Ingredients
Method
- 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.
Notes
*In this amount, the espresso powder serves intensify the chocolate. If you want more coffee flavor, add 1 whole teaspoon and go from there. If you don’t like espresso and will never use it again, feel free to skip it.
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.
15 oz can 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.