Mini Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts + BONUS Recipe

DOUGHNUTS…anyone else feel like Homer Simpson when thinking of doughnuts? I do! And for that reason I stay my distance from the beasts that like to make my thighs bigger! My mom recently gave me a mini doughnut pan and I was like, REALLY mom? Are ya kidding me? This is the LAST thing I need.

After several hours of research online and seeing that there were some good recipes out there for them, I decided to give it a go. I mean they can’t be to bad, 1) they are baked, 2) they are tiny! Well, and after all it is: “All Things Pumpkin” here at Sweet Heat Chefs this week, so why not go for the gusto and make them Pumpkin doughnuts right?! Ok, let’s not be silly, we all know I can’t make much without chocolate being in it (yes that is the sweet tooth jabbering away at my inner self). So with regard to that I have included a BONUS recipe for that very inner self!

INGREDIENTS

1.5 cups canned pumpkin pie mix
1.5 cups granulated sugar, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature and scrambled
1/4 cup coconut oil, room temperature (make sure it is in liquid form)
1/4 cup applesauce, room temperature OR sour cream OR non fat greek yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour + 2 tablespoons

Topping

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine everything except the flour, and beat until smooth.

Add the flour and mix until combined.

Pipe batter into mini-doughnut pans. Fill them just a little over half full. Aren’t they super cute?

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. When touched they should spring back and not be doughy. The smell is heavenly!

Remove from pans and place on baking rack to cool. While still warm, but not hot, place a few at a time in bowl with your cinnamon & sugar mixture and coat lightly. Yes this step is needed. I saw lots of recipes with a more refined topping and drizzle, this is the best option. It give a little sweetness and changes the entire flavor in lieu of leaving the doughnut plain. Try it, eat one without first, then toss in this mixture…YOU’LL SEE!!

Makes approximate 4 dozen depending on size AND how quickly you devour the baby doughnuts before anyone notices because they are school and work…wait what?

A little plug for my favorite coffee maker Keurig my hubby Mr. Sweet Heat Chefs, my mom and mom-in law bought me for my birthday this year. This Coconut Mocha coffee is the BOMB with these doughnuts! WINK

Alternative ideas for the doughnuts are:

Add mini chocolate chips on top of batter after filling and drizzle with melted chocolate chips for topping

Add 1/2 teaspoon chopped pecans/walnuts to batter and drizzle with this:

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (mix together until sugar is dissolved) and top that with crushed pecans/walnuts.

Woah, wait a minute…SECOND RECIPE DOUBLE

TAKE FOR FRIDAY MADNESS!!

Mini Chocolate Espresso Doughnuts

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp plain yogurt
¼ cup milk
1 egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
¼ tsp vanilla extract
2 tblsp instant espresso, in hot water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and wet ingredients in another mixing bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet slowly stirring to incorporate evenly.
4. Fill doughnut pan with batter almost full and not overflowing
5. Bake for about 7 minutes. When touched they should spring back and not be doughy.
6. Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips in a baggie (30 seconds) with 1 teaspoon of shortening and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. OPTIONAL: You could add espresso in with the chocolate chips while melting. Just make sure you dissolve it in hot water first.
7. Cut tip off end of baggie and drizzle over doughnuts

Gingerbread Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cheesecake you might as well know now…is a serious weakness for me. This time of year with pumpkin all around, I decided to add it to my cheesecake recipe. Talk about some exquisite delectability! This cheesecake has a really creamy center with a semi sweet gingerbread crust and is topped with a tangy sour cream yogurt mixture that rounds out this delicious dessert that is great for after your Thanksgiving meal or even a date night for 2 with a glass of Port. *Thank you to a reader who found some errors, this recipe has been updated!*

INGREDIENTS

1.5 cups gingersnaps or gingerbread cookies, crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2.5 packages cream cheese, softened
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin pie mixture (or canned pumpkin if you prefer, just add 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice to it)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar if using pumpkin pie; if using canned pumpkin use 1 cup sugar (can also use brown sugar)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Place cookies in food processor and pulverized until fine consistency.
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Melt butter and add to cookie crumbs, place in a pie dish or tart pan and press firmly covering the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake in oven for 7 minutes.
5. In a bowl, cream together; cream cheese, vanilla, and pumpkin. Add beaten egg and continue mixing for 1 minute on low speed.
6. Pour mixture into tart pan or pie dish and bake for 45-50 minutes, until no longer “jiggly” or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

1. In a small bowl combine yogurt, sour cream and sugar, stir until well combined.
2. Pour over top of cheesecake and return to oven for 5 minutes.

