Recipes: Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Spiced Donuts

Posted by Claire Ragozzino

This colder weather outside (read: sleeting rain+ice storms!) has signaled a shift for me to head inside and start finding little creative projects to fill my weekends. Lately, it’s been a mixture of watercolor painting, podcast listening, making my way through that giant stack of books by my bed, and well, of course, fall inspired-baking. This weekend, my house has been filled with the smell of fresh roasted pumpkin, maple and cinnamon as I attempted this first-time donut baking experiment.

Since November arrived, I’ve been welcoming these slower days and time alone as an opportunity to really get grounded in this seasonal shift and get to know myself from a new place. This year was a hustle for me, a mixture of hurry-and-wait meets go-go-go! From three big retreats to launching a new website, I concluded many cycles of not just creative projects, but health stories and relationships. These weeks of solitude feel like a gift of time and space to integrate, to simply rest and to rejuvenate. Hibernation has never felt so good…

Whether it’s baking just for fun or getting outside to explore, here’s to joining me in resting between the holidays and loving on yourself in mindless but meaningful ways!

MAPLE-GLAZED PUMPKIN SPICE DONUTS

¾ cup spelt flour or gluten-free flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup fresh pumpkin puree
½ cup almond milk
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400F. Slice a small sugar pie pumpkin in half and scoop the seeds out. Place in a deep baking dish and pour 1-2 inches of water in the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil or parchment and allow to steam in the over until tender. Remove from until, allow to cool before removing skins and pureeing the pumpkin.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Next, combine the wet ingredients in a saucepan and gently heat for 1-2 minutes, avoid boiling. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until combined. Pour the batter into a donut pan, or without a pan use a muffin tin or small 4in. springform cake pans with a smaller ringmold in the center to create a donut shape. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, or until firm on the outside and lightly moist on the inside. Remove from oven and allow to slightly cool before glazing and garnishing. Enjoy with a hot mug of tea – I’m loving Organic India’s Tulsi Masala Chai with these donuts!

Maple Glaze
2 tbsp nut butter (creamy peanut or almond butter)
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped (to garnish)

Combine the nut butter and maple syrup in a saucepan and gently heat on medium-low, stir frequently. Remove from heat and spread the glaze evenly over top the cooled donuts. Sprinkle with a dusting of chopped pistachios.

Makes 4 medium donuts

Note: This recipe is based on this lovely Katharine’s sweet potato doughnuts on BlackWhiteVivid!