Baked Buttermilk Pumpkin Doughnuts With Hot Cocoa Glaze

The award-winning blogger behind Half Baked Harvest created this exclusive fall-inspired recipe just for us

August 25, 2015

CHL Staff,

Recently, we toured the beautiful log barn of Tieghan Gerard, the self-taught chef and award-winning blogger behind Half Baked Harvest. Tieghan was kind enough to create an exclusive fall-inspired recipe for Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, to give our readers a feel for her blog. Check out this delicious doughnut recipe!

[Photo: Kimberly Gavin]

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes + cooling
Yield: 12 doughnuts

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger (combined)
2 eggs
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup canola oil
¾ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
chopped chocolate, for topping (optional)
chopped roasted pecans, for topping (optional)

Glaze

¹⁄³ cup milk
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (optional)
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
¹⁄³ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray or lightly grease with butter.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, one teaspoon salt, and cinnamon. In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, canola oil, pumpkin puree, buttermilk and two teaspoons vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until the batter is smooth.

Spoon the batter into the doughnut molds, filling to just below the top of each mold, ¹⁄8 to ¼ inch (3 to 6 mm) from the top. Bake for 20 to 26 minutes, until lightly golden brown around the edges. The doughnuts are supposed to have a gooey center. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Slide a thin spatula around edges of doughnuts to help loosen them out. Then place on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before glazing. Repeat with remaining batter.

To make the glaze, heat the milk until it begins to steam, remove from the heat and stir in the instant coffee. Allow that to sit a minute or two and then whisk in the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, just add powdered sugar until your desired thickness is reached. If the glaze is too thick, thin with more milk.

Once the doughnuts have cooled, invert doughnut into the glaze and let the excess drip off. If desired, sprinkle with chopped chocolate and pecans. The doughnuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy!