Pumpkin-Orange-Cinnamon Spice Donuts!

This recipe was really easy.  You can do it quickly and they are really tasty.  You could even try doing a frosted orange icing with orange juice, powdered sugar, milk, and orange zest, similar to a simple icing for cookies.

Donuts

1 c. brown sugar
4 tbsp. cooking oil
3 eggs, beaten
2-4 tbsp. grated orange rind
1/4 c. orange juice
1 c. pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 1/2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Soda

Cinnamon-Sugar Glaze

1/2-1 cup sugar
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tbsp. Orange zest (optional)

Put all ingredients together in your mixer.  Mix with the mixing hook until dough comes off of the sides.  You may need to add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time to make dough firm enough.  Form the dough into a ball and let it chill for 2 hours (I skipped this part).  Pat down the dough on a floured surface and roll it to 1/2-2/3” inch thickness with a rolling pin.   Use a donut cutter or we used a round glass and a shot glass to make the classic donut shape with delicious donuts hole leftovers.

Heat oil or fat (we used canola oil) in a 3” pan, we used our cast iron pan, on the stove to 375 degrees.  We didn’t have a deep fry thermometer so we put the heat on low and let the oil warm up for around 15 minutes.  Then we tested it with a donut hole to see if the dough would cook in about 3 minutes.  If the oil isn’t hot enough, the donuts will absorb a lot of oil.  Once the oil is hot, put 3 donuts at a time in the pan to fry about 1 1/2 minutes per side, 3 minutes of cook time total.  Then use metal tongs to pull the donuts out of the oil and shake the donuts to drip some excess oil back into the pan.  Immediately toss the donuts in the cinnamon-sugar glaze in a smaller bowl.  You can then set the donuts on old paper bags to absorb some of the oil.  Serve while warm!!!

[We love donuts, but you can call them doughnuts if you want]