Heavenly Homemaker

Indeed. We can mix up the pumpkin donuts, roll out the dough, cut the shapes, then freeze the uncooked dough on parchment paper or silicone mat-lined cookie sheets. We transfer the frozen dough into freezer bags, then any time we want fresh donuts (and when would we not want fresh donuts?), we can grab some out of the freezer and fry them up fresh to eat while sipping a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.

Can you think of a better breakfast treat to enjoy this fall than fresh homemade Pumpkin Donuts?

The best part is that the mixing, rolling, cutting, and clean up will have already been taken care of! Well, clearly the best part is eating the fresh donuts. But eating the fresh donuts without looking at a messy kitchen that you’ll have to clean up afterward? Fabulous.

Make-Ahead

Pumpkin Donuts

3 ½ cups whole wheat

flour (I use freshly

ground hard or soft

white wheat)

4 teaspoons baking

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground

½ teaspoon ground

½ cup sucanat or brown

2 Tablespoons melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup pumpkin puree

Oil for frying (I recom-

mend coconut oil or

palm shortening for

healthy frying)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup buttermilk

½ teaspoon vanilla

Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Add melted butter, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree – mixing until all ingredients are well combined. Roll dough on a well-floured surface. Cut out donuts and donut holes (makes about 30 of each). Fry right away or make and freeze ahead: Lay the cut-outs on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet and freeze for at least two hours. Transfer prepared donuts to a freezer bag to store in the freezer until ready for use.

To Cook the Donuts: Set prepared donuts out of the freezer at room temperature for about 15 minutes before frying. Fry dough in hot oil for about 3 minutes, turning once. Remove donuts from oil when they are golden brown on both sides. Whisk glaze ingredients together and drizzle over warm donuts before serving.

Concerned about the fact that these treats are fried? Don’t be! Coconut and Palm Oils can withstand high temperatures without becoming harmful to us. So instead of fearing the fry, we can actually enjoy the healthy fat we’re getting while enjoying these donuts.

Wow. Who knew we would ever be able to say, “I need some healthy fats in my diet. Please pass the donuts.”

But of course, let us not ever eat more donuts than veggies, yada, yada. You know the drill.

WAIT. There are veggies in these donuts (thank you, pumpkin, for being there for us when we need you). So I guess we can enjoy these to our heart’s delight, all while enjoying the fact that you can make them ahead and freeze them for ease in the kitchen.

This is what I call one happy fall recipe!

Laura Coppinger and her husband Matt have four sons, ages 12-20. A work-at-home mom, Laura maintains a Web site www.heavenlyhomemakers.com dedicated to inspiring women daily with healthy recipes, homemaking tips, spiritual encouragement, and good ol’ clean fun.