Apple Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple Glaze

So, I have a confession: I'm addicted to Pinterest. And since I love to cook, I follow many fellow foodies and constantly see awesome cooking and baking ideas. Recently, many different kinds of homemade doughnuts have filled up my feed and caught my attention (really, are doughnuts the new cake pops?). I couldn't find a recipe that had all the flavors I wanted in a fall doughnut, so I did what I usually end up doing and made up my own recipe inspired by a few of the recipes I found (like this one or this one).

We happen to have delicious apple cider made on a farm from our CSA, and I wanted to make sure to incorporate it into my dough. A lot of the recipes I found for doughnuts seemed to include sweet potatoes, squash, or pumpkin, which sounded amazing so I wanted to include that element in my recipe as well. I also decided to replace most, but not all, of the eggs and oil this recipe would require with applesauce, which usually makes for a nice baking substitute,  is healthier, and would complement the other flavors well. Lastly, I wanted these doughnuts to be baked and not fried, as I try to be pretty health-conscious in my cooking.

I did need to go out and buy doughnut pans, which I was (not so) secretly happy about because I love getting cooking gadgetry at the HomeGoods near our apartment. Any excuse to go there is a good excuse, even though our credit card bill might protest. Normally I try to avoid specialized gadgets that only have one kind of use, but these were cheap and don't take up too much storage space, so I went for it. However, in case you don't have and/or don't want to get doughnut tins, I left the option open to make these as muffins as well, which are also delicious. Actually, this recipe made more batter than you need for a dozen doughnuts, so I ended up making doughnuts and muffins.

These taste as good as they look

Apple Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple Glaze

Dry Ingredients 

1 3/4 cup  all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus a heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger

Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pumpkin purée (or canned pumpkin)
1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider or water
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Recipe makes 12 doughnuts & 8 muffins OR a dozen larger muffins OR 24-30 mini doughnuts or muffins 

The doughnut version

The muffin version

1. Mix the dry ingredients very well with a whisk. Then add all the wet ingredients and mix well. I prefer to use a spatula when mixing in the met ingredients. 
2. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours. You can leave it there for up to 24 hours.
3. When you're ready to prepare your doughnuts and/or muffins for baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
4. Fill your doughnut mold with the batter about 3/4 of the way full. Use the extra batter to make muffins in muffin cups or a muffin tin. 
5. Place the doughnuts and muffins in the oven for about 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (do not wait or look for browning). 
6. When they're done, let the doughnuts cool for 5-10 minutes, and then gingerly remove the doughnuts from the pan using a knife to wiggle them out and place them on a cooling rack. Let them sit out until they are completely cooled.
7. Then you can add the glaze or you can wait until right before serving them. This step is optional, as these do have a great flavor on their own. 
8. When you're ready, mix the glaze ingredients until you get a sticky, syrupy consistency without lumps. If you need it thicker, cut down on cider or water, and if you need it thinner, add a bit of water. 

PS- You could also coat or the doughnuts and muffins in a cinnamon and sugar mixture; it's as easy as mixing equal parts cinnamon and sugar in a bag and tossing the baked goods in it while they are still warm. 

Glazing the final product

I had to taste test them, of course. The texture is perfect,
and the middle is chewy and moist and delicious.