Pumpkin doughnuts

I love Fall.  I love cooler weather, switching from shorts to jeans, colorful leaves, and all things pumpkin.  My favorite recipe of all time is this chocolate chip pumpkin bread that my friend Kady got me hooked on years ago.  When I make it, which is often, there is leftover canned pumpkin that I need to find a use for.  This time around I made these delicious baked doughnuts from Pia Recipes.  The kids loved making doughnuts at home, and I felt slightly better about them since they aren't fried.  Yum yum!  ** And I just noticed I have back-to-back doughnut posts.  #sorrynotsorry

PUMPKIN DOUGHNUTS

Yield: 12 doughnuts

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar, for coating

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans. If you don't have doughnut pans, you can bake these in a standard muffin tin.

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

3) Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.

4) Fill the wells of the doughnut 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).

6) Bake the doughnuts for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. (If you're making muffins, they'll need to bake for 20-25 minutes).

7) Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.  While the doughnuts 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.

9) Cool completely, and wrap airtight; store at room temperature for several days.

Copycat Gordough's doughnuts!

Ok, this isn't as much a recipe as it is a genius (copycat) idea of putting FUN TOPPINGS on DOUGHNUTS.  I know, right??  Earlier this year, a friend and I went to Austin to visit another friend, and we had a great time eating at food trucks.  Austin was a pioneer in this trend, and there are silver Airstreams everywhere selling good eats.  My very favorite, which will be no surprise to anyone familiar with my sweet tooth, was Gordough's, which serves enormous doughnuts topped with all kids of deliciousness.  Ever since I experienced it, I thought it would be fun to recreate them at home.  So last night for the Bachelorette finale, we did just that.  These were a BIG hit, and SO easy.  The two I copied were Dirty Berry and Mama's Cake (details below).  I don't have any measurements because it depends on how many people you're serving.  The beauty of these is that it's just as simple to do a small batch (doughnuts for one!), or a large one (party hearty!).  I'm ready to do this again!!

Ingredients:

Glazed doughnuts (you can make your own, or just buy them at Krispy Kreme like I did)
Jar of hot fudge, warmed in the microwave
Strawberries, hulled and sliced
Yellow cake mix, mixed with milk and/or water to a good drizzle consistency
Sprinkles/jimmies

Instructions for Dirty Berry doughnuts:

Place hulled and sliced strawberries in a bowl, and sprinkle them with sugar.  Let the berries macerate for about 30 minutes.  Heat a pan over medium heat, and roast the strawberries until they're soft and juicy.

Cover a doughnut with hot fudge and the roasted strawberries.  Devour.

Instructions for Mama's Cake doughnuts:

Cover a doughnut with hot fudge, drizzle with yellow cake mixture, and top with sprinkles.  Enjoy!

Chocolate chip cookie cups with peanut butter frosting

A beloved member of our weekly Bachelorette watch parties was moving away, and I wanted to do something extra-special that night.  These frosted cookie cups from The Baker Chick were just what I was looking for!  Rich, creamy, and delicous- not to mention one of my very favorite combinations, chocolate and peanut butter. Mmmmmmmmm!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE CUPS WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Yield: 24-30 cookie cups

Ingredients:

For the cookie cups:

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

*sea salt for sprinkling, optional

For the frosting:

1 stick of butter, softened

1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter

2-4 cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk or cream

Instructions:

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 325°. Grease muffin pans.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop rounded spoonfuls of cookie dough into muffin pans- press dough into the muffin well and up the sides. Bake until edges are golden and the middle is soft but set, about 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.

To prepare the frosting, cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until combined. Add the vanilla extract, and then the milk a little at a time until the frosting is the right consistency. Beat on high for a few seconds to make it light and fluffy. Pipe or spread into each (cooled) cookie cup.