recipe

Pumpkin Donut Holes: the fluffy dessert recipe to eat in a bite

Total time: 70 Min

Difficulty: Low

It’s pumpkin season! And that means it’s time for pumpkin everything! This time we bring you Pumpkin Donut Holes. Little fluffy, moist pockets of pumpkin are fried and dusted with sugar, what’s not to love? It’s the perfect bite-sized dessert recipe for this fall season!

To make it, you will need flour, sugar, yeast, ricotta, butter, lemon, and of course, pumpkin puree (store-bought or make your own!). Mix the ingredients together to form a batter and allow it to rise. Then, you form balls and fry them! Once they’re dusted with cinnamon sugar (to make them even more flavorful!), they’re ready to be served.

It’s a great recipe to make if you’re feeding a crowd and can also be made ahead of time.

Tips

Good news if you don’t like frying donuts in oil! You can also make these donuts in the Airfryer. Place the pumpkin donut holes in a single layer in the Airfryer basket, and air fry at 180°C/360°F for 10-12 minutes until cooked through.

You can serve the pumpkin donut holes with a variety of sauces and drizzles. Try any of the following:

Salted caramel sauce: Heat 1 cup sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup evaporated milk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook until thickened and lightly golden. Drizzle over the donuts.
Buttermilk glaze: Whisk together 1 ½ cup sugar. ¼ tsp vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
Honey
Golden syrup
Maple syrup

Whip up a quick and easy glaze icing by whisking together 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and up to 4 tsp milk. Why not try a few flavored icings?

Orange Icing: Replace the vanilla and milk with orange juice and add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest.
Almond Icing: Replace half of the vanilla extract with almond extract and top with slivered almonds.
Maple Icing: Replace the vanilla extract with maple extract.
Cinnamon Icing: Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the icing.
Coconut Icing: Replace the vanilla extract with coconut extract and top with shredded, sweetened coconut.

Can You Bake Pumpkin Donut Holes?

You can also bake these pumpkin donut holes. Places the balls in a muffin tin and bake at 180°C/360°F for 15 minutes until cooked through

How To Store Pumpkin Donut Holes

Store the pumpkin donut holes at room temperature (in an airtight container) for up to 3 days.

Ingredients

all-purpose flour

120 g (3/4 cup)

Manitoba flour

100 g (2/3 cup)

Granulated sugar

40 g (3 tbsp)

fresh yeast

5 g (1 1/2 tsp)

ricotta cheese

50 g (3 tbsp)

pumpkin puree

150 g (1/2 cup)

butter

30 g (2 tbsp)

Lemon zest

2 g (1 tsp)

vanilla extract

5 g (1 tsp)

salt

a pinch

oil, for frying

sugar, for coating

How To Make Pumpkin Donut Holes

Step 1

Place the flours on a clean working surface and make a small well in the middle.

Step 2

Add sugar, ricotta, fresh yeast, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree inside. Using your hands, mix the ingredients by slowly bringing the outer edges to the center.

Step 3

Add a pinch of salt and butter.

Step 4

Knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form a ball.

Step 5

Place it in a bowl sprinkled with flour. Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and allow it to rise for 40-45 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Step 6

Make small balls from the dough, approximately 15-20g each, and place them on a baking sheet.

Step 7

In a large pan, fry them in hot oil for few minutes or until golden brown.

Step 8

Remove the pumpkin donut holes with a slotted spoon, then allow them to drain on towel paper.

Step 9

Coat the pumpkin donut holes in sugar.

Step 10

Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Instead of cinnamon sugar, you can also dip cover the donut holes in pumpkin spice. Make your own pumpkin spice by mixing 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp ground cloves.