Category Archives: Doughnuts

Pumpkin Doughnut Holes with Orange Cranberry Jam

Breads and Yeast Raised Doughs, Doughnuts,

Pumpkin Doughnut Holes with Orange Cranberry Jam

I am still super excited about the upcoming holiday of Thanksgivukkah. It’s a fusion holiday made up of Thanksgiving and Chanukkah and it won’t happen again for a very very long time. So don’t worry, this fad will blow over shortly. But until it does, here’s a cute recipe incorporating both holidays. Last week I shared my recipe for pumpkin doughnuts with marshmallow and graham cracker glaze. You might have been wondering what I did with all those doughnut holes! I rolled them in cinnamon sugar and served them with a warm orange cranberry jam, perfect for dipping. The cranberry jam is spiced with cinnamon sticks and fresh grated nutmeg, giving it the perfect Thanksgiving holiday flavors. Orange juice and fresh orange zest lends the perfect tart notes that balance well with the sweet cinnamon sugar that coat the doughnut holes.

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Pumpkin Doughnut Holes with Orange Cranberry Jam
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Ingredients
Pumpkin Doughnuts
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 pkg. yeast (2¼ tsp.)
  • 2 Tbs. maple syrup
  • 4 cups flour
  • ⅓ cup soy milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 Tbs. oil
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • 1½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ cup sugar+1 Tbs. cinnamon for rolling
Orange Cranberry Jam
  • 12 oz. fresh cranberries
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • ⅓ cup orange juice
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ¼ tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
  • zest of one orange
Instructions
Pumpkin Doughnuts
  1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add warm water, yeast and maple syrup. Stir and allow to proof for 5-10 minutes.
  2. Once the yeast has bubbled, layer all the other ingredients on top starting with the flour, then soy milk, egg, pumpkin, oil, sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
  3. Turn the mixer on low and mix until the dough starts to come together, 3-5 minutes.
  4. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Turn the mixer back on low and knead the dough for another 10 minutes. It might be slightly sticky but should be smooth.
  6. Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover with kitchen towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
  7. Once the dough has risen, cut in half to make it easier to use.
  8. Roll out half the dough to about ½ inch thickness. Cut doughnut holes with a small circle cutter about 1¼ inches in diameter. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with kitchen towel and allow to rise for about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. You can ball up the scraps and cut out shapes once more but don’t go beyond there, your doughnuts will be tough.
  9. While the doughnuts rise, prepare the oil for frying. Heat up a deep fryer or fill a heavy bottomed pot with about 2 inches of oil. Using a candy thermometer, heat the oil on medium heat until the temperature reaches between 350 and 375 degrees F.
  10. Once the oil reaches the proper temperature, fry 2 doughnuts at a time for about 45 seconds on each side. The doughnuts will start to brown. Once lightly browned on each side, transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow to cool.
  11. After they have cooled slightly, roll in cinnamon sugar and serve with warm jam.
Orange Cranberry Jam
  1. In a medium sized pot combine cranberries, sugar, water, orange juice, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg.
  2. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until some of the cranberries start to pop open and break down.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in the orange zest.
  4. Transfer to a heat safe bowl and allow to cool slightly before serving.
  5. The jam will thicken as it cools.

Here are more fun Thanksgivukkah recipes for you to enjoy for this once in a lifetime holiday!

Pumpkin Doughnuts With Marshmallow and Graham Cracker Glaze

Breads and Yeast Raised Doughs, Doughnuts, ,

Pumpkin Doughnuts

As you may know by now, Thanksgiving and Chanukkah fall on the same day this year.  I don’t usually love fads, but this fusion holiday is too much fun to ignore.  To bring both holidays together into one dessert, I used two traditional desserts from each holiday and combined them into one.  I transformed the classic pumpkin pie with marshmallow topping and graham cracker crust from Thanksgiving fame into a doughnut which is the most famous Chanukkah treat.  I present to you a pumpkin doughnut topped with a marshmallow glaze and graham cracker crumbs.  The doughnuts have pure pumpkin puree in them giving them a beautiful orange color, as well as loads of pumpkin pie spice to lend that perfect autumnal spice.  And as my husband said, while devouring one of these babies “you can’t go wrong with marshmallow topping”!

The doughnut recipe was adapted from Bakeaholic Mama.  Here’s my non-dairy recipe.

