Mmm…donuts! I love donuts and they are my weakness. If I’m offered the opportunity to eat a donut, even if it’s not made from ‘real’ ingredients, I’m probably going to take it! My favorite has always been a cake donut with white icing and sprinkles.
I’m guessing I’d be willing to try more donut varieties if I ate them more often…but since the opportunity doesn’t come up much, I like to stick to what I know I’ll enjoy the most.
Back when we first started the transition to real foods, I purchased an actual donut maker on a whim since it was on clearance at Target. I was pretty excited about it, but after everything was all said and done (and the donuts were only so-so), I realized I didn’t need another kitchen appliance taking up space in my pantry.
So I returned it and temporarily gave up on my donut-making days. However…I kept seeing other food bloggers posting all of their donut recipes…and they looked so good. I added ‘donut pans’ to my ever-growing Christmas list. (Yes, I keep a gift idea list for myself…and my kids!…on my phone so I can add to it whenever I think of something that I could use.
This way, the next time someone asks what I want for Christmas/Birthday, etc., I have practical ideas! And I love practical.) Anyway, we had a new department store open by us last week and they were mailing out “Spend $100, get $50 off” coupons. That’s a pretty good deal and I needed to buy a new purse anyway (since my strap broke on my old one…grr).
I was able to find one I liked and then basically got $50 worth of kitchen supplies for free. Not bad! I bought two donut pans, an OXO Pop Container, and a Mini Loaf Pan. Of course, I couldn’t wait long to try making donuts, so as soon as I had the chance (this morning), I made some!
I found this recipe online and thought it seemed appropriate for this cooler, Fall-like weather (plus, I had some pumpkin puree left over in the fridge already). Why did I have leftover pumpkin puree, you ask?? Or maybe you didn’t…
Well, earlier this week, I attempted to make a “Pumpkin Pie Smoothie” recipe that I had seen in a whole foods cookbook. I was super excited about it and it sounded so good, but I wasn’t impressed. We drank them, but no one asked for more and I don’t blame them.
Definitely not a recipe worth sharing!
Anyway, here are the donuts I made this morning…
They were very good! I was concerned that the kids might not like the pumpkin flavor, but each one of them ate their entire donut. That is always a sign of a good recipe! Even my husband (who is quite hard to please) said he thought they were pretty good as well.
I thought about dipping them in a chocolate glaze, but figured that would be overkill (especially since they already contained chocolate chips)…plus, the only way I know how to make glaze is with white sugar (which I try to avoid most of the time).
And okay, I also didn’t want to take the extra time…
Making Pumpkin-Spiced Chocolate Chip Donuts
(Recipe adapted from My Whole Food Life)
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 (15 oz) can 100% pure pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup oil (I use organic virgin unrefined coconut oil, melted)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 T molasses
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup milk (I use organic whole, but I may try homemade almond milk soon)
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I buy Enjoy Life)
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix all wet ingredients together and then pour into the dry. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread batter into two greased donut pans (there will probably be a little extra batter….muffins, maybe?)
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Eat and enjoy!!