Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Happy August!  I thought I would start out the month with a pumpkin recipe.  Yeah, I know it's August 2nd, not October 2nd.  Yeah, I know pumpkin season doesn't start for at least another month.

  One of my biggest struggles has always been living in the moment.  I can't do it.  I'm always thinking ahead to what comes next.  I'm working on it though.

You can blame this instance of thinking too far ahead on my best friend.  A few weeks ago she started talking about drinking chai and baking with pumpkin and all things fall-y.  Then she sent me a picture of these donuts.  So, of course, I had to ask for the recipe.  And, clearly, I couldn't resist making them...in the middle of the summer.

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Ingredients:

Donuts -

1-3/4 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

Coating - 

1/2 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

1-2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a donut pan.

2.  Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.  Set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, pumpkin, and milk.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

4.  Using a pastry bag (or just a plastic baggie), fill the donut cups with batter until they are fairly full.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until donuts spring back when touched.  Allow donuts to cool slightly on a wire rack.

5.  Combine cinnamon and sugar in one bowl, and melt butter in a separate bowl.  While donuts are still warm, dip them in the melted butter, and then coat them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Source:  Blue-Eyed Bakers