Pumpkin Yeast Donuts with Brown Sugar Maple Glaze
Homemade fried pumpkin spiced yeast donuts with a sweet brown sugar maple glaze. A fun addition any Fall brunch or gathering.
Years ago I used to love watching the cooking and food competition shows. At some point I stopped watching them, probably in part to how awful some of them can be. But this weekend we caught one of the Halloween challenges. In the past I loved watching the carving competitions, this one was along the lines of Cupcake Wars but giant Halloween displays. The contestants were tasked with creating spooky Halloween scenes using pumpkins and other gords, as well as cake and other edibles. Seriously impressive to be able to imagine and execute these huge scenes out of food. I like playing with food and creating fun things, but that’s a whole other level right there. I can’t even begin to imagine putting something like that together myself.
In other news… more rain! We’ve been unlucky for the last 5 years or so with wet Falls. One of the classic Fall things to do is leaf pile jumping and yet we’ve had constantly flip flopping weather between wet and dry. Such a bummer. But I’d rather have a wet Fall than a wet Summer. So I guess it’s a acceptable tradeoff.
Love donuts. Who doesn’t? I firmly believe they should always be fried. Real donuts are fried, not baked. No cake-y donuts for me thanks.
I do limit my donut frying to a few times a year at most because they’re so hard to resist. I definitely don’t need a ton of donuts lying around taunting me regularly. And since it had been quite a while since my last batch, I knew a seasonal batch of donuts was a must!
Fluffy homemade fried pumpkin yeast donuts with a sweet brown sugar maple glaze. A fun treat to share with friends and family!
Add these must make homemade pumpkin donuts to your Fall breakfast and brunch plans!
Pumpkin Yeast Donuts with Brown Sugar Maple Glaze
Ingredients
Donuts:
- 3/4 C milk
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp and 2Tb granulated sugar, divided
- 2 1/2 C all purpose flour
- 2 Tb maple syupr
- 1/2 C pumpkin puree
- 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Glaze:
- 1/2 C light brown sugar
- 3 Tb unsalted buter
- 3 Tb milk
- 2 Tb maple syrup
- 1 C powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat milk to 115°F. Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in warm milk. Allow to proof for 5-10 minutes.
- Add remaining dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment. With mixer running on low, pour in yeast mixture. Increase speed and mix until dough comes together and forms a ball.
- Transfer dough to a greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm location until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.
- Preheat vegetable oil to 350°F in a deep fryer or large stockpot.
- Prepare a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper, sprinkle well with flour.
- Flour a silicone counter mat or work station well with flour. Sprinkle top of dough with flour. Roll out to 1/4 and 1/2-inc thickness. Use a 3-4-inch donut cutter. A biscuit or cookie cutter may be used in place of a donut cutter. Transfer cut donuts to prepared baking sheet.
- Fry donuts in batches until golden brown. Cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping halfway through. Drain and cool on paper towels.
- Melt butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir well to combine. Add in maple syrup and milk. Whisk well to combine. Bring to a low boil. Whisk in powdered sugar, cooking until fully combined and thickened. Carefully tops of donuts in warm sauce. Transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining donuts, whisking sauce as needed between donuts.
- Allow glaze to cool and harden before serving.
Oh wow, these sound perfect!
Thanks Sophie!
I can never turn down a donut, especially with that maple glaze! These would definitely make my Monday morning much better.
Thanks Ashley! :)
Oh lordy, that glaze topping is calling my name!
Thanks Amy!
Anything with maple, Rachel! Love these donuts!!! These are at the top of my “wanna make this fall” list!
Thanks so much, Allie!
its a sweet fun treat indeed! I am in Miami so only imagine how flip floppy the weather is over here! You don’t even know how to dress in the morning because you never know what to except!
Send me some of your warm weather!! Surely you have plenty to spare ;) And thank you Ambar!
Dear Rachel, your donuts look PERFECT! I would love one with my coffee…such a treat! xo, Catherine
Thanks Catherine!
I agree, a wet fall is way better than a dry one and rainy weather is perfect for binge watching ALL the food shows and eating donuts as tastebud-tantalizing as these are!
I agree… rainy weather is perfect for comfort food and binge watching for sure!
I don’t think it gets much better than this. These look perfect!
Thanks so much!
Oh goodness, these look incredible. Plus that brown sugar/powdered sugar glaze is just GENIUS. Nom.
Thanks Leslie!
I love your baking sheet. Where did you get them?
It’s vintage actually so you’d have to do some antique shopping to find them.
Absolutely gorgeous! Please box these up and send them to me. Thanks. :)
Wish I could! Thanks Mary :)
That maple glaze totally takes these pumpkin beauties over the top in the temptation department! I have no doubt that would eat them all. ;)
Thanks Sarah!
These look and sound amazing!! And I would gladly take the rain off of your hands for a few days!! We are sooo dry. Plus I would have a rainy day excuse to make a batch of these!
Yes! Rain is always a good excuse for donuts ;)
These donuts are just beautiful! Pinned!
Thanks Jessica!
I’m a bit late to this party but wanted to let you know that I think I’m going to attempt making this on Christmas morning for our family, they look delicious and I’m always on the hunt for a good donut recipes (not that I need it!) Thanks for sharing :)
I hope you enjoy them! :)
AMAZING! Made 2 batches tonight for some friends tonight and everyone loved them. Here in FL, it’s hard to get into the fall spirit with temperatures still in the 90’s, but man, the spicy, sweet aroma and taste of these donuts really set the tone. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, Sarah! Thanks for sharing :)
Has anyone made the glaze using browned butter?
I have been searching for a raised pumpkin donut recipe! Guess my problem was the wrong terminology…..doesn’t the term “raised donut” exist in culinary language? My sister searched for yeast pumpkin donuts and found many recipes. I think I will try yours, but leave off the maple glaze and use just plain ol’ glaze. That’s how they were prepared at a now defunct small town bakery back in the 1970’s when I fell in love with Raised Pumpkin Donuts! Have a nice day.
I hope you enjoy them! :)
hi! we made these for thanksgiving morning and loved them!!! mine didnt end up big like yours, so i was looking at other recipes and it said to let them rise for 30 min before frying. will try that next time-thanks for the recipe!!
Whether or not you need to allow for extra rising time may depend on your yeast (how fresh it is) and how drafty your room is at the time. It certainly never hurts to allow for a little more rising time. I’m glad you enjoyed them! :)
Hello! I made these donuts tocar and they were delicious. I was wondering though, did you notice a texture difference between these and regular yeast donuts? Is this because of the pumpkin?
So glad you enjoyed them! Pumpkin will almost always change the texture of whatever it’s been added to. It’s a more cake like consistency usually.
So im about to make my pumpkin pancakes with homemade cinnamon syrup (milk based syrup because water based syrup just lacks flavor) and decided I needed to do something else with the remaining pumpkin. I am so glad to have found this recipe. I can’t promise to make it exactly as written, but I am definitely using it to get going. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Enjoy!