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Pumpkin Doughnuts With Marshmallow and Graham Cracker Topping
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 18 doughnuts
 
Ingredients
Pumpkin Dough
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 pkg. yeast (2¼ tsp.)
  • 2 Tbs. maple syrup
  • 4 cups flour
  • ⅓ cup soy milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 Tbs. oil
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • 1½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Marshmallow Graham Cracker Glaze
  • 2 cup marshmallow cream (I use Marshmallow Fluff)
  • 1 Tsp. shortening
  • graham cracker crumbs
Instructions
Pumpkin Doughnut
  1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add warm water, yeast and maple syrup. Stir and allow to proof for 5-10 minutes.
  2. Once the yeast has bubbled, layer all the other ingredients on top starting with the flour, then soy milk, egg, pumpkin, oil, sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
  3. Turn the mixer on low and mix until the dough starts to come together, 3-5 minutes.
  4. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Turn the mixer back on low and knead the dough for another 10 minutes. It might be slightly sticky but should be smooth.
  6. Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover with kitchen towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
  7. Once the dough has risen, cut in half to make it easier to use.
  8. Roll out half the dough to about ½ inch thickness. Use a round cutter about 2¾ inches in diameter and cut out six doughnuts. Cut the centers out with a smaller circle cutter about 1¼ inches in diameter. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with kitchen towel and allow to rise for about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. You can ball up the scraps and cut out another 6 doughnuts, but don't go beyond there, your doughnuts will be tough. You may reserve the doughnut holes and fry them as well.
  9. While the doughnuts rise, prepare the oil for frying. Heat up a deep fryer or fill a heavy bottomed pot with about 2 inches of oil. Using a candy thermometer, heat the oil on medium heat until the temperature reaches between 350 and 375 degrees F.
  10. Once the oil reaches the proper temperature, fry 2 doughnuts at a time for about 45 seconds on each side. The doughnuts will start to brown. Once lightly browned on each side, transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow to cool.
Marshmallow Glaze
  1. In a small pot or in a double boiler, melt the marshmallow cream with the shortening. Dip the top of each doughnut into the marshmallow, allow the excess to drip off and immediately sprinkle with the graham cracker crumbs.

Bourbon Street Beignets

Breads and Yeast Raised Doughs, Doughnuts

In honor of Mardi Gras I decided to try my hand at some beignets (pronounced bin-yay)-French for “fried dough”.  They are the official state doughnut of Louisiana and are famously fried up in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  Plus, I never pass up an opportunity to fry dough!

Beignets

I adapted a recipe from chef Tyler Florence of the Food Network.  It was easy to do and so delicious!  First let the yeast proof with the water and a pinch of sugar.

yeast proofingThen add in the sugar, egg, soy milk, shortening, half of the flour and the salt.

mixer in actionAdd in the rest of the flour until it comes together and is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.  Form a ball and place in a bowl rubbed with oil.

dough ready to riseCover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 3 to 4 hours.

dough doubled in sizeTurn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle.  Cut the dough into rectangles and get ready to fry.

ready to fryI used my deep fryer but you can use a pot of vegetable oil and a thermometer.  The temperature of the oil needs to remain at 350°F.  Fry away!

beignets fryingAfter 1 1/2 minutes…flip!

fryingAfter another minute and a half the beignets are done!  Pile them up, sprinkle them with tons of confectioners sugar and dig in!

beignet biteHere’s my non-dairy recipe–enjoy!

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Bourbon Street Beignets
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cups warm water
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • ½ cup granulated sugar, plus a pinch
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup vanilla soy milk
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 Tbs. vegetable shortening
  • vegetable oil, for deep frying
  • 1 cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the warm water, yeast and pinch of sugar. Stir and set aside until the yeast has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
  2. Then add the ½ cup of sugar, salt, egg, soy milk, shortening and half the flour and mix on low until just combined.
  3. Gradually add the remaining flour until the dough forms and is no longer sticky.
  4. Transfer the dough to floured surface and form into a ball.
  5. Place the dough into a bowl greased with oil and cover with plastic wrap.
  6. Let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 3 to 4 hours, or overnight in the refrigerator.
  7. Once the dough has doubled in size, set your deep fryer to 350°F or heat about 3 inches of oil in a large pot over medium heat to 350°F.
  8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle a little more flour on top so you can work with the dough.
  9. Roll the dough into a rectangle so it can be cut.
  10. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into rectangles, (you should yield 16 large rectangles, depending on how thick you rolled the dough).
  11. Fry the beignets in batches, 3 minutes per batch. Carefully flip the beignets halfway through to make sure they fry evenly.
  12. After 3 minutes, transfer to a serving platter and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar.