Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

It seems every year the holiday season starts in September and runs together in a blur of candy, pumpkin flavored everything, deep fried turkeys, and financially crippling gift giving. I happen to love the holidays, but more importantly I love them separately. This seems to be a left wing mindset anymore. Department and craft stores would have you believe that it is absolutely necessary to decorate your homes to the gills with tinsel and lights and shiny ornaments the day after Halloween! They seem to have forgotten that there is another holiday between Christmas and the end of October. You know that little holiday that used to be about giving THANKS for what abundance you currently have and the struggles you have come through in the past year. Rather it seems that we should continue on from our greedy candy comas straight on to Christmas without so much as slowing to appreciate a fallen leaf or a slice of pie. Well I refuse. I'm going to enjoy my holiday season with my family like it was meant to be, without succumbing to the pressures of hyper consumerism. I'm going to enjoy pumpkin-y things, leave my squash and acorn decorations strewn about for another 20 or so days, and prepare to fix the best Thanksgiving dinner I've made yet. No Christmas tunes, twinkly lights, or candy canes until after that epic meal. Doesn't that sound wonderfully calm and delightful? I agree. So enjoy your coffee, slowly, this weekend and savor these moist (nearly healthy) doughnuts without guilt! Christmas will be here soon enough for you to drown yourself in eggnog, cookie platters, and mountains of presents...

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts

adapted from: kingarthruflour.com

1/2 c. cocunut oil (or canola and in theory butter would work also)

3 large eggs

1 c. granulated sugar

1 can pumpking puree

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 tsp cinnamon plus heaping 1/4 tsp each groundginger and nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 c. plus 2 T. all purpose flour

3/4 c. whole wheat flour (if your not using, just use regualr flour for both amounts)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a doughnut pan, or 2 if you have them. If you don't you can use muffin tins and just bake them longer.

Beat together everything but the flour until smooth. Then stir in the flour until just combined. Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-18 minutes. I pulled mine at 15 because whole wheat flour can be a little drying so I wanted to make sure they would be moist. Let them cool in the pan for 1-2 mintues and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool another minute.

While they are still quite warm, shake them around in some cinanmon and sugar, or use more of the pumpkin pie spice and sugar. Serve with coffee, hot apple cider, or milk.

So much better than Dunkin Doughnuts and cheaper too! Gotta love that!

Enjoy life homemade!

~LL