Donuts. Who doesn’t LOVE donuts? Of course, the older I get, the less donuts seem to like me. Go figure!!

Well…the nice thing about these donuts is THEY’RE NOT FRIED! That’s right. They’re almost HEALTHY! Well…I guess that’s a bit of a stretch, but they’re so easy to make and they taste good, too. No waiting for dough to rise or messing with hot oil, just mix them up in a bowl and bake them right in your oven. Plus finding this recipe gave me a reason to add to my never ending collection of baking pans (and kitchen gadgets, etc., etc., etc.). Hey! Some people collect stamps or comic books. I collect kitchen stuff…and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.

So, in celebration of the last day of Autumn, I’m posting this delicious donut recipe for all to enjoy.

IT’S TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS!

Check out these wonderful donut pans made by Wilton. Don’t you just have to have them?

Pumpkin Cake Donuts

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 tsp. cinnamon plus heaping 1/4 tsp. each ground nutmeg and ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbs. All-purpose flour

Coating – 3 Tbs. cinnamon sugar  ( mix 3 Tbs. sugar with heaping 1/2 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two standard donut pans. (If you don’t have donut pans, you can bake these in a standard muffin tin; they just won’t be donuts.)

Beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.

Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.

Fill the wells of the donut pans about 3/4 full; use a scant 1/4 cup of batter in each well. If you’re making muffins, fill each well about 3/4 full; the recipe makes about 15, so you’ll need to bake in two batches (unless you have two muffin pans).

Bake the donuts for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. If you’re making muffins, they’ll need to bake for 23 to 25 minutes.

Remove the donuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

While the donuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon-sugar. If you’ve made muffins, sprinkle their tops heavily with cinnamon-sugar.

Cool completely, and store (not wrapped tight) at room temperature for several days.

Yield: 12 donuts or 15 muffins.

(Recipe from King Arthur Flour)