Tender pumpkin donuts. Silky chocolate ganache. Caramel sauce or
sprinkles for something a little extra. Should I say less?
inspiration
The weather is finally cooling down and the evening hair has the slightest tinge of bite and bonfire. You know what that means. It’s pumpkin season!
While I didn’t lose my taste for long with last year’s bout of COVID-19, the illness did make pumpkin taste bad for a while. (Tragic, I know.) No matter what I tried or how long I cooked it, it always tasted raw. I am happy to report that all is back to normal this year and I am desperate for everything pumpkin. Butter! Bread! Pasta! Cake! When I unearthed my donut pan from the depths of my cupboard, I knew which thing would make the blog list: donuts. Baked pumpkin donuts. A little more like bread, perhaps, than a traditional yeasted donut, but easier, faster, and less messy. And since I sometimes think more is more, why not add some sea salt caramel sauce or festive Halloween sprinkles?
why i love this recipe
Baked donuts aren’t made with yeast, so they’re a bit more bread or cakelike than pillowy like a regular fried donut. In this case, they’re the best of both worlds.
The crumb is hearty and tender, flavored with warm spices, rich brown sugar, and sweet, earthy pumpkin. Chocolate and cream melt together to form a glaze so glossy you can almost see your reflection in it. It’s silky and luscious and tastes of pure chocolate. Ganache is much less fussy to decorate with than other frostings, which makes decorating these a snap. A bit of espresso cuts the chocolate’s sweetness, but you can definitely add more if you want that coffee taste! Sea salt caramel sauce adds another level of flavor and a little smack of salt.
Sprinkles, of course, are just adorable.
details
It may look like a lot of steps, but these donuts are so easy!
This is a two-bowl recipe: one for donuts, one for ganache. You’ll start with the donut batter: wet ingredients first, then the dry ingredients mixed on top before they’re incorporated into the wet. It’s okay if the batter isn’t smooth. Just make sure there are no pockets of unmixed ingredients floating around or sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl. If this is your first time baking with pumpkin, don’t be alarmed by the smell. Raw pumpkin is always unappetizing but it bakes into that warm, cozy, autumnal flavor we all love.
You can use a regular old spoon to transfer the batter from the bowl to the pan, but it’s faster to pipe it and then even it out with a spoon. A gallon-sized Ziploc bag turns into a makeshift piping bag really quickly! (I often don’t bother with the duct tape in this article, though it can make things easier.) Donut pans can vary a bit in capacity, so check the instructions on yours to find out if you should fill the spaces ½ full or ¾ full. The number of donuts yielded may vary slightly, but that’s okay.
Making the milk chocolate ganache is crazy easy and takes about two minutes. All you need is a microwave-safe bowl and a whisk (or a fork, in a pinch). You’ll add chocolate chips to the bowl, pour cream over them, then microwave the mixture in two 30-second bursts. (If you have a very hot microwave, I’d do three 20-second bursts. Once the chocolate is burnt, there’s no saving it.) Stir a little in between. When the mixture comes out of the microwave, whisk it with medium urgency until the cream and chocolate are completely combined and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
details, continued
Ganache makes these super easy to decorate. Take a cooled donut and dip the top into the ganache bowl. Swirl it around a little (gently!) to make sure it’s completely coated, then set it top side up on a wire rack positioned over a baking sheet. Once all of the donuts have been glazed, drizzle them with caramel sauce, if using, and top with sprinkles.
Because of the ganache, these donuts should be refrigerated. I recommend chilling them in batches for 15 ish minutes at a time to let the ganache set, and then they can be piled on top of each other with minimal disruption to the glaze.
notes
Here are a few notes to make sure your baked pumpkin donuts are successful:
butter: I used salted because it’s what I had on hand. If you use unsalted, just add a little extra salt.
dark brown sugar: light will work too! I don’t recommend using entirely granulated sugar because that will affect the texture and make them less soft and tender.
pumpkin puree: Not pumpkin pie filling!
chocolate chips: I think milk chocolate goes best with pumpkin, but you can use dark if you like. White chocolate would be good, too!
espresso powder: optional. All it really does in this recipe is bring out the flavor of the chocolate, but if you like coffee, just add another ½ teaspoon or so until it tastes right to you. Feel free to skip it if you don’t like coffee.
caramel sauce: There’s no need to make a bunch of effort for something that’s just drizzled on top, so just use storebought. I used this one.
I hope you love baked pumpkin donuts with chocolate ganache! If you’re looking for other tasty treats, try strawberry nectarine skillet cake, caramel apple milkshakes, or chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
baked pumpkin donuts with chocolate ganache
Ingredients
for the donuts
- ½ cup melted butter
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 15 oz pumpkin puree 1 can
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
for the ganache
- ¾ cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp espresso powder* optional
for topping
- sea salt caramel sauce for drizzling
- sprinkles
Instructions
- Prep the oven and pan. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a donut pan with baking spray and set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients. Combine butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add eggs, and pumpkin puree, and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Add dry ingredients. On top of the wet ingredients, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and cinnamon. Mix the dry ingredients with a fork, then combine them with the wet ingredients. The batter won’t be totally smooth, which is okay! Just make sure there are no pockets of unmixed ingredients.
- Pipe batter into pan. Fill the donut pan with batter. Look at you rpan’s directions, if you can—some say to fill each space ½ full and some say ¾ full.You can use a spoon, but I find it easier to use a piping bag (or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut out for makeshift one). I do use a spoon to make sure the batter fills the mold evenly.
- Bake and cool. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clea nor they bounce back when (gently!) poked. Allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes before icing. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
- Make ganache. While donuts are cooling, make the ganache. Put chocolate and heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments ,stirring each time, until all the chocolate is melted. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add espresso powder, if using, and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly. Taste, then add more espresso powder or salt if desired.
- Ice and decorate. Dipthe tops of the donuts into the ganache and swirl them around a little to fullycoat. If the ganache is too solid, put it in the microwave for a few seconds until it’s soft enough. Place the dipped donuts on a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet, which will catch any drips of ganache. Allow the ganache to solidify, then drizzle donuts with sea salt caramel sauce and/or sprinkles. You can certainly eat them immediately, but I recommend chilling them so the ganache can set.