I love pumpkin bread.  And I love bourbon.  So when I found a recipe for a bourbon pumpkin bread in Better Homes and Gardens 100 Best Pumpkin Recipes 2017 Special Edition magazine, I was over the moon.  It’s as good as it sounds: rich, moist, flavorful, and addictive.  I had only made this recipe in loaf form—why mess with a good thing, right?—until this past week.  I was craving a pumpkin confection and I started to wonder if the batter for this bread would work for baked doughnuts.  Y’all…it’s even better!  If you have a doughnut pan, break it out.  If you don’t own one, buy one immediately.  You won’t regret it.

 

3 2/3 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 cup finely chopped pecans

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, divided

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp table salt

1 (15 oz) can Pumpkin puree

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup, plus 1 Tbsp bourbon, divided

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tsp milk

Cooking spray, as needed

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.  Grease the indentations of a doughnut pan with cooking spray.

2. In a small mixing bowl, stir 2/3 cup sugar, the pecans, and 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice together.  Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and remaining 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice.  Whisk to distribute the ingredients, then form a well in the center.

4. In another large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups sugar, pumpkin purée, eggs, vegetable oil, water, and bourbon.  Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

5. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the well of the flour mixture and stir to combine.

6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip or a large zip-top plastic bag (cut one corner off to pipe the batter through).  Squeeze the batter into the wells of the doughnut pan, filling each about 2/3 of the way up the indentation.

7. Sprinkle 1-2 tsp, or to taste, of the sugar-spice-pecan mixture over the batter of each doughnut.

8. Place the doughnut pan in the over and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean.

9. Remove the doughnut pan from the oven and allow the doughnuts to cool for 2-3 minutes.  Carefully transfer the doughnuts from the pan to a wire rack to cool.

10. Repeat this process with the remaining dough, greasing the doughnut wells in the pan before each addition of batter.

11.  Once the doughnuts have cooled, combine the powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp bourbon, and 2-3 tsp milk in a a small bowl.  Stir until a smooth icing with drizzling consistency forms.  Using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the doughnuts to taste.  Serve at room temperature.

Makes about 3 dozen

 

🍩 If you would rather not include bourbon in your doughnuts, substitute water in the batter and milk in the icing.

🍩🍩 If you reach the end of the batter and have not filled all the doughnut wells on the pan, fill them with a little water before putting the pan in the oven to bake the remaining doughnuts.  This will help the remaining dough bake evenly.

Hunter, Stephanie.  “Bourbon Pumpkin Bread with Spice Swirl,” Better Homes and Gardens 100 Best Pumpkin Recipes.  Des Moines: Meredith National Media Group, 2017.  Page 42.