set back on racks to set.

Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Notes:

You can use any size cutter you like, but the yield (and frying time) will vary if you change the size. Please adjust accordingly.

If you'd rather have a Spiced Sugar topping, combine sugar (1½ cups) with ground cinnamon (2 Tbs.) & ground nutmeg (1 Tbs. + 1 tsp.). As soon as you lift the doughnuts out of the oil, set them into the spiced sugar and roll or turn to coat with the mixture and then set onto the racks to cool.

adapted from Portuguese Girl Cooks and Bon Appetit