These melt-in-your-mouth Baked Pumpkin Donuts with Brown Butter Glaze make the fall season one of the most spectacular time of the year. It's made with pumpkin puree, so you get the health benefits of pumpkin in this breakfast recipe.
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Lightly grease mini donut pans with a bit of oil.
In a large bowl using a hand mixer on low speed, beat everything together except for the flour until well combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the flour and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds.
Carefully spoon the batter into the donut pans, filling each donut cavity about half full. If you prefer, you can use a piping bag, or a plastic ziplock bag with one corner cut off to pipe the batter into the donut pan. (see note 2).
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the donuts are lightly golden. Let the donuts cool in the donut pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool.
Make the glaze
In a small saucepan over medium to medium-hight heat, melt the butter and cook, stirring often, until the butter becomes a light brown color, 5-8 minutes. Stir the butter often so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Pour into a medium bowl and allow to slightly cool.
Mix in powdered sugar to make a paste. Slowly whisk in milk. Let sit for 5 minutes, occasionally whisking, to allow the glaze to slightly set.
To serve
Place a cooling rack on top of paper towels or parchment paper for easy clean up.
Dip one side of the donut into the glaze. Flip the donut over using a fork. Carefully transfer the glazed donut to the prepared cooking rack. The glaze will slowly drip off the donuts as it sets. Repeat with remaining donuts. Lightly sprinkle on additional pumpkin pie spice.
If glaze thickens too much while you are dipping donuts, simply pop the glaze the microwave for about 5-10 seconds to melt it a bit. The thicker the glaze is when dipping, the thicker the glaze will be on the donut (you'll get a sweeter donut).
Notes
1. Pumpkin Spice Mix: You can use this recipe for pumpkin spice mix if you don't have any store bought pumpkin pie spice. This will make roughly double the amount that you need for this recipe. You can scale down, or as I prefer, save the rest for another recipe. It is a bit tricky to scale down because you will need a ⅛ teaspoon measuring spoon. 2. Since it can be a bit tricky to neatly spoon the batter into a mini donut pan, my secret is to use a piping bag. You can either use a proper piping bag with a small round tip, or simply fill up a ziplock bag and cut off a small corner. Its much quicker than trying to spoon the batter into the donut pan, even including the time it would take you to wash the piping bag and tip (if you're not using a disposable bag).Baked Pumpkin Donuts adapted from King Arthur Flour.