Honey Pumpkin Baked Donuts

 

Baked Donuts - Plain, Honey Glaze, Sliced Almonds, Coconut, Sprinkles, and Powdered Sugar

How do you make donuts healthier?  You bake them instead of deep frying!  Honey Pumpkin Baked Donuts are an experiment born from a snow day at home.  Mid-November brought us snow in Minnesota.  Lots of snow – so no driving, no errands.  Baking, playing in the yard, and hot chocolate.

These Honey Pumpkin Baked Donuts are a cinch to make.  I used a Norpro 6-Count Nonstick Donut Pan, which forms nicely shaped donuts.

If you don’t have a donut pan, you can easily make a donut by squeezing out the dough from a pastry bag, or a Ziploc bag with the end cut off. Form the best circles you can on a baking stone or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Donut Dough in a Ziploc bag with the end cut off. Like a pastry bag.

 

When you squeeze out the dough on a baking sheet, try to form better circles than I did!

 

Donut Dough on a Baking Stone. Not the best circles, but it will do.

 

Donuts on a Cookie Sheet with Parchment Paper. Again - try to make better circles than me.

 

Dough in the Donut Pan

 

Donuts Cooling on a Rack

Baked Donut Variety

 

 

 

"Frosting" - Light Cream Cheese, honey, and pecans

Makes about 16 donuts

Recipe by Striving Bean

Dry Ingredients

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (0.25 cup) ground flax seeds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (0.50 teaspoon) baking soda
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 3/4 cup (0.75 cup) honey
• 1/4 cup (0.25 cup) milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon butter, melted

Optional Ingredients

• For optional honey glaze, you’ll need: Honey, butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract.  See Martha Stewart’s Honey Glaze
• If using honey glaze, you can sprinkle on toppings:  sliced almonds, flaked coconut, sprinkles, etc.
• You can roll donuts in powdered sugar too.
• Cream Cheese “Frosting” – mix together cream cheese, finely chopped walnuts (or pecans) and honey.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. Lightly grease donut pan.  If using cookie sheet, use parchment paper.  If using baking stone, no greasing necessary
3. Mix together dry ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix
6. Carefully scoop dough into pastry bag
7. Squeeze out dough into circle shapes
8. Bake 12- 16 minutes until donuts spring back when touched
9. Cool slightly before removing from pan/cookie sheet
10. Optional – Top with Martha Stewart’s Honey Glaze and other toppings or cream cheese “frosting”
11. Optional – dip/roll in powdered sugar (no honey glaze needed)

Our family weighs in:

• The kids loved the plain donuts best.
• Husband loved the honey glaze.
• My fave was the cream cheese “frosting”

So what do you think of baked donuts?

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