Pumpkin Donuts With Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

sandithepirate's Note:

Makes 24 donuts (and 24 donut holes! YES!)

• Total Time: 3 hrs 42 mins
• Prep Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 24

Yield: 48.0 donuts/ ...

For Donuts

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, plus
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• canola oil (for frying)

For Pumpkin Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. make the donuts: whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, nutmeg and cloves. beat sugar and butter in large bowl until blended (mixture will be grainy). beat in egg, then yolks and vanilla. gradually beat in buttermilk; fold in pumpkin in 4 additions. cover with plastic and chill 3 hours.
2. sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with flour. press out part of the dough on floured surface to 1/2 to 2/3 inch thickness. using 2 1/2 inch diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds until all dough is used. using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes. toward the end of making the donuts, i simply formed them into rough patties by hand and poked out the hole with my thumb.
3. place a cooling rack on a baking sheet (for draining the donuts). pour oil into large deep skillet to depth of 1 1/2 inches (or fire up your deep fryer). attach deep-fry thermometer and heat oil to 365 F to 370°F fry doughnut holes in batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. using a slotted spoon, transfer to the cooling rack to drain. fry doughnuts, 2 or 3 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to cooling rack. give the donuts and holes a pat with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
4. make the frosting: soften the cream cheese in the microwave for about 30 seconds. blend in the pumpkin, butter, orange juice, zest and vanilla in a mixer or by hand. add the sugar and beat until light and creamy. spread on donuts or just dip the donuts and holes right into the frosting as you eat.

Reviews

[cookcathy]

Made this today, recipe forgets to tell you to mix the wet and dry ingredients together, so I mixed the dry, creamed the butter/sugar, added eggs and vanilla to butter/sugar, added pumpkin to eggs/butter/sugar, then mixed wet and dry together. Made the whole batch as donut holes, and got about 64. They are very tasty, but finicky with oil temperature, 370 is too cold, 385 is too hot. I substituted two eggs for one egg and two yolks and substituted shortening for oil for frying. I didn't try the frosting, we are eating them plain. They are a wonderful autumn treat I look forward to making again.