Step into the fall season with a pumpkin-based treat that’s far from basic. These baked pumpkin donuts are dipped in a decadent cream cheese bourbon maple glaze.
It’s officially Autumn! Can I tell you a secret? I’m not a lover of chilly mornings or pumpkin spice but my fellow food blogger friends, Britney and Krissy, got me in the fall spirit with an Instagram pumpkin recipe collaboration. So I challenged myself to see things through the eyes of all you pumpkin spice lovers and developed a pumpkin-based recipe that even I’d enjoy. No one can resist a freshly baked donut, hence my Baked Pumpkin Donuts with Cream Cheese Bourbon Maple Glaze.
Baking desserts has always intimidated me because so much precision is involved. When it comes to measurements, I’m much more of an “eye it” kind of girl. I assumed that all the bakers involved in this Instagram collaboration nailed their recipes immediately but I learned that trial and error is part of the baking experience.
I appreciate the Pumpkin tribe group for sharing their kitchen fails, successes, and woes during this collaboration. I learned a lot from my fellow bakers, chef, and foodie friends and have a yummy recipe to show for it!
Preparation
Make the Pumpkin Donuts
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a silicone 6-count donut pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, and salt.
When measuring your flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. Precision is key when measuring out ingredients for baking and the wrong flour amount can result in dry, crumbly donuts.
In a separate mixing bowl, or Kitchen aid, mix together the pumpkin, brown sugar, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Make sure to use pumpkin puree in these donuts and not pumpkin pie filling. Yes, there is a difference!
Pumpkin puree will have pumpkin listed as the only ingredient on the back of the can. Pumpkin filling comes with added ingredients and we want to customize the flavor of our donuts.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pipe or spoon the batter evenly between all 6 donut cavities. To make getting the batter into your donut pan easier, try using a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the donuts comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the donuts from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Make the Bourbon Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
While your donuts are baking, make the maple bourbon cream cheese glaze. Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup, bourbon vanilla extract, bourbon and buttermilk until well combined. If the glaze is a little too thick, add a splash of buttermilk to thin it out.
Dip the tops of each cooled donut into the glaze and transfer back to the wire rack to let the glaze harden for about 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
