Tasty Tuesday - Pumpkin Donuts

There are some things that just scream fall to me, and pumpkin is one of them. Unfortunately, I don't like pumpkin. Or so I thought. Then I had pumpkin donuts years and years ago and discovered that I like pumpkin, but just in very certain ways. Like in pumpkin donuts.

I love making them, but they make a ton of donuts, so this is a recipe I make to share. I try to do it every fall, but I don't always succeed. This year, I had to bring something for the fall appreciation luncheon. After volunteering to make an apple crisp (easy peasy!) and being shot down because someone was already making one - drat! - I decided to do the pumpkin donuts. This is a make it the morning you're going to eat them recipe, and it takes some time because you have to roll them and fry them in batches, but ohhhhh is it worth it. Not hard. Just a little time.

Pumpkin Donuts
3 1/2 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3 T butter (I used dairy free butter substitute, and it absolutely works!)
1/2 c pumpkin puree*
2/3 c butter milk (yes, I used coconut milk mixed thickened with mayonaise and it was perfect)
oil for frying

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients - flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder but not the sugar - in a large bowl until well distributed.

Start heating your oil for frying. You want the oil to come to 365-375 degrees. Use a fryer or a wide cast iron skillet with about two inches of oil for frying. If you're me, you won't measure the tempterature because you don't have a thermometer that does that and instead can use a dough ball to test it. Drop it in, and if it has small bubbles frothing around it, it's ready. If not, wait until it's hotter. Yes, I am that scientific when baking. Just wait to the end of this to see what my asterisk was for.

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the egg and egg yolks one at a time and beat until well blended. Add the pumpkin puree and the butter milk and mix until blended, then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Thoroughly flour a surface for rolling the dough. Grab a hunk - no larger than your hand - and use some of the flour to dust the top, too. Roll it into a snake about one-half inch thick, then cut it into pieces about a half inch long to make the individual donuts that are vaguely pillow shaped. Pick up the cut donuts and jiggle them in your hand to remove as much of the flour as possible and soften the edges.

Place the tester donut into the oil to ensure the oil is hot enough. Assuming it is, place no more than eight or ten donuts into the pot at a time. This will both keep the temperature of the oil from dipping too low and from crowding the pot and having the donuts stick together. Let them cook a minute or two on one side, then poke the side of them with a chopstick or the side of a spider to flip them. The other side will generally cook quicker, maybe 45 seconds to a minute.

Remove the fully cooked donuts to a paper towel lined plate to cool slightly before rolling in cinnamon sugar (1 c sugar to 4 t cinnamon). I will cut a batch or two, then start frying. While they're frying on the first side, I'll cut some more donuts. After I've flipped the donuts, I'll quickly roll the cooling donuts in the cinnamon sugar and put them on my final plate so that I always have a piece of the process moving forward. It works pretty well in terms of timing and helps speed the process, too.

This makes a lot of donuts, so be prepared to share. Or keep them all for yourself, as I'm tempted to. Don't say I didn't warn you!

*Or you can be like me and be rushing and not paying attention and put the entire can of pumpkin puree into the donuts. Note that I said pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Those are two very different things, and you want the pure pumpkin. If you make this mistake, it's fixable. Add another cup of flour and teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients, along with a quarter cup sugar and a little nutmeg and baking powder (1/2 t). It will then make more donuts, but really... at this point, that's not a bad thing. And yes, it's possible that I've made this mistake more than once, but no one knows by the time they're done!

Enjoy this and more with Blessed With Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also posting now with A Southern Fairytale and her Mouthwatering Monday.

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Happy Memorial Day!

I’ve mentioned before that I love the neighborhood I live in, and Memorial Day is a good example of why. Every year, we have a Memorial Day parade in our neighborhood that the great majority of the neighborhood participates in. It’s a great way to kick off the summer.

It starts with everyone gathering at a single house in the neighborhood at 9am. For the next half hour (or until the fire trucks show up!), we hang out eating donuts and drinking juice or coffee – supplied by the babysitting co-op.

(Those donuts look good, don't they?)

Once the fire trucks arrive – and we know they’re coming because they call the owner of the house to let him know they’re on the way (or can’t come if there’s an emergency) – they line up in front of the house. This year, we had an old fashioned fire engine, three of the regular big ones, an EMT vehicle and the chief’s vehicle. There have never been that many (usually it’s just two or three total), so it was pretty cool to see this year.

(This one unfortunately broke down partway through the neighborhood, apparently due to overheating. However, it also gave Little Miss a chance to check it out more closely and see the wooden ladder they used to use to fight fires -- hmmm -- and the old fashioned fire extinguisher and ash can -- they weren't very optimistic back then, apparently!)


Once they’re all in place, they start up their lights and sirens and lead us all around the perimeter of the neighborhood before they head out to the village parade. Neither of the wee ones likes the siren, so they cover their ears, with periodic waves with one hand while the other continues to cover the ear. All the firemen are glad to do this for us and wave and greet us as they drive along.

Once they pass, everyone follows in their decorated bikes and trikes and wagons – or golf carts or go karts, depending on the age of the kids. This year, Mister Man rode his new bike and did a great job. Little Miss rode her trike and was a shocking rear to the parade. As fast as she goes when we go on our bike rides, I was really surprised that she wasn’t up near the front. She was far too busy looking at everyone and watching what they were doing to really pedal. By the time we were halfway through the neighborhood, we were lapped by some.

We actually stopped at our house, which is about three quarters of the way through the parade route, and switched up her trike for the wagon. Once she got into the wagon, she promptly laid down and put her feet up on the front, the true princess. All we needed were grapes and a fan to make the image complete.

We all hung out at the neighbors for awhile afterwards, just chatting. It’s such a rare opportunity and so nice to have this. This afternoon, I had some of the neighbors over for dinner, and it was a blast.

The kids ran from kiddie pool to kiddie pool to the bouncy houses (a neighbor brought over theirs so we had two) and back again. Let’s just say that neither of the wee ones made a peep once we laid them down! The food all turned out well, and we had plenty of it without there being so much that it will go to waste.

The best part for me though was seeing Mister Man playing with the kids who were about his age. Our kindergarten aged neighbor came over to join in the fun, a boy who’s going into kindergarten next year was there, and a girl in kindergarten this year all played together and interacted and had conversations and acted like five and six year olds will (which means a little out of bounds sometimes, of course).

Little Miss also had no difficulties finding a place to fit in, as usual. And apparently during dinner, she and the about to be kindergarten boy were making quite the googly eyes at each other. She’s cheating on her preschool boyfriend!

One part I missed, but which I wished I hadn’t was the exchange in the basement after dinner with my friends who just got married and the wee ones.

A: So who am I?
Little Miss: I don’t know. (She really has the coy act down pat at an early age; I'm in so much trouble.)
A: Well, do you know who that is (his new wife)?
Little Miss: Miss Married (apparently she sort of got it)
A: How about you, Mister Man. Who is she?
Mister Man: Mrs. R.
A: That’s right. And how did you know that?
Mister Man: Because she just got married.
A: Yep. Who did she get married to?
Mister Man: To you!
A: You got it. And what’s my name?
Mister Man: Mr. K (her maiden name)
J (his wife): Well, he’s got that one right, doesn’t he?

Here’s hoping you had as great a Memorial Day as I did, including the mojito granita I made (a real keeper and SO easy to make!) and the lack of rain although we were scheduled for huge thunderstorms all day. Thank you to whomever decided to have them hold off. I’ll even forgive you the low of 42 tonight and high of 56 tomorrow in exchange for the gorgeous day today!