Let cool for about 20 minutes and begin to loosen edges with knife. Continue to let cool for 30 more minutes. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before serving.

Featured at: Foodie Friends Friday!

Banana Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream – Gluten & Dairy Free, Indulge!

Day #3 of All things pumpkin continue here at Sweet Heat Chefs. I know a lot of families have issues with allergies and slowly there are recipes surfacing for alternative options. It is nice to have a quick, healthy alternative to a store purchased ice cream. This is so easy, it is a shame to even call it a recipe, but not many people realize ice cream DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT have to go into an ice cream maker, nor does it have to contain dairy. TWO INGREDIENTS people 2, AND 3, if you are like me and have to have chocolate atop everything! Eating healthier is not hard to do and takes little to no effort for this recipe. 

Kids LOVE to help with this. Get a plastic knife and have them peel and slice up the bananas, then place in a zip-lock and put in freezer! They have just made 1/2 of the ice cream! When kids are a part of what you are doing in the kitchen, they are that much more likely to eat what has been made. Even if it is only a bite, that is a triumph!

Makes 4 servings using 2 scoops per serving

INGREDIENTS

3 Bananas, sliced and frozen
2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie from a can
dark chocolate chips, optional

DIRECTIONS

Freeze banana slices for about 1 hour

Remove from freezer and place in food processor with pumpkin pie. Mix until thoroughly blended.

Place in a freezer safe container and re-freeze for another 1-3 hours until desired consistency is achieved  I like mine on the softer side, so mine was in there for 1.5 hours.

Scoop into a bowl and sprinkle a few dark chocolate chips on top!

2 YEAR-OLD KID TESTED AND APPROVED!

Featured at: Foodie Friends Friday

 

Swirly Pumpkin Brownies

Day #2 of all things pumpkin at Sweet Heat Chefs!

Who doesn’t love brownies? My daughter, Jasmine’s favorite thing to make are brownies, usually from a box though. I decided to try my hand at home-made brownies and well with FALL officially here and all, why not mess with the best of both worlds and add some pumpkin to the mix?! The result is a dense chocolatey ooey gooey creamy pumpkin mass of goodness, yes I said all that! You won’t believe me until you try the ridiculously rich brownies you are about to see here!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup dark chocolate chips
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 9″x 9″ cake pan with nonstick spray.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chocolate and remove from heat. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir until smooth.
• In a large bowl add eggs, sugar and vanilla and in a smaller bowl add flour, baking powder and salt.
• In the large bowl beat mixture for 3-4 minutes, until thick.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt mixture slowly and beat just until combined.

• Take about 2 cups of the batter into the smaller bowl that had the dry ingredients and add in the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir until well combined.

Dump melted chocolate into the remaining batter (without pumpkin) and spread a little more than half of the batter into the prepared pan.

Top the brownie mixture with 3/4 of the pumpkin batter and smooth over top.

Top pumpkin mixture with remainder of brownie batter

Using a tablespoon, dollop 9 spoonfuls of  remaining pumpkin mixture on top of brownies.

Using a skewer or knife swirl the pumpkin dollops through the first layer of brownie batter creating a swirly/marbled effect.

Bake for 40 minutes, until just set and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Makes 16 brownies.

Featured on Foodie Friends Friday!

Dark Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Truffles

Kicking off Day #1 of All things pumpkin at Sweet Heat Chefs

Fall is officially here…YAY! I love this time of year, the weather, the brightly colored trees, the crispness of the morning air, and all the pumpkins and colors around the city. Pumpkin recipes are in full swing out on the internet and int he culinary world. I am happy to contribute to the “madness”.

I feel like I repeat myself a lot when I say this recipe is quick and easy! But I guess that is because I am always looking for quick ways to get food finished for the fam. Sure some of my recipes are more complex, but for the most part they are everyday recipes anyone can do and quick for everyone who is short on time, there are a lot of us out there after all!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup graham crackers, crushed

1 bag dark chocolate chips, melted

Beat first 5 ingredients in a bowl until well combined. 

Add graham crackers and stir well.

Chill for 30-40 minutes and roll into balls.

Place in the freezer for about 30 minutes and cover with melted dark chocolate.

Store in refrigerator or freezer until ready to eat! they only take about 5 minutes to un-thaw enough to eat. Or if you are like me, I just eat it frozen. The creaminess of the pumpkin melts in your mouth while the cold dark chocolate is frozen and has that deep sweetness to balance it all out.

shown on Foodie Friends Friday!