Incredibly Amazing Pumpkin Spice Donuts with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

So I'm going to try to be better at blogging. I know I won't be able to post every day for a plethora of reason - my wedding in Italy is 6 weeks away (WHAAAAAAAA?) and I have a ton of stuff to plan for it. My wedding in Italy is 6 weeks away and I'd like to keep the poundage off, so food is strictly healthy right now. But I will try my best to be the best blogger I can be in the limited time I have :)

So there is no better way than to start with these incredibly amazing pumpkin spice donuts. 

Listen. I'm obsessed with fall. OBSESSED. Like, when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice lattes, I pretty much do a happy dance right in front of the barista. There is something fundamentally wrong about drinking a pumpkin flavored iced coffee, but frankly, it's still hot in September (thanks Global Warming!) and I'm not ready for the switch from cold to hot, but you'd better believe I'm ready for some sweet, syrupy pumpkiny goodness. 

So Sunday night was my fantasy football draft and I wanted to bake something for it, since we do it live every year. My fantasy football nemesis is one of my closes friends in real life (but God do I hate him when it comes to fantasy). He, even moreso than me (or any other human on this planet), loves the fall. As in... he has already decorated his apartment for Halloween. And though I wanted nothing more to revel in his misery at his crappy fantasy drafting skills, I did want to surprise him with some fall treats. 

To say these donuts were delicious was an understatement. Listen. I'm used to dieting. I can't really eat what I make, because I don't have the metabolism for it. I get it. And I'm fine with it for the most part. I have a bite to taste it to make sure it is ok and then it stops there. It doesn't upset me.

There are few times in my life where I actually get MAD that I can't eat something ... and this one of those times. These donuts are RIDICULOUS. Like, AMAZING. I liked them best when they just cooled down from the frying pan. Roll them in a little cinnamon sugar, top them with whipped cream and BOOM. Amazingness. (The inspiration to top them with whipped cream is from Tabard Inn, a DC institution, that has the most ridiculous donuts ever and serves them with an amazing whipped cream. I thought those were my favorite donuts ever... until now).

Get ready for fall. It's coming. 

And get ready for Fantasy Football, because I am going to dominate, my friends! 

Pumpkin Donuts - Adapted from Annie's Eats

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yield: about 16 donuts and donut holes
Ingredients:
For the donuts:
3½ cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. all spice
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree

Canola oil or peanut oil, for frying

For the cinnamon-sugar:
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the cinnamon whipped cream:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 pint whipped cream
1 tsp vanilla

Directions: 
To make the dough, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl.  Whisk to blend, and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and butter and beat until well blended.  Stir in the egg, then the egg yolks, and then the vanilla until incorporated.  Combine the buttermilk and pumpkin in a liquid measuring cup and whisk together.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the pumpkin mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Once the dough is mixed, cover and chill for at least 3 hours or until firm.  (The dough still seemed quite soft so we did an additional 30 minute chill in the freezer.)  

On a well-floured work surface, roll or pat out the dough to a ½-inch thick round.  Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour.  Using a 2½ to 3-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out rounds of dough.  Use a smaller cutter (or a wide pastry tip) to cut a hole out of the center.  Reroll and cut the dough scraps as necessary.

Add oil to a large saucepan or Dutch oven to a depth of about 2-3 inches.  Attach a thermometer to the side of the pan and heat the oil to 365-370˚ F.  Add the rings of dough to the hot oil so that they are in a single layer and not touching.  Fry, turning once, until both sides are golden brown and doughnuts are cooked through, about 1 1/2-2 1/2 minutes total.  Use a skimmer/strainer to remove from the oil and transfer to a paper towel-lined rack.  Bring the oil temperature back up to the target range before repeating with the next batch of doughnuts.  Use the same process for the doughnut holes, frying for a shorter time.

To make the cinnamon-sugar, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and whisk to blend.  When the doughnuts are just cool enough to handle, dip them in the cinnamon-sugar to coat completely, shaking off the excess.

For the whipped cream, pour the chilled heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you could use a hand mixer and a regular bowl). Whip the cream on medium high speed until the cream reaches soft peaks. Add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until you are ready to serve. 

 

Comments

[Smedette]

I was so happy to see a blog post from you!

Autumn and all things pumpkin please me greatly. These look amazing.

[Jill]

Oh, my! Wow! These look sooooo good! I also just loooove the pumpkin drinks. Mmm...

[Dino]

Is it Fall yet?!?! These look so unbelievably delicious!!!

[Eliana]

I'm a total summer girl but it's because of treats like these that I am anxiously awaiting for some slightly cooler temperatures.

[Kim B]

OMG I can't wait to try these. With the pumpkin spice latte (yes, iced, I live in AZ